North West Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

North West Staffordshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Seats	one
Created from	North Staffordshire and West Staffordshire
Replaced by	Stone and Stafford

North West Staffordshire was a constituency in Staffordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Elections were held using the first past the post voting system.

History

The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	George Leveson-Gower	Liberal
	1886	Justinian Edwards-Heathcote	Conservative
	1892	James Heath	Conservative
	1906	Alfred Billson	Liberal
	1907	Albert Stanley	Liberal
	1910		Labour
	1916	Samuel Finney	Labour
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: North West Staffordshire^[1]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Leveson-Gower	5,757	54.9
	Conservative	Justinian Edwards-Heathcote	4,720	45.1
Majority			1,037	9.8
Turnout			10,477	79.2	'
Registered electors			13,222
	Liberal win (new seat)

Leveson-Gower was appointed Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 Feb 1886: North West Staffordshire^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Leveson-Gower	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: North West Staffordshire^[1]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Justinian Edwards-Heathcote	5,252	54.1	+9.0
	Liberal	George Leveson-Gower	4,459	45.9	−9.0
Majority			793	8.2	N/A
Turnout			9,711	73.4	−5.8
Registered electors			13,222
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+9.0

Elections in the 1890s

James Heath

General election 1892: North West Staffordshire^[1]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Heath	5,638	51.1	−3.0
	Liberal	Leonard Shoobridge	5,406	48.9	+3.0
Majority			232	2.2	−6.0
Turnout			11,044	78.8	+5.4
Registered electors			14,011
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

General election 1895: North West Staffordshire^[3]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Heath	6,206	52.8	+1.7
	Liberal	Leonard Shoobridge	5,538	47.2	−1.7
Majority			668	5.6	+3.4
Turnout			11,744	80.1	+1.3
Registered electors			14,657
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: North West Staffordshire^[3]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Heath	6,205	57.5	+4.7
	Liberal	James Lovatt	4,594	42.5	−4.7
Majority			1,611	15.0	+9.4
Turnout			10,799	73.8	−6.3
Registered electors			14,626
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.7

Alfred Billson

General election 1906: North West Staffordshire^[1]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alfred Billson	7,667	58.0	+15.5
	Conservative	James Heath	5,557	42.0	−15.5
Majority			2,110	16.0	N/A
Turnout			13,224	85.8	+12.0
Registered electors			15,404
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.5

Albert Stanley

1907 North West Staffordshire by-election^[1]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Lib-Lab	Albert Stanley	7,396	59.4	+1.4
	Conservative	Thomas Twyford	5,047	40.6	−1.4
Majority			2,349	18.8	+2.8
Turnout			12,443	79.1	−6.7
Registered electors			15,738
	Lib-Lab hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: North West Staffordshire^[4]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Stanley	8,566	59.8	New
	Conservative	Gilbert Nugent	5,754	40.2	−1.8
Majority			2,812	19.6	+3.6
Turnout			14,320	86.8	+1.0
Registered electors			16,498
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

General election December 1910: North West Staffordshire^[4]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Stanley	8,125	62.2	+2.4
	Conservative	Leslie de Gruyther	4,940	37.8	−2.4
Majority			3,185	24.4	+4.8
Turnout			13,065	79.2	−7.6
Registered electors			16,498
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.4

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Labour: Albert Stanley
• Unionist:

1916 North West Staffordshire by-election^[5]^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Samuel Finney	Unopposed
	Labour hold

References

1. Liberal Year Book, 1908
2. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
3. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
5. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1918