South Staffordshire

South Staffordshire County constituency
South Staffordshire shown within Staffordshire, and Staffordshire shown within England
Created:	1832, 1983
MP:	Patrick Cormack
Party:	Conservative
Type:	House of Commons
County:	Staffordshire
EP constituency:	West Midlands

Wikinews has related news: UK Staffordshire South 2005 election postponed

South Staffordshire is a parliamentary constituency 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.

There was a previous constituency of South Staffordshire or Staffordshire Southern which existed from 1832 to 1868, covering a much larger area.

Boundaries

The constituency is made up of about two-thirds of the South Staffordshire local government district. It wraps round the western edge of the city of Wolverhampton and it does not contain any large towns. Its settlements include Brewood, Cheslyn Hay, Codsall, Featherstone, Great Wyrley, Kinver, Perton and Wombourne.Most electoral wards are safely Conservative with Labour's only real area of strength being the ex-mining town of Cheslyn Hay.

History

1832-1868

The ancient county constituency of Staffordshire was divided under the Great Reform Act into two two-member constituency, while other parts of the old constituency were made into or added to borough constituencies. These were formally the Northern division of Staffordshire and the Southern division of Staffordshire, also called Southern Staffordshire or Staffordshire South. This seat was abolished in 1885, to be replaced by single member constituencies.

1983-present

The present South Staffordshire constituency was established in 1983, although in reality this was merely a renaming of the Staffordshire South West constituency formed in 1974 from parts of the former constituencies of Brierley Hill and Cannock. It covered the whole of the South Staffordshire district until 1997, when the area around Penkridge was included in the Stafford constituency.

It is a safe seat for the Conservative Party, with Sir Patrick Cormack having held it since its creation in 1974.

General election 2005

On 30 April 2005, the Liberal Democrat candidate Josephine Harrison died of an undisclosed illness at the age of 53. Election procedures require that in the event of a candidate's death after the close of nominations, the returning officer has to direct the general election poll (due to be held on May 5) to be abandoned, and to call a fresh general election poll in South Staffordshire, under the same writ of election, 28 days after having seen proof of death. As the poll was strictly not a by-election, but rather a part of the general election, it was run under general election regulations, for instance not qualifying for the significantly higher election expenses available at by-elections.

The original candidates were:

• Penny Barber, Labour
• Sir Patrick Cormack, Conservative
• Adrian Davies. UK Freedom Party
• Josephine Harrison, Liberal Democrats
• Malcolm Hurst, United Kingdom Independence Party

On 9 May, the Labour candidate, Penny Barber, announced that she was standing down as she could not afford to take any more time off work. The constituency Labour Party had to select a new candidate, choosing Paul Kalinauckas who had been their candidate in the 2001 election. The Liberal Democrats selected Jo Crotty as their replacement candidate. In addition, three additional candidates who had not been nominated for the original poll fought the delayed election: Kate Spohrer of the Green Party, Rev. David Braid of Clause 28 Children's Protection Christian Democrats, and most notably the journalist Garry Bushell representing the English Democrats Party. Bushell had already stood in the Greenwich and Woolwich constituency on May 5, where he had polled 3.4%.

The election was eventually held on 23 June 2005, with Sir Patrick Cormack retaining the seat. With the seat being safely Conservative, and with the results of the general election in other constituencies already known, the election attracted a considerably lower turnout (37.3%) than in other constituencies. Cormack increased his majority to 34.5% (a 9.1% swing), while the United Kingdom Independence Party saw one of their best results of 2005, with 10.4% of the vote.

Members of Parliament

1832-1868

1983-present

• Constituency created (as Staffordshire South West) 1974, renamed 1983
• 1974 – present: Patrick Cormack, Conservative

Election results

Note that the 2005 election was held on 23 June, instead of 5 May.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Staffordshire

External links

• Lib Dems announce candidate death, BBC News
• Labour's search for new candidate, BBC News
• The Guardian: Election begins in the seat time forgot

References