Meriden (UK Parliament constituency)

Meriden
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Meriden in the West Midlands for the 2007 general election.
Location of the West Midlands within England.
County	West Midlands
Electorate	83,428 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Balsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden, Meriden and Chelmsley Wood
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of parliament	Caroline Spelman (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Sutton Coldfield and Nuneaton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Meriden is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Caroline Spelman, a Conservative.

Meriden is the largest geographical constituency in the West Midlands metropolitan area. It was created for the 1955 general election.

The 1983 boundary changes and landslide electoral success of Mrs Thatcher that year transformed the constituency into a Conservative safe seat, with the Labour-leaning areas becoming part of the new Warwickshire North constituency (which was also won by the Conservatives). Iain Mills held this seat until he died in office in January 1997, with the seat remaining vacant until the dissolution of Parliament that March (and therefore no by-election being held). Caroline Spelman was victorious in the 1997 general election, though on that occasion only by a marginal majority, and has held the seat since, with the challenge from Labour becoming more distant.

1955-1974: The Rural Districts of Atherstone, Meriden, and Tamworth.

1974-1983: The Rural Districts of Atherstone and Meriden.

1983-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull wards of Bickenhill, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Fordbridge, Kingshurst, Knowle, Meriden, Packwood, and Smith's Wood.

2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull wards of Bickenhill, Blythe, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Dorridge and Hockley Heath, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, Knowle, Meriden, and Smith’s Wood.

The constituency was created in 1955 following a review of parliamentary seats in Warwickshire by the Boundary Commission appointed under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. The constituency's area was transferred from the neighbouring constituencies of Nuneaton and Sutton Coldfield.