Stone (UK Parliament constituency)

Stone
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Stone in Staffordshire.

Location of Staffordshire within England.
County Staffordshire
Electorate 66,729 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament Bill Cash (Conservative)
Number of members One
1918 (1918)1950 (1950)
Number of members One
Type of constituency County constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency West Midlands

Stone is a county constituency in Staffordshire which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

Boundaries

While an earlier constituency of the same name existed until 1950, the current constituency was created for the 1997 general election, when Staffordshire was awarded an additional seat by the Boundary Commission. The constituency was formed from parts of the Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands and Mid Staffordshire constituencies. Although regarded as a safe seat,[2] its creation reduced the Conservative majority in the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stafford constituencies,[2] both of which were gained by Labour at the 1997 General Election.

Stone is one of the largest geographically in England. It covers the area from Balterley, Madeley in the north to the west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It then runs south and out to the outskirts of Market Drayton, running down to the northern edge of Newport. The boundary heads north alongside the western boundary of Stafford around the north of Stafford and down its eastern boundary. It runs across the north of Abbots Bromley before reaching its eastern end. It continues to the west of Uttoxeter in the Burton constituency. It then extends eastwards between the Burton constituency and up to Cheadle and to the south of Stoke-on-Trent. Currently within the constituency are the towns of Eccleshall, Cheadle and Stone itself.

There are various alterations to the constituency shape in boundary changes to be put place in time for the 2010 general election. Stone took the areas covered by the Bradley, and Salt and Enson civil parish from the neighbouring Stafford constituency. In turn, the civil parishes of Hixon, Ellenhall, and Ranton, were moved back from Stone to Stafford. In the largest alteration, the north-eastern parishes covering Kingsley, Oakamoor, Alton, Farley, and Cotton, were all moved to the altered Staffordshire Moorlands.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

Election Member [3] Party
1918 Sir Smith Hill Child, Bt. Coalition Conservative
1922 Sir Joseph Lamb Conservative
1945 Hugh Fraser Conservative
1950 Constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

Election Member [3] Party
1997 Bill Cash Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bill Cash 23,890 50.6 +2.2
Liberal Democrat Christine Tinker 10,598 22.4 +3.8
Labour Joanne Lewis 9,770 20.7 -9.0
UKIP Andrew Illsley 2,481 5.3 +2.0
Green Damon Hoppe 490 1.0 +1.0
Majority 13,292 28.1
Turnout 47,229 70.5 +3.5
Conservative hold Swing -0.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bill Cash 22,733 48.3 -0.8
Labour Mark Davis 13,644 29.0 -6.8
Liberal Democrat Richard Stevens 9,111 19.4 +4.3
UKIP Mike Nattrass 1,548 3.3 N/A
Majority 9,089 19.3 +6.0
Turnout 47,036 66.9 +0.6
Conservative hold Swing +3.0
General Election 2001: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bill Cash 22,395 49.1 +2.2
Labour John Palfreyman 16,359 35.8 -3.8
Liberal Democrat Brendan McKeown 6,888 15.1 +3.0
Majority 6,036 13.3
Turnout 45,642 66.3 -12.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bill Cash 24,859 46.8 N/A
Labour John Wakefield 21,041 39.6 N/A
Liberal Democrat Barry Stamp 6,392 12.0 N/A
Liberal A. Winfield 545 1.0 N/A
Natural Law D. Grice 237 0.4 N/A
Majority 3,818 N/A
Turnout 77.8 N/A
Conservative hold Swing N/A

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Almanac of British Politics, 5th ed, Robert Waller
  3. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)

Sources