Mid Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

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Mid Staffordshire County constituency
Created:	1983
Abolished:	1997
Type:	House of Commons

Mid Staffordshire was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom from 1983 until 1997.

It covered a swathe of territory across the centre of Staffordshire, stretching from Lichfield and Rugeley in the south to Stone in the north.

At the 1983 general election, the seat was won by John Heddle of the Conservative Party, who had previously represented the Lichfield and Tamworth constituency. Heddle held the seat at the 1987 general election.

Following Heddle's suicide in December 1989, a by-election followed on 22 March 1990. The by-election attracted a blaze of publicity, and a large number of candidates (14), as it took place at the height of the public dissatisfaction with the Conservative government over the Community Charge or Poll Tax (indeed, the notorious Poll Tax Riots took place only days after the by-election). Sylvia Heal of the Labour Party was victorious in the by-election; however she failed to retain the seat at the 1992 general election, losing to the Conservatives' Michael Fabricant.

In 1997, a review by the Boundary Commission reorganised the constituencies in Staffordshire, and Mid Staffordshire was abolished. It was replaced by parts of four constituencies: mostly by the Lichfield and Stone constituencies, apart from Rugeley which was included in Cannock Chase, and the area around the village of Great Haywood which was covered by the Stafford constituency.

[edit] Members of Parliament

1983 – 1990: John Heddle, Conservative
1990 – 1992: Sylvia Heal, Labour
1992 – 1997: Michael Fabricant, Conservative

[edit] Election results

General Election 1992: Mid Staffordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Fabricant	31,227	49.7
	Labour	Sylvia Heal	24,991	39.7
	Liberal Democrats	B.J. Stamp	6,402	10.2
	Natural Law	D. Grice	239	0.4
Majority			9,449	16.8
Turnout			62,859	85.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Mid Staffordshire by-election, 1990
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sylvia Heal	27,649	49.1	24.3
	Conservative	Charles Prior	18,200	32.3	-18.3
	Liberal Democrats	Timothy Jones	6,315	11.2	-12.0
	Social Democrat	Ian Wood	1,422	2.5
	Green	Robert Saunders	1,215	2.2
	Anti-Thatcher Conservative	James Bazeley	547	1.0
	Monster Raving Loony	Lord Sutch	336	0.6
	National Front	Christopher Hill	311	0.5
	NHS Supporters Party	Dr Christopher Abell	102	0.2
	Against Immigration Conservative Green	Nicholas Parker-Jervis	71	0.1
	Raving Loony Green Giant Supercalafragalistic Party	Stuart Hughes	59	0.1
	National Independent Correct Edification	Lindi St. Claire	51	0.1
	Independent 'Save the 2CV'	Bernard Mildwater	42	0.1
	Christian Patrotic Alliance - Save Britain Campaign	David Black	39	0.1
Majority			9,449	16.8
Turnout			56,359	77.5	-1.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+21%

General Election 1987: Mid Staffordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Heddle	28,644	50.6	-1.5
	Labour	C.R. St. Hill	13,990	24.7	+2.3
	Liberal	T.A. Jones	13,114	23.2	-2.3
	Independent Conservative	J.G. Bazeley	836	1.5	N/A
Majority			14,654	25.9	-0.7
Turnout			56,584	79.4	+1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Mid Staffordshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Heddle	27,210	52.1
	Liberal	T.A. Jones	13,330	25.5
	Labour	P.W. Lane	11,720	22.4
Majority			13,880	26.6
Turnout			52,260	77.5
	Conservative hold		Swing