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Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950 onwards
1950–1955: The County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent wards numbers 19 to 26.
1955–1983: The County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent wards numbers 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24.
1983–2010: The City of Stoke-on-Trent wards of Blurton, Fenton Green, Great Fenton, Longton South, Meir Park, Trentham Park, and Weston.
2010–2024: The City of Stoke-on-Trent wards of Blurton, Fenton, Longton North, Longton South, Meir Park and Sandon, Trentham and Hanford, and Weston and Meir North.
The Borough of Stafford wards of: Barlaston; Fulford; Swynnerton & Oulton.
The District of Staffordshire Moorlands wards of: Checkley; Forsbrook.
The City of Stoke-on-Trent wards of: Blurton East; Blurton West and Newstead; Broadway and Longton East; Dresden and Florence; Hanford and Trentham; Hollybush and Longton West; Lightwood North and Normacot; Meir North; Meir Park; Meir South; Weston Coyney.
Significant changes, with northern parts, including the town of Fenton, being transferred to Stoke-on-Trent Central. To compensate and bring the electorate within the permitted range, the parts in the Stafford and Staffordshire Moorlands local authorities were added from the abolished constituency of Stone.
Following a further local government boundary review in the City of Stoke-on-Trent which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:
The City of Stoke-on-Trent wards of: Blurton; Dresden & Florence; Hanford, Newstead & Trentham; Hollybush; Lightwood North & Normacot; Longton & Meir Hay South (nearly all); Meir Hay North, Parkhall & Weston Coney (majority); Meir North; Meir Park; Meir South.
Constituency profile
The seat is non-rural and in the upper valley of the Trent covering half of the main city of the Potteries, a major ceramics centre since the 17th century.
A former safe Labour seat, like the other Stoke-on-Trent constituencies, it includes the city's most middle-class electoral wards of Meir that contrast with much of the neighbouring, predominantly lower income, population of the other wards.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 equal to the regional average of 4.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.
History
Political history
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election as the successor to the Stoke Division of Stoke-on-Trent. It also included parts of the abolished Stone constituency which had been absorbed by the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent.
The constituency and its predecessor were safe Labour seats from 1935 until the 2010s when it became marginal. It was won by the Conservative Party for the first time in 2017 when Jack Brereton became its MP. At the 2019 general election, the Conservatives increased their majority to over 11,000 votes; with a vote share of 62%. This was overturned in the 2024 election when, despite boundary changes favorable to the Conservatives, Labour'sAllison Gardner won the seat, albeit with a small majority of 627 votes.
Prominent members
Jack Ashley (later Lord Ashley) became deaf as a result of an operation, but his disability campaigns led to major enactments and public sector changes to improve ordinary life for deaf people, including the inclusion of sign language in television programmes and campaigns to help other disabled people.
A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
Brereton's was 1 of 6 total gains offset by greater losses (13 net seats lost) for his party in the 2017 results nationwide. In 2017 the two largest parties increased their share of the vote largely in England at the expense of UKIP.