matplotlib barchart fixed padding between outer position and position - matplotlib

Question

I'm trying to create a barchart that keeps always a fixed distance between outer and inner position, regardless of the labels length. I would like to see bar and bar_long in the same position as bar_long and bar_perfect do. I've tried to work with axes.set_position(), but in vain. Thanks in advance for appreciated help!
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def createBar(figx, figy, labels):
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(figx, figy)
performance = [10, 70, 120]
ax.barh(labels, performance)
return fig
bar = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
bar_long = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom Cruise', 'Dick & Doof', 'Fred Astaire'))
bar_perfect = createBar(2, 1, (' Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))

Answer 1

I would not call it a proper solution, and I feel a bit ashamed to even post it, but if you really need something working in the meanwhile...
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def createBar(figx, figy, labels):
fig, (ax0, ax) = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(figx, figy),
gridspec_kw={'width_ratios': [1, 2]})
performance = [10, 70, 120]
ax.barh(labels, performance)
ax0.set_axis_off()
return fig
bar = createBar(3, 1, ('Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
bar_long = createBar(3, 1, ('Tom Cruise', 'Dick & Doof', 'Fred Astaire'))
bar_perfect = createBar(3, 1, (' Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
plt.show()

Answer 2

To get all plots the same, you need the same margins for all of them. So, you'll need to set them all to some fixed value. plt.subplots_adjust(...) does this. The numbers are fractions from 0 to 1, where 0 is the left bottom of the figure, and 1 the top right.
For your 2x1 example, the following would work:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
def createBar(figx, figy, labels):
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(figx, figy))
performance = [10, 70, 120]
ax.barh(labels, performance)
plt.subplots_adjust(left=0.4, right=0.95, top=0.97, bottom=0.25)
return fig
bar = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
bar_long = createBar(2, 1, ('Tom Cruise', 'Dick & Doof', 'Fred Astaire'))
bar_perfect = createBar(2, 1, (' Tom', 'Dick', 'Fred'))
plt.show()