Stone (UK Parliament constituency)

Stone
County constituency for the House of Commons
120px Boundary of Stone in Staffordshire.
120px Location of Staffordshire within England.
County	Staffordshire
Electorate	66,729 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Bill Cash (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1918–1950
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Stafford and Stone, Mid Staffordshire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	West Midlands

Stone is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 1997 recreation by Bill Cash, a Conservative.

History

The earlier constituency of the same name that existed 1918-1950 elected Conservatives, all three officers who had fought with some distinction in either of the two World Wars - however none achieved in Westminster the front bench.

The current constituency was created for the 1997 general election, when Parliament approved for Staffordshire the additional seat proposed by the Boundary Commission. The constituency was formed from parts of the Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands and Mid Staffordshire.

Presenting a safe seat for the Conservatives and proving to be one, its creation reduced the Conservative majority in the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stafford constituencies, both of which were gained by a Labour party member at the 1997 General Election.

Boundaries

Stone is in the top decile in geographical size in England. It covers the area from Madeley in the north to the west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 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.

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 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.

Constituency profile

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 1.9% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.

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 2015: Stone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bill Cash	25,733	54.7
	Labour	Sam Hale	9,483	20.2
	UKIP	Andrew Illsley	7,620	16.2
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Lewis	2,473	5.3
	Green	Wenslie Naylon	1,191	2.5
	Independent	John Coutouvidis	531	1.1
Majority			16,250	34.6
Turnout			47,031	70.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

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

Election 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

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Stone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Fraser	20,279	42.87
	Labour	W Simcock	18,173	38.42
	Liberal	Maj. John Hamilton Wedgwood	8,853	18.71
Majority			2,106	4.45
Turnout				72.61
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Stone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Lamb	20,498	61.01
	Labour	WI Simcock	13,099	38.99
Majority			7,399	22.02
Turnout				66.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Stone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Lamb	20,327	62.11
	Liberal	Walter Meakin	6,407	19.58
	Labour	WI Simcock	5,993	18.31
Majority			13,920	42.53
Turnout				74.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Stone

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Joseph Quinton Lamb	13,963	44.0
	Liberal	Walter Meakin	8,975	28.3
	Labour	George Belt	8,792	27.7
Majority			4,990	15.7
Turnout				76.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Staffordshire

Notes and references

Notes

References