Birmingham South (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1918

Birmingham South
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Birmingham
Replaced by	Birmingham Deritend, Birmingham Moseley

Birmingham South was a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Elections were held using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries

Before 1885 the city of Birmingham had been a three-member constituency (see Birmingham UK Parliament constituency for further details). Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the parliamentary borough of Birmingham was split into seven single-member divisions, one of which was Birmingham South. It consisted of the wards of Deritend and St Martin, and part of the local government district of Balsall Heath.

The division was bounded to the west by Birmingham Edgbaston, to the north-west by Birmingham Central, to the north by Birmingham East, to the east by Birmingham Bordesley and in the south by the then city boundary and the East Worcestershire constituency.

In the 1918 redistribution of parliamentary seats, the Representation of the People Act 1918 provided for twelve new Birmingham divisions. The South division was abolished.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1885	Joseph Powell-Williams	Liberal
1886	Joseph Powell-Williams	Liberal Unionist
1904	Viscount Morpeth	Liberal Unionist
1911	Leo Amery	Liberal Unionist
1912	Leo Amery	Unionist
1918	Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Joseph Powell Williams	5,099	60.6
	Conservative	Henry Hawkes	3,311	39.4
Majority			1,788	21.2
Turnout			8,410	79.0
Registered electors			10,643
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Powell Williams	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Powell Williams	5,193	69.6	*N/A*
	Liberal	William James Lancaster	2,270	30.4	New
Majority			2,923	39.2	N/A
Turnout			7,463	69.0	N/A
Registered electors			10,814
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Powell Williams	4,830	79.3	+9.7
	Liberal	Walter Priestman	1,257	20.7	−9.7
Majority			3,573	58.6	+19.4
Turnout			6,087	52.5	−16.5
Registered electors			11,604
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+9.7

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Joseph Powell Williams	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

1904 Birmingham South by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Howard	5,299	70.4	*N/A*
	Liberal	James Hirst Hollowell	2,223	29.6	New
Majority			3,076	40.8	N/A
Turnout			7,522	62.8	N/A
Registered electors			11,984
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1906: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Howard	5,541	67.7	*N/A*
	Lib-Lab	John Valentine Stevens	2,641	32.3	N/A
Majority			2,900	35.4	N/A
Turnout			8,182	70.5	N/A
Registered electors			11,611
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Howard	6,207	71.5	+3.8
	Liberal	Arnold Ernest Butler	2,476	28.5	−3.8
Majority			3,731	43.0	+7.6
Turnout			8,683	77.7	+7.2
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+3.8

General election December 1910: Birmingham South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Howard	4,701	71.0	−0.5
	Liberal	Arnold Ernest Butler	1,923	29.0	+0.5
Majority			2,778	42.0	−1.0
Turnout			6,624	59.3	−18.4
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-0.5

1911 Birmingham South by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Leo Amery	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Unionist: Leo Amery
Liberal: John Gibbard Hurst

v t e Birmingham constituencies
Current	Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Northfield Birmingham Perry Barr Birmingham Selly Oak Birmingham Yardley Sutton Coldfield
Historic	Birmingham (1832–1885) Aston Manor (1885–1918) Birmingham Bordesley (1885–1918) Birmingham Central (1885–1918) Birmingham East (1885–1918) Birmingham North (1885–1918) Birmingham South (1885–1918) Birmingham West (1885–1950) Handsworth (1885–1918) Birmingham Aston (1918–1974) Birmingham Deritend (1918–1950) Birmingham Duddeston (1918–1950) Birmingham Handsworth (1918–1983) Birmingham King's Norton (1918–1955) Birmingham Moseley (1918–1950) Birmingham Sparkbrook (1918–1997) Birmingham Acock's Green (1945–1950) Birmingham Stechford (1950–1983) Birmingham Small Heath (1950–1997) Birmingham Hall Green (1950-2024) Birmingham All Saints (1955–1974) Birmingham Hodge Hill (1983-2024) Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath (1997–2010)

References

^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
^ The Liberal Year Book, 1907
Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1896
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)

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