This is a mostly rural seat to the south of the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation. Electoral Calculus describes the seat as "Strong Right" characterised by retired, socially conservative voters who strongly supported Brexit.[5]
Boundaries
Map of current 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.
2010–present: The Borough of Stafford wards of Barlaston and Oulton, Chartley, Church Eaton, Eccleshall, Fulford, Gnosall and Woodseaves, Milwich, St Michael's, Stonefield and Christchurch, Swynnerton, and Walton, the District of Staffordshire Moorlands wards of Cheadle North East, Cheadle South East, Cheadle West, Checkley, and Forsbrook, and the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme wards of Loggerheads and Whitmore, and Madeley.
1997–2010: The Borough of Stafford wards of Barlaston, Chartley, Church Eaton, Eccleshall, Fulford, Gnosall, Milwich, Oulton, St Michael's, Stonefield and Christchurch, Swynnerton, Walton, and Woodseaves, the District of Staffordshire Moorlands wards of Alton, Cheadle North East, Cheadle South East, Cheadle West, Checkley, Forsbrook, and Kingsley, and the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme wards of Loggerheads, Madeley, and Whitmore.
1918–1950: The Urban District of Stone, and the Rural Districts of Blore Heath, Cheadle, Mayfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Stone.
There were various alterations to the constituency shape in boundary changes put in place 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.[6]
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.
Presenting a safe seat for the Conservatives and proving to be one,[9] its creation reduced the Conservative majority in the Staffordshire Moorlands and Stafford constituencies,[9] both of which were gained by a Labour Party member at the 1997 general election.
^"Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^Castle, Richard (9 June 2023). "Stone MP Sir Bill Cash announces retirement after 40 years in Parliament". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
^ a b"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – West Midlands | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
^ a bLeigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 5)
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^ a b c d eBritish parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Fred W. S. Craig
Parliamentary Research Services, 1983
Sources
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN0-900178-06-X.
Iain Dale, ed. (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN1-84275-033-X.