Selly Oak Constituency Labour Party

The papers include minutes of Ward, Executive and General Management Committees and other meetings, 1936-1940, 1964-1970 (incomplete); Annual reports, 1938-1940.

Selly Oak is a residential seat south west of Birmingham city centre. The Selly Oak and Bournville wards are similar to neighbouring Edgbaston with some very attractive suburbs, and many of the white collar residents commute into the city or to the University. Bournville ward contains the famous model village founded by the Cadbury chocolate manufacturers, as well as the company's factory named after the area. As elsewhere, housing and healthcare are major issues in Selly Oak. In the case of the former, proposals to transfer all city housing stock to a social landlord are causing concern, particularly in the large housing estates of the King's Norton ward. Proposals to divide the huge Birmingham Health Authority are also controversial. The Selly Oak constituency was created in 1955 when the Conservatives won with a comfortable majority. However, Tory support was gradually whittled away and in 1966 Labour came within 777 votes of taking the seat. Labour won in October 1974 but the left-winger Tom Litterick was defeated in 1979 by the vocal Anthony Beaumont-Dark. Lynne Jones for Labour defeated Mr Beaumont-Dark in 1992 and extended her majority in 1997.

Reference: BBC News Vote 2001 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/060.stm). Accessed February 2002.

This collection is available to researchers by appointment at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/using/

This collection was deposited in the Centre by the Secretary of the Selly Oak Constituency Labour Party in 1973.

Link to full catalogue: http://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/SOC

Further deposits are not expected.

The Centre also holds the papers of other local branches of the Labour Party in the Midlands area. For further details see West Midlands Region of the Labour Party (MSS.6), Coventry North Constituency Labour Party (MSS.7), Handsworth Constituency Labour Party (MSS.8), East Midlands Region of the Labour Party (MSS.9), Rugby Constituency Labour Party (MSS.10), Coventry East Divisional Labour Party (MSS.85), Bexley Divisional Labour Party (MSS.94), and Warwick and Leamington Labour Party (MSS.133).

The records of the national Labour Party are held at the Labour History Archive and Study Centre in Manchester.