Birmingham, Sparkbrook & Small Heath
Labour hold

This 1997 merger of the seats in inner south east Birmingham which used to be associated with two right-wing Labour stalwarts, Denis Howell of Small Heath, who could apparently be relied on to deal with any natural disaster afflicting the country in Harold Wilson's day, and Roy Hattersley of Sparkbrook, still huffing and puffing away on a great many topics. The combined seat, now held by Roger Godsiff, should be safely Labour, but there has been much controversy in recent years over whether a division, which was already majority non-white in 1991, should be represented by a Muslim. This has spilled over into a confused pattern in Birmingham City elections. The most recent in May 2000 saw Labour candidates struggle, losing Small Heath to a Justice for Kashmiris candidate, nearly losing to the Liberal Democrats in Sparkhill, and only just scraping victory in Sparkbrook. Now speculation centres on how well a former Labour activist Qassim Afzal may do standing for Parliament as a Liberal Democrat: ceratinly that party's vote should be monitored for a rise from a low base. Godsiff must hope to come through all this mayhem unscathed at least one more time.

Roger Godsiff, MP here since 1992, is the last Birmingham Labour MP to emerge from the school for rightwing fixers. A very low profile ex-union official who inherited the Small Heath seat in 1992 in disputed circumstances, he eventually prevailed over self-cancelling rivals from the majority Asian community. A Londoner, born in 1946, he attended Catford Comprehensive School, but sends his own children to private schools. Tall, moon-faced, bushy eye-browed and bland, he cuts an elusive figure, balancing rare Commons appearances with intensive ward-heeling in his constituency, where his tenure requires continuing division within the non-white population.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 0.21% 14.99% 1.39 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.00% 2.49% 0.00 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.09% 4.43% 2.14 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 0.02% 7.27% 0.25 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.74% 2.56% 28.77 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.11% 2.04% 5.63 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 5.05% 3.94% 127.99 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 0.76% 13.04% 5.81 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 4.78% 12.70% 37.63 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 2.20% 8.14% 27.02 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 1.39% 4.02% 34.46 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 0.72% 3.19% 22.56 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 28.44% 11.31% 251.42 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 3.72% 3.06% 121.36 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 3.12% 2.52% 123.96 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 48.66% 2.10% 2,317.18 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 17.37% 9.41% 184.48 £5-10K 23.71% 16.63% 142.52 £10-15K 19.31% 16.58% 116.46 £15-20K 13.27% 13.58% 97.70 £20-25K 8.68% 10.39% 83.49 £25-30K 5.63% 7.77% 72.40 £30-35K 3.68% 5.79% 63.57 £35-40K 2.45% 4.33% 56.44 £40-45K 1.65% 3.27% 50.60 £45-50K 1.14% 2.48% 45.77 £50-55K 0.79% 1.90% 41.73 £55-60K 0.57% 1.47% 38.32 £60-65K 0.41% 1.15% 35.43 £65-70K 0.30% 0.91% 32.95 £70-75K 0.22% 0.72% 30.81 £75-80K 0.17% 0.57% 28.95 £80-85K 0.13% 0.46% 27.32 £85-90K 0.10% 0.37% 25.89 £90-95K 0.08% 0.31% 24.63 £95-100K 0.06% 0.25% 23.50 £100K + 0.25% 1.34% 18.93