Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament constituency)
| Staffordshire Moorlands | |
|---|---|
| County constituency | |
| for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of Staffordshire Moorlands in Staffordshire. |
|
 Location of Staffordshire within England. |
|
| County | Staffordshire |
| Electorate | 62,457 (December 2010)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1983 |
| Member of Parliament | Karen Bradley (Conservative) |
| Number of members | One |
| Overlaps | |
| European Parliament constituency | West Midlands |
Staffordshire Moorlands 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. The current MP is Karen Bradley of the Conservative Party.
The constituency covers the largely rural areas of north-east Staffordshire, to the east of Stoke-on-Trent. The largest towns are Leek and Biddulph.
Contents |
[edit] Boundaries
The constituency succeeded the former constituency of Leek and was first contested at the 1983 General election. The boundary changes which took effect for the 1997 General election proved to be among the most controversial of all those proposed by the Boundary Commission.[2] Initially only minor changes were to be made to Staffordshire Moorlands, with two rural wards transferring to the new Stone constituency.[2] However in the same proposed boundary changes, the neighbouring community of Kidsgrove had been split between two constituencies, with two wards remaining in the constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North and two wards transferring to Newcastle-under-Lyme. At the local enquiry into the changes, it was argued that this division of Kidsgrove was unacceptable and the assistant commissioner consequently recommended that all four Kidsgrove wards be transferred instead to Staffordshire Moorlands.[2] To make way for the 19,000 voters in Kidsgrove, a heavily Labour supporting community,[2] two wards, Endon & Stanley and Brown Edge were transferred to Stoke-on-Trent North, while two more rural wards were transferred to the Stone constituency. It was estimated that if the constituency had been fought on the 1997 boundaries that Labour would have won the seat by about 1,500 votes as opposed to the actual majority of 7,410 which Conservative MP David Knox had received at the 1992 General election .[3]
The boundary changes which took effect at the 2010 General election effectively reversed these changes and restored the Status quo ante. Four of the five Kidsgrove wards were transferred back to Stoke-on-Trent North with only one mainly rural ward, Newchapel remaining in Staffordshire Moorlands. Brown Edge and Endon & Stanley return to Staffordshire Moorlands. It was estimated that if the constituency had been fought at the 2005 election, Labour would have lost the seat by 1,035 votes as opposed to the 2,438 votes that Charlotte Atkins won on that occasion.[4][5]
[edit] Members of Parliament
| Election | Member [6] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Sir David Knox | Conservative | |
| 1997 | Charlotte Atkins | Labour | |
| 2010 | Karen Bradley | Conservative | |
[edit] Elections
[edit] Elections in the 2010s
The vote share change and hold status in 2010 comes from the notional, not actual, 2005 results because of boundary changes.
| General Election 2010: Staffordshire Moorlands[7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | Karen Bradley | 19,793 | 45.2 | +5.4 | |
| Labour | Charlotte Atkins | 13,104 | 29.9 | −6.0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Henry Jebb | 7,338 | 16.7 | −0.8 | |
| UKIP | Steve Povey | 3,580 | 8.2 | +1.4 | |
| Majority | 6,689 | 15.3 | |||
| Turnout | 43,815 | 70.6 | +2.8 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +5.7 | |||
[edit] Elections in the 2000s
| General Election 2005: Staffordshire Moorlands | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Charlotte Atkins | 18,126 | 41.0 | −8.0 | |
| Conservative | Marcus Hayes | 15,688 | 35.5 | +0.2 | |
| Liberal Democrat | John Fisher | 6,927 | 15.7 | +1.8 | |
| UKIP | Stephen Povey | 3,512 | 7.9 | +6.1 | |
| Majority | 2,438 | 5.5 | −8.2 | ||
| Turnout | 44,253 | 64.0 | +0.1 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | −4.1 | |||
| General Election 2001: Staffordshire Moorlands | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Charlotte Atkins | 20,904 | 49.0 | −3.2 | |
| Conservative | Marcus Hayes | 15,066 | 35.3 | +2.8 | |
| Liberal Democrat | John Redfern | 5,928 | 13.9 | +1.8 | |
| UKIP | Paul Gilbert | 760 | 1.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 5,838 | 13.7 | −6.0 | ||
| Turnout | 42,658 | 63.9 | −13.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | −3.0 | |||
Source:[8]
[edit] Elections in the 1990s
| General Election 1992: Staffordshire Moorlands[9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Conservative | David Knox | 29,240 | 46.6 | −6.3 | |
| Labour | JE Siddelley | 21,830 | 34.8 | +6.0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Mrs CR Jebb | 9,326 | 14.9 | −3.5 | |
| Anti-Federalist League | MC Howson | 2,121 | 3.4 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | P Davies | 261 | 0.4 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,410 | 11.8 | −12.3 | ||
| Turnout | 62,778 | 83.7 | +3.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −6.2 | |||
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c d Staffordshire Moorlands profile, Vote 2001, BBC, accessed 25 January 2010
- ^ C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
- ^ Rallings & M. Thrasher (eds) Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 2007)
- ^ Staffordshire Moorlands, UK Polling report
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)[self-published source?][better source needed]
- ^ BBC 2010 General Election Site
- ^ UK Election results
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
