County Staffordshire Major settlements Stafford Number of members One | Electorate 69,832 (December 2010) Created 1983 | |
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Member of parliament Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative) | ||
Stafford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Jeremy Lefroy, a Conservative.
Contents
History
Stafford, as a parliamentary borough, first existed between the Model Parliament in 1295 and 1950.
The current constituency was created for the 1983 general election.
The town was represented in Parliament by leading playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan at the end of the 18th century.
Taken together with the Stafford and Stone seat which existed during the 33-year gap mentioned above, since 1910 when the last Liberal served the seat, the Conservative party has had five members and the Labour party two (this total includes the present member). In summary:
Boundaries
1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Stafford, the Rural District of Gnosall, the Rural District consisting of the civil parishes of Blymhill and Weston-under-Lizard, the Rural District of Stafford except the detached part of the civil parish of Colwich, and part of the Rural District of Cannock.
1983-1997: The Borough of Stafford wards of Baswich, Beaconside, Castle, Church Eaton, Common, Coton, Eccleshall, Forebridge, Gnosall, Highfields, Holmcroft, Littleworth, Manor, Milford, Penkside, Rowley, Seighford, Swynnerton, Tillington, Weeping Cross, and Woodseaves, and the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme wards of Loggerheads, Madeley, and Whitmore.
1997-2010: The Borough of Stafford wards of Baswich, Beaconside, Castle, Common, Coton, Forebridge, Haywood, Highfields, Holmcroft, Littleworth, Manor, Milford, Penkside, Rowley, Seighford, Tillington, and Weeping Cross, and the District of South Staffordshire wards of Acton Trussell, Bishopswood and Lapley, Penkridge North East, Penkridge South East, and Penkridge West.
2010-present: The Borough of Stafford wards of Baswich, Common, Coton, Forebridge, Haywood and Hixon, Highfields and Western Downs, Holmcroft, Littleworth, Manor, Milford, Penkside, Rowley, Seighford, Tillington, and Weeping Cross, and the District of South Staffordshire wards of Penkridge North East and Acton Trussell, Penkridge South East, Penkridge West, and Wheaton Aston, Bishopswood and Lapley.
The constituency forms the southerly part of the borough of Stafford, including the eponymous town itself plus the Penkridge area.
Constituency profile
The town has historical significance, featuring the Elizabethan Ancient High House, a museum with changing exhibitions and Stafford Castle. In terms of industry and commerce, the physics and engineering niche of large power station transformers are produced in the seat whereas the area to the north is famous for fine china, the Staffordshire Potteries from the companies Aynsley, Burleigh, Doulton, Dudson, Heron Cross, Minton, Moorcroft, Twyford, and Wedgwood. The area is also well known for the Staffordshire Hoard, Alton Towers and has a Building Society based in the town.
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.