Aldridge - Brownhills
Conservative hold

The Conservatives won five out of six wards in this constituency in the Walsall Metropolitan Borough elections of May 2000, with shares of the vote ranging from 59pc to 80pc (in Streetly), and they should increase their majority to a more comfortable level than the present 2,500 at the next general election. Aldridge-Brownhills is a middle class owner-occupied nearly all-white seat near the edge of Sutton Park. It should really be the base of an identikit Conservative. Instead it has been held formore than 20 years by the highly individual and independent Richard Shepherd.

Born 1942, educated at Isleworth Grammar School and the London School of Economics, Richard Shepherd, a Lloyds underwriter and owner of a chain of up-market grocers shops, is a respected, sensitive, libertarian bachelor. One of the Conservatives’ most uncompromising Europhobes, he was stripped of the Whip for five months in 1994-95. MP here since 1979, an advocate of open government who rebelled against the Scott Report, and ran for Speaker in 2000 with the cross-party backing of Martin Bell and Labour’s Dr Tony Wright, he has been seen (by The Guardian) as having “antediluvian views on many things, such as foreigners” but “very nice in a schoolboyish sort of way”. In 2000 he was one of only two Tories to join Labour rebels in opposing part privatisation of air traffic control. Labour's Ian Geary is an AEEU Research Officer.

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 14.32% 14.99% 95.48 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.20% 2.49% 8.06 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 3.79% 4.43% 85.71 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 10.92% 7.27% 150.19 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.07% 2.56% 2.90 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.40% 3.94% 10.07 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 18.79% 13.04% 144.11 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 18.14% 12.70% 142.82 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 20.67% 8.14% 253.78 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.34% 4.02% 8.34 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 3.44% 3.19% 108.03 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 7.29% 11.31% 64.47 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 1.07% 3.06% 34.96 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.56% 2.52% 22.11 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 10.29% 9.41% 109.34 £5-10K 17.27% 16.63% 103.84 £10-15K 16.87% 16.58% 101.77 £15-20K 13.68% 13.58% 100.68 £20-25K 10.37% 10.39% 99.79 £25-30K 7.68% 7.77% 98.85 £30-35K 5.66% 5.79% 97.80 £35-40K 4.19% 4.33% 96.65 £40-45K 3.12% 3.27% 95.42 £45-50K 2.34% 2.48% 94.15 £50-55K 1.77% 1.90% 92.85 £55-60K 1.35% 1.47% 91.54 £60-65K 1.04% 1.15% 90.25 £65-70K 0.81% 0.91% 88.97 £70-75K 0.63% 0.72% 87.73 £75-80K 0.50% 0.57% 86.52 £80-85K 0.39% 0.46% 85.34 £85-90K 0.32% 0.37% 84.20 £90-95K 0.25% 0.31% 83.11 £95-100K 0.21% 0.25% 82.05 £100K + 1.02% 1.34% 75.99