Cannock Chase (UK Parliament constituency)

Cannock Chase
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.
Location of Staffordshire within England.
County	Staffordshire
Electorate	75,680 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	None
Number of members	One
Created from	Cannock & Burntwood
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Cannock Chase is a county constituency 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. Currently occupying the seat as MP is Aidan Burley of the Conservative Party. He was first elected at the 2010 general election with an above-average 14% swing.

Boundaries

Cannock Chase constituency has the same boundaries as Cannock Chase local government district.

The constituency contains two main towns, Cannock and Rugeley, with the Chase itself situated between them. Prior to 1997, Cannock was part of the Cannock and Burntwood constituency, while Rugeley was part of the Mid Staffordshire constituency. Between 1997 and 2010 the village of Huntington was part of the constituency even though it was part of South Staffordshire local government district.

The 15 electoral wards for Cannock Chase are:

Brereton and Ravenhill, Cannock East, Cannock North, Cannock South, Cannock West, Etching Hill and the Heath, Hagley, Hawks Green, Heath Hayes East and Wimblebury, Hednesford Green Heath, Hednesford North, Hednesford South, Norton Canes, Rawnsley, and Western Springs

As part of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which commenced in 2011, the Boundary Commission for England propose no changes to the current constituency boundaries.

Members of Parliament

Dr Tony Wright, the Chairman of the Public Administration Select Committee, was the Labour MP for Cannock Chase from 1997 to 2010, and for Cannock and Burntwood prior to 1997. He announced in 2008 that he would not stand at the 2010 general election, citing ill-health.

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Dr Tony Wright	Labour
	2010	Aidan Burley	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

The vote share change in 2010 comes from the notional, not actual, 2005 results because of the boundary change (loss of Huntington).

General Election 2010: Cannock Chase
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aidan Burley	18,271	40.1	+10.1
	Labour	Sue Woodward	15,076	33.1	−17.9
	Liberal Democrat	Jon Hunt	7,732	17.0	+3.0
	BNP	Terence Majorowicz	2,168	4.8	N/A
	UKIP	Malcolm McKenzie	1,580	3.5	−1.6
	Independent	Ron Turville	380	0.8	N/A
	Get Snouts Out The Trough	Roy Jenkins	259	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Mike Walters	93	0.2	N/A
Majority			3,195	7.0
Turnout			45,559	61.1	+3.7
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+14.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Cannock Chase
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Wright	22,139	51.3	−4.8
	Conservative	Ian Collard	12,912	29.9	−0.2
	Liberal Democrat	Jenny Pinkett	5,934	13.8	0.0
	UKIP	Roy Jenkins	2,170	5.0	N/A
Majority			9,227	21.4	−4.6
Turnout			43,155	57.4	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.3

General Election 2001: Cannock Chase
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Wright	23,049	56.1	+1.3
	Conservative	Gavin Smithers	12,345	30.1	+2.9
	Liberal Democrat	Stewart Reynolds	5,670	13.8	+5.1
Majority			10,704	26.0	−1.6
Turnout			41,064	55.4	−18.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.8

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Cannock Chase
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Wright	28,705	54.8	N/A
	Conservative	John Backhouse	14,227	27.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Kirby	4,537	8.7	N/A
	Referendum Party	P. Froggatt	1,663	3.2	N/A
	New Labour	W. Hurley	1,615	3.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	M. Conroy	1,120	2.1	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	M. Hartshorne	499	1.0	N/A
Majority			14,478	27.6	N/A
Turnout			52,366	72.4	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Staffordshire