Dudley is a constituency centred on the town of Dudley in the West Midlands, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sonia Kumar, a member of the Labour Party. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.
The constituency existed between 1832 and 1974 and was re-established by the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for the 2024 general election, It is based on the abolished Dudley North, with the addition of one ward from the also abolished Dudley South constituency.
Dudley is an urban and suburban constituency centred on the town of Dudley, part of the Black Country area of the West Midlands. Neighbourhoods outside the town centre covered by the constituency include Brockmoor, Pensnett, Gornal and Sedgley. Dudley grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution as a centre for ironworking and coal mining. The constituency has high levels of deprivation, with Dudley town centre and the suburbs to its south-west falling within the 10% most-deprived areas in England, whilst Gornal and Sedgley are comparatively wealthier. House prices in the constituency are generally low.
Compared to the rest of the country, residents of the constituency have low levels of education, income and professional employment. White people made up 80% of the population at the 2021 census, with Asians (primarily Pakistanis) forming the largest ethnic minority group at 11%. At the local council, most of the constituency is represented by the Labour Party, although Conservatives were elected in the wealthier outer suburbs. Voters in the constituency overwhelmingly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 71% voted in favour of Brexit, the 11th-highest rate out of 650 constituencies nationwide according to Electoral Calculus.
1918âÂÂ1950: The County Borough of Dudley, and the parish of Dudley Castle Hill.
1950âÂÂ1974: The County Borough of Dudley, and the Borough of Stourbridge.
2024âÂÂpresent: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Brockmoor and Pensnett, Castle and Priory, Gornal, St James's, St Thomas's, Sedgley, and Upper Gornal and Woodsetton (as they existed on 1 December 2020).
The re-established seat comprises the whole of the previous Dudley North constituency with the addition of the Brockmoor and Pensnett ward from Dudley South (abolished), thus bringing the electorate within the permitted range.
The borough of Dudley returned two members to Parliament in 1295, Benedict Andrew and Ralph Clerk de Duddlegh, but not to any subsequent one.
The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. It was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was replaced by the new Dudley East and Dudley West constituencies, which expanded beyond the town's historic boundaries to include Coseley and part of Sedgley in Dudley East (previously in the old Bilston constituency), as well as Kingswinford, Brierley Hill, and the remainder of Sedgley in Dudley West. All of these areas had been incorporated into the Dudley borough in 1966.
In the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was recommended that Dudley should return as a constituency, replacing Dudley North.
Dudley North prior to 2024
General Election 1939âÂÂ40
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
General Election 1914âÂÂ15:
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;
The election was declared void on petition, causing a by-election.
Benbow's death caused a by-election.
Hawkes resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.
Campbell was appointed as Attorney General for England and Wales, requiring a by-election.