Stone (UK Parliament constituency)

Stone
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Stone in Staffordshire.

Outline map

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

Stone is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 recreation by Bill Cash, a Conservative.[n 2]

History

The earlier constituency of the same name that existed 1918-1950 elected Conservatives, all three officers who had fought with some distinction in either of the two World Wars - however none achieved in Westminster the front bench.

The current constituency was created for the 1997 general election, when Parliament approved for Staffordshire the additional seat proposed by the Boundary Commission. The constituency was formed from parts of the Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands and Mid Staffordshire.

Presenting a safe seat for the Conservatives and proving to be one,[2] its creation reduced the Conservative majority in the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stafford constituencies,[2] both of which were gained by a Labour party member at the 1997 General Election.

Boundaries

Stone is in the top decile in geographical size in England. It covers the area from Madeley in the north to the west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 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.

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 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.[3]

Constituency profile

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.9% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[4]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

ElectionMember[5] Party
1918 Sir Smith Hill Child, Bt. Coalition Conservative
1922 Sir Joseph Lamb Conservative
1945 Hugh Fraser Conservative
1950 Constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

ElectionMember[5] Party
1997 Bill Cash Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Stone[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Bill Cash
Independent John Coutouvidis
Labour Sam Hale
UKIP Andrew Illsley[7]
Liberal Democrat Martin Lewis
Green Wenslie Naylon
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

Election 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

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Hugh Fraser 20,279 42.87
Labour W Simcock 18,173 38.42
Liberal Maj. John Hamilton Wedgwood 8,853 18.71
Majority 2,106 4.45
Turnout 72.61
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joseph Lamb 20,498 61.01
Labour WI Simcock 13,099 38.99
Majority 7,399 22.02
Turnout 66.26
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1931: Stone
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joseph Lamb 20,327 62.11
Liberal Walter Meakin 6,407 19.58
Labour WI Simcock 5,993 18.31
Majority 13,920 42.53
Turnout 74.64
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Stone[8]

Electorate 41,268

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Joseph Quinton Lamb 13,963 44.0
Liberal Walter Meakin 8,975 28.3
Labour George Belt 8,792 27.7
Majority 4,990 15.7
Turnout 76.9
Conservative hold Swing

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
  1. ↑ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Almanac of British Politics, 5th ed, Robert Waller
  3. ↑ 2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
  4. ↑ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
  6. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/stone/
  7. ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/stone/
  8. ↑ British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Fred W. S. Craig Parliamentary Research Services, 1983

Sources