This was a new constituency for 1997, taking in the two towns in its title from two very different constituencies. Labour’s majority here means that it would be on the cusp if the Conservatives win nationally - in other words, it is a key seat.
As at local government level, this seat is divided between the two towns after which it is named, themselves formerly parts of two different parliamentary constituencies. In the blue corner is Halesowen, a prosperous town which underwent a process of steady embourgeoisment throughout the 1980s. It has more in common with its former county of Worcestershire than where it is geographically located, in the West Midlands conurbation.
In the red corner is Rowley Regis, also covering Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, whose former seat, Warley West, stayed with Labour even in the dark days of 1983 and 1987. Then, as now, the seat had a very high proportion of workers engaged in manufacturing industry, and an above average-sized Asian and black population.
Perhaps the most significant issue to impinge on the constituency in recent years has been the near-closure of Rover’s Longbridge plant. This constituency is on the plant’s doorstep, and many small and medium-sized component manufacturers are based here.
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