Cannock (UK Parliament constituency)

Cannock was a parliamentary constituency in Staffordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. It was effectively recreated in 1997 as the seat of Cannock Chase.

Cannock
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1918–1983
Seats	one
Created from	Kingswinford, West Staffordshire and Lichfield
Replaced by	Cannock & Burntwood and Mid Staffordshire[1]

Boundaries

1918–1955: The Urban Districts of Brownhills, Cannock, and Tettenhall, the Rural District of Seisdon, in the Rural District of Cannock the parishes of Bushbury, Cheslyn Hay, Essington, Great Wyrley, and Hilton, and in the Rural District of Walsall the parish of Bentley.

1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Cannock and Wednesfield, and the Rural District of Cannock.

1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Cannock and Rugeley, and the parish of Brindley Heath in the Rural District of Lichfield.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	James Parker	Coalition Labour
	1922	William Adamson	Labour
	1931	Sarah Ward	Conservative
	1935	William Adamson	Labour
	1945	Jennie Lee	Labour
	1970	Patrick Cormack	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Gwilym Roberts	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished: see Cannock and Burntwood

Election results

Election in the 1910s

General election 1918: Cannock^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Labour	James Parker	8,068	51.8
	Liberal	Beddoe Rees	7,493	48.2
Majority			575	3.6
Turnout			15,561	41.7
Registered electors			37,284
	Labour win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

• Parker was incorrectly designated as a coalition Liberal nominee in the official list of coalition candidates.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Cannock^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Adamson	9,889	36.8	−15.0
	National Liberal	James Parker	9,116	33.8	New
	Liberal	Harold Sidney Abrahamson	7,928	29.4	−18.8
Majority			773	3.0	−0.6
Turnout			26,933	66.9	+25.2
Registered electors			40,273
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Cannock ^[3][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Adamson	11,956	41.4	+4.6
	Unionist	Wallace Thorneycroft	9,438	32.7	New
	Liberal	Geoffrey Mander	7,465	25.9	−3.5
Majority			2,518	8.7	+5.7
Turnout			28,859	70.5	+3.6
Registered electors			40,948
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1924: Cannock^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Adamson	16,347	51.9	+10.5
	Unionist	Wallace Thorneycroft	15,166	48.1	+15.4
Majority			1,181	3.8	−4.9
Turnout			31,513	74.2	+3.7
Registered electors			42,473
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.5

General election 1929: Cannock^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Adamson	26,388	54.2	+2.3
	Unionist	Ralph Beaumont	15,055	30.9	−17.2
	Liberal	Abraham Ray	7,282	14.9	N/A
Majority			11,333	23.3	+19.5
Turnout			48,725	77.5	+3.3
Registered electors			62,871
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.8

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Cannock^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sarah Ward	27,498	54.63	+23.7
	Labour	William Adamson	22,833	45.37	−8.8
Majority			4,665	9.27	N/A
Turnout			50,331	75.95
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+16.25

General election 1935: Cannock^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Adamson	27,922	50.95	+5.58
	Conservative	Sarah Ward	26,876	49.05	−5.58
Majority			1,046	1.90	N/A
Turnout			54,798	71.41	−4.54
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.58

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Cannock^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	48,859	62.57	+11.62
	Conservative	CW Shelford	29,225	37.43	−11.62
Majority			19,634	25.14	+23.23
Turnout			78,084	71.34	−0.07
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.62

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Cannock^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	33,476	67.91	+5.34
	National Liberal	Marjorie Hickling	15,818	32.09	−5.34
Majority			17,658	35.82	+10.68
Turnout			49,294	85.70	−14.36
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.34

General election 1951: Cannock^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	32,379	66.87	−1.04
	National Liberal	Alan Farrington	16,041	33.13	+1.04
Majority			16,338	33.74	−2.08
Turnout			48,420	83.12	−2.58
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.04

General election 1955: Cannock^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	26,677	59.21	−7.66
	National Liberal	John HR Newey	18,379	40.79	+7.66
Majority			8,298	18.42	−15.32
Turnout			45,056	76.95	−6.17
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.66

General election 1959: Cannock^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	29,624	56.85	−2.36
	National Liberal	Philip H Lugg	22,485	43.15	+2.36
Majority			7,139	13.70	−4.72
Turnout			52,109	79.59	+2.64
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.36

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Cannock^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	31,608	57.53	+0.68
	Conservative	Charles John Prendergast Vereker	23,334	42.47	−0.68
Majority			8,274	15.06	+1.36
Turnout			54,942	76.15	−3.44
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.68

General election 1966: Cannock^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jennie Lee	33,621	59.81	+2.28
	Conservative	Harold R Elliston	22,594	40.19	−2.28
Majority			11,027	19.62	+4.56
Turnout			56,215	73.68	−2.47
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.28

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Cannock^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Cormack	32,665	51.2	+11.0
	Labour	Jennie Lee	31,136	48.8	−11.0
Majority			1,529	2.40	N/A
Turnout			63,801	70.84	−2.84
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+11.01

In an analysis of the voting trends at the 1970 general election, published shortly after the event, political scientist Richard Rose claimed that Jennie Lee's defeat in Cannock was "the biggest upset" of the contest. Rose believed that a large expansion in the electorate in the constituency contributed towards the 10.7% Labour to Conservative swing, which was significantly higher than the national average.^[14]

1970 notional result on 1974-1983 boundaries: Cannock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		23,400	62.23
	Conservative		14,200	37.77
Majority			9,200	24.46
Turnout			37,600
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Cannock^[15][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gwilym Roberts	23,869	51.46	−10.77
	Conservative	Roger King	12,805	27.61	−10.16
	Liberal	Michael Harry Windridge	9,709	20.93	New
Majority			11,064	23.85	−0.61
Turnout			46,383	82.70	+11.86
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Cannock^[16][1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gwilym Roberts	23,887	55.54	+4.08
	Conservative	Eric Grenville Hill	11,665	27.12	−0.49
	Liberal	Eric Freeman	7,459	17.34	−3.59
Majority			12,222	28.42	+0.57
Turnout			43,011	76.05	−6.65
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.28

General election 1979: Cannock^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gwilym Roberts	25,050	52.76	−2.78
	Conservative	J Vereker	17,704	37.28	+10.16
	Liberal	PJ Davis	4,729	9.96	−7.38
Majority			7,346	15.48	−12.94
Turnout			47,483	79.79	+3.76
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.47

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)

1. "'Cannock', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
2. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 461. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1931
4. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1931". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 26 June 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
5. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1935". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
6. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1945". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
7. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
9. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
10. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
11. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
12. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
13. "UK General Election results 1970". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
14. Richard Rose (1970). "Voting Trends Surveyed". The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1970. London: Times Newspapers Limited. pp. 31–32.
15. "UK General Election results February 1974". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
16. "UK General Election results October 1974". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.