West Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

West Staffordshire was a parliamentary constituency in Staffordshire which returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament until 1885, and then one member until 1918.

West Staffordshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	Staffordshire
1868–1885
Seats	Two
Created from	South Staffordshire North Staffordshire
Replaced by	Lichfield Division, North-Western Division (both created of part only in 1885) Wolverhampton West, Stafford, Cannock (remainder)
1885–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency

History

The constituency was created for the 1868 general election, and abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

1868–1885: The Hundreds of Pirehill South, Cuttlestone and Seisdon (excluding the parish of Rushall), and the Townships of Willenhall and Wednesfield.^[1][2]

1885–1918: The sessional divisions of Penkridge (except the parishes of Great Wyrley and Norton Canes), Stafford (including the whole of the parish of Gnosall), and Stone, and the Municipal Borough of Stafford.^[3]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1868–1885

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1868		Sir Smith Child, Bt.	Conservative		Hugo Meynell-Ingram	Conservative
1871					Francis Monckton	Conservative
1874		Alexander Staveley Hill	Conservative
1885	representation reduced to one member

MPs 1885–1918

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Hamar Bass	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1898 by-election	Sir Alexander Henderson	Liberal Unionist
	1906	Henry McLaren	Liberal
	1910	George Lloyd	Liberal Unionist
	1912		Conservative
1918		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: West Staffordshire (2 seats)^[4][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Smith Child	3,909	27.5
	Conservative	Hugo Meynell-Ingram	3,773	26.5
	Liberal	William Orme Foster	3,295	23.2
	Liberal	Henry Hodgetts-Foley	3,244	22.8
Majority			478	3.3
Turnout			7,111 (est)	71.5 (est)
Registered electors			9,942
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Elections in the 1870s

Ingram's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 13 Jun 1871: West Staffordshire (1 seat)^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Monckton	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1874: West Staffordshire (2 seats)^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Staveley Hill	Unopposed
	Conservative	Francis Monckton	Unopposed
Registered electors			10,365
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: West Staffordshire (2 seats)^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Staveley Hill	4,123	27.5	N/A
	Conservative	Francis Monckton	3,967	26.5	N/A
	Liberal	William Anson	3,564	23.8	New
	Liberal	James Hall Renton[6]	3,344	22.3	New
Majority			403	2.7	N/A
Turnout			7,499 (est)	66.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			11,288
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1885: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hamar Bass	4,820	54.0	+7.9
	Conservative	Francis Monckton	4,106	46.0	−8.0
Majority			714	8.0	N/A
Turnout			8,926	83.9	+17.5 (est)
Registered electors			10,636
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.0

General election 1886: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Hamar Bass	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Hamar Bass	5,227	64.5	N/A
	Liberal	John Kempster	2,879	35.5	New
Majority			2,348	29.0	N/A
Turnout			8,106	78.0	N/A
Registered electors			10,395
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Hamar Bass	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

Bass's death caused a by-election.

1898 West Staffordshire by-election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Alexander Henderson	4,769	54.4	N/A
	Liberal	William Adams[8]	3,993	45.6	New
Majority			776	8.8	N/A
Turnout			8,762	82.8	N/A
Registered electors			10,580
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Alexander Henderson	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General election 1906: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry McLaren	5,586	54.3	New
	Liberal Unionist	Alexander Henderson	4,708	45.7	N/A
Majority			878	8.6	N/A
Turnout			10,294	88.9	N/A
Registered electors			11,584
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

George Lloyd

General election January 1910: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	George Lloyd	5,892	52.5	+6.8
	Liberal	Henry McLaren	5,327	47.5	−6.8
Majority			565	5.0	N/A
Turnout			11,219	92.0	+3.1
Registered electors			12,197
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.8

General election December 1910: West Staffordshire^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	George Lloyd	5,602	52.2	−0.3
	Liberal	Walter Meakin	5,123	47.8	+0.3
Majority			479	4.4	−0.6
Turnout			10,725	87.9	−4.1
Registered electors			12,197
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	−0.3

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: Philip Ashworth
• Liberal: Beddoe Rees