Stoke-upon-Trent was a
parliamentary borough in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, which elected two
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs) to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
from 1832 until 1885, and then one member from 1885 until 1918, when the borough was enlarged, renamed Stoke-on-Trent, and split into three single-member constituencies.
History
Stoke-upon-Trent was established as a borough by the
Great Reform Act
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
of 1832 to represent the
Staffordshire Potteries
The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ...
, one of the most populous urban areas in England which had previously had no separate representation. The provisional contents, confirmed by the
Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832
The Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which defined the parliamentary divisions (constituencies) in England and Wales required by the Reform Act 1832. The boundaries were largely those recommen ...
, formed a contiguous area comprising the
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
s of
Tunstall,
Burslem
Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent.
T ...
,
Hanley,
Shelton Shelton may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
* Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire
* Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
* Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bed ...
,
Penkhull
Penkhull is a district of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, part of Penkhull and Stoke electoral ward, and Stoke Central parliamentary constituency.
Penkhull is a conservation area, and includes Grade II listed buildings suc ...
with
Boothen (containing the town of
Stoke-upon-Trent
Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England.
The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...
),
Lane End,
Longton Longton may refer to several places:
* Longton, Kansas, United States
* Longton, Lancashire, United Kingdom
* Longton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
See also
* Longtan (disambiguation)
* Longtown (disambiguation) Longtown may refer to several plac ...
,
Fenton Vivian, and Fenton Culvert;
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of
Sneyd; and
vill
Vill is a term used in English history to describe the basic rural land unit, roughly comparable to that of a parish, manor, village or tithing.
Medieval developments
The vill was the smallest territorial and administrative unit—a geographical ...
of
Rushton. At the time of the Reform Act the area had a population just over 50,000 (of whom 37,220 were in Stoke
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
). In 1867 the boundaries were extended somewhat, to bring in a part of Burslem which had previously been excluded.
In further boundary changes implemented at the
1885 general election, the borough was split into two single-member constituencies, the northern part becoming a separate
Hanley borough while the southern part (containing
Longton Longton may refer to several places:
* Longton, Kansas, United States
* Longton, Lancashire, United Kingdom
* Longton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
See also
* Longtan (disambiguation)
* Longtown (disambiguation) Longtown may refer to several plac ...
and
Fenton as well as Stoke itself) retained the Stoke-upon-Trent name; the new constituency had a population just under 100,000 by the time of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The industrial interests predominated, with the bulk of the voters being pottery workers or miners, although Stoke was a partly middle-class town; at first an apparently safe
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
seat, it fell narrowly to the Unionists in both 1895 and 1900, perhaps partly because of discord between miners and potters within the local Liberal party. From 1906 it was held by
John Ward as a
Lib-Lab MP hostile to the
Labour Party, who being from the Navvies' Union could defuse the mutual jealousies of the potters and miners.
By 1918, the pottery towns had been
united for municipal purposes in a single
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
, and the parliamentary boundary changes which came into effect at
that year's general election established a parliamentary borough of the same name to replace Stoke-upon-Trent and Hanley, divided into three constituencies:
Stoke-on-Trent, Stoke;
Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley; and
Stoke-on-Trent, Burslem.
Members of Parliament
1832–1885
1885–1918
Election results
Elections in the 1830s
Heathcote resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Ricardo's death caused a by-election.
Beresford Hope resigned in order to contest a
by-election at Cambridge University, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Melly resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
* Caused by Bright's resignation.
Leveson-Gower was appointed
Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
*Liberal-Labour:
John Ward
*Unionist:
Samuel Joyce Thomas
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...
References
Further reading
* ''The Constitutional Year Book for 1913'' (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
* F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
* Michael Kinnear, ''The British Voter'' (London: BH Batsford, Ltd, 1968)
* Henry Pelling, ''Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910'' (London: Macmillan, 1967)
* J Holladay Philbin, ''Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
* Frederic A Youngs, jr, ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II'' (London:
Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.
Origins
The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...
, 1991)
*
{{Stoke-on-Trent
Parliamentary constituencies in Stoke-on-Trent (historic)
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1832
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918