Stafford is a constituency represented in 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. T ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

since 2019 by

Theodora Clarke Theodora Roosevelt Clarke (born 4 August 1985) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stafford since the 2019 general election. Prior to her political career, she worked in the arts industry ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. The seat since its resurrection in 1983 has proven to be somewhat of a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

being held always by the incumbent government although it currently has a significantly higher vote share for the Conservatives than the average constituency.

History

Stafford, as a parliamentary borough, first existed between the

Model Parliament The Model Parliament is the term, attributed to Frederic William Maitland, used for the 1295 Parliament of England of King Edward I. History This assembly included members of the clergy and the aristocracy, as well as representatives from the v ...

in 1295 and 1950. The current constituency was created for the 1983 general election. ;Prominent members The town was represented in Parliament by leading playwright

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as '' The Rivals'', '' The ...

at the end of the 18th century. ;Political history Taken together with the Stafford and Stone seat which existed during the 33-year gap mentioned above, since 1910 when the last

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 ...

served the seat, the Conservative party has had five members and the Labour party two (this total includes the present member). In summary: *Labour saw a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

result in their 1945 landslide victory, but Conservative Hugh Fraser regained the seat at the next election in 1950 in the successor seat which he held until his death in 1984. *Effects from the creation of the Stone constituency in 1997 made Stafford somewhat more marginal: sitting Stafford MP

Bill Cash Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in 1997. ...

followed some of his electors into the Stone constituency, which he won, and after a 47-year lack of a member, Labour's

David Kidney David Neil Kidney (born 21 March 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stafford from 1997 to 2010. Early life Kidney attended Pinewood Primary School in Meir (now the new Crescent Primary School), L ...

gained the constituency in his party's landslide victory in 1997. The defeated Conservative candidate in 1997 was David Cameron, who in the next election was elected as the MP for the safe seat of

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

, and became the Conservative Party leader in 2005, and Prime Minister in 2010.

Boundaries

1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Stafford, the Rural District of Gnosall, the Rural District consisting of the civil parishes of Blymhill and Weston-under-Lizard, the Rural District of Stafford except the detached part of the civil parish of Colwich, and part of the Rural District of Cannock. 1983–1997: The Borough of Stafford wards of Baswich, Beaconside, Castletown, Church Eaton, Common, Coton, Doxey, Eccleshall, Forebridge, Gnosall, Highfields, Holmcroft, Littleworth, Manor, Milford, Parkside, Rowley, Seighford, Swynnerton, Tillington, Weeping Cross, and Woodseaves, and the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme wards of Loggerheads, Madeley, and Whitmore. 1997–2010: The Borough of Stafford wards of Baswich, Beaconside, Castletown, Common, Coton, Doxey, Forebridge, Haywood, Highfields, Holmcroft, Littleworth, Manor, Milford, Parkside, Rowley, Seighford, Tillington, and Weeping Cross, and the District of South Staffordshire wards of Acton Trussell, Bishopswood and Lapley, Penkridge North East, Penkridge South East, and Penkridge West. 2010–present: The Borough of Stafford wards of Baswich, Castletown, Common, Coton, Doxey, Haywood and Hixon, Highfields and Western Downs, Holmcroft, Littleworth, Manor, Milford, Parkside, Rowley, Seighford, Tillington, and Weeping Cross, and the District of South Staffordshire wards of Penkridge North East and Acton Trussell, Penkridge South East, Penkridge West, and Wheaton Aston, Bishopswood and Lapley. The constituency forms the southerly part of the

borough of Stafford The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Stafford. It also includes the towns of Stone and Eccleshall, as well as numerous villages such as Weston, Hixon, ...

, including the eponymous town itself plus the

Penkridge Penkridge ( ) is a village and civil parish in South Staffordshire District in Staffordshire, England. It is to the south of Stafford, north of Wolverhampton, west of Cannock and east of Telford. The nearby town of Brewood is also not far awa ...

area.

Constituency profile

The town has historical significance, featuring the Elizabethan Ancient High House, a museum with changing exhibitions and

Stafford Castle Stafford Castle is an ancient Grade II listed castle situated two miles west of the town of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. From the time of the Norman Conquest and as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 it was the seat of the powerful Ang ...

. In terms of industry and commerce, the physics and engineering niche of large

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s are produced in the seat whereas the area to the north is famous for fine china, 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 ...

from the companies Aynsley, Burleigh, Doulton, Dudson, Heron Cross, Minton,

Moorcroft W. Moorcroft Limited (trading as W Moorcroft Ltd) is a British art pottery manufacturer based at Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The company was founded by William Moorcroft in 1913. History In 1897, Staffordshire pottery manufacture ...

, Twyford, and

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

. The area is also well known for the Staffordshire Hoard, Alton Towers and has a

Building Society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingd ...

based in the town. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Members of Parliament

Stafford parliamentary borough

MPs 1295–1640

*''Constituency created'' (1295)

MPs 1640–1885

MPs 1885–1918

Stafford division of Staffordshire

MPs 1918–1950

Stafford county constituency

MPs since 1983

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

* Death of Sir Hugh Fraser 6 March 1984

Election in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

* Caused by Macdonald's death.

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1860s

* The 1868 election was declared void on petition "on account of corrupt practices", causing a by-election. * Caused by Wise's resignation.

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1840s

* Caused by Carnegie's appointment as a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

Elections in the 1830s

* Caused by Goodricke's resignation, in 1835, to contest a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

at . A writ for a by-election was denied for nearly two years. * Farrand retired before the poll. The election was later declared void and no writ was issued before the 1835 general election.

Notes

References

Sources

* * ''Britain Votes/Europe Votes By-Election Supplement 1983–'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1985) * Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

*D Brunton & D H Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) *''Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803'' (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808

* Henry Stooks Smith, ''The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847'', Volume 2 (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1845)
The Parliaments of England: From 1st George I., to the Present Time

The History of Parliament: the House of Commons - Stafford, Borough, 1386 to 1832
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Staffordshire Borough of Stafford South Staffordshire District Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1295 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983