Stone (UK Parliament constituency)

Stone
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Stone in Staffordshire.
Location of Staffordshire within England.
County	Staffordshire
Electorate	66,729 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997 (1997)
Member of Parliament	Bill Cash (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1918 (1918)–1950 (1950)
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Stone is a county constituency in Staffordshire which is 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.

Boundaries

While an earlier constituency of the same name existed until 1950, the current constituency was created for the 1997 general election, when Staffordshire was awarded an additional seat by the Boundary Commission. The constituency was formed from parts of the Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands and Mid Staffordshire constituencies. Although regarded as a safe seat, its creation reduced the Conservative majority in the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stafford constituencies, both of which were gained by Labour at the 1997 General Election.

Stone is one of the largest geographically in England. It covers the area from Madeley in the north to the west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It 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 itself.

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 civil 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.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1950

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Sir Smith Hill Child, Bt.	Coalition Conservative
	1922	Sir Joseph Lamb	Conservative
	1945	Hugh Fraser	Conservative
	1950	Constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

Election		Member	Party
	1997	Bill Cash	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

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

Elections 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

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Staffordshire

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd edition ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. 
• Iain Dale, ed (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X. 
• The Times House of Commons 1945. 1945.