The local electorate returned a Labour MP in the constituency's first seventeen general elections; in the following election Eddie Hughes became its second Conservative MP, following an earlier by-election win by his party in 1976.[2] The constituency consisted of green-buffered urban areas across one half of the formerly metalworking- and manufacturing-centred town of Walsall, and the main other settlement within its boundaries, Bloxwich.
The constituency was in the heart of an area traditionally focused on manufacturing which retained many mechanical and engineering jobs in its economy.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 8.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, not the highest in the region (which was Birmingham Ladywood at 11.1%) but also significantly higher than the average for the region, 4.7%.[4]
1955–1964: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich, Hatherton, and Leamore, and the Urban District of Brownhills.[5]
1964–1974: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Hatherton, and Leamore, and the Urban District of Brownhills.[6]
1974–1983: The County Borough of Walsall wards of Bentley, Birchills, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Leamore, Willenhall North and Willenhall South.
1983–2024: The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall wards of Birchills Leamore, Blakenall, Bloxwich East, Bloxwich West, Short Heath, Willenhall North, and Willenhall South.
History
Results between 1955 and 1979
The seat was created in 1955 from part of Walsall. Its first Member of Parliament was W.T. Wells of the Labour Party, who had been the MP for Walsall. In 1974, he was succeeded by controversial Labour MP John Stonehouse, who was appointed Postmaster General and became infamous for faking his own death, being later jailed for fraud. After resigning from the party in April 1976, he was invited to join the English National Party, becoming their first (and only) MP, before being forced to resign as an MP in August 1976. The ensuing by-election was won by Robin Hodgson, a Conservative.
Results since 1979
Labour regained the seat in 1979; their candidate was the former Croydon South MP David Winnick, who represented the constituency until 2017. Aside from a marginal majority in 1987 of 3.7%, Winnick's wins from and including 1979 ranged between 7.3% and 29% (the latter twice) until 2010. He fended off a strong challenge from Conservative Helyn Clack, who he beat by 2.7% of the vote in 2010.[7] Going into the 2015 general election, Walsall North was 13th on the list of Conservative target seats.[8] Winnick increased his majority to 1,937 — 5.2% of the vote.[9] The 2015 result gave the seat the 22nd-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[10]
Other parties since 1979
Conservative candidates finished runner-up in each election from and including 1979, winning in 2017.
The Liberal Democrats managed to produce their best result since the seat's 1955 creation (counting their two predecessor parties) in 1983, when Liberal A. Bentley polled 20.7% of the vote. In 2005 and 2010, the BNP saved their deposit by polling more than 5% of the vote. The last time this percentage had been reached by a candidate in Walsall North in other than the top three parties had been 1976.
^Hughes's gain was one of six gains offset by greater losses (13 net seats lost) for his party in the 2017 results nationwide. The two largest parties increased their share of the vote in 2017, largely in England at the expense of UKIP.
