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Post by John Chanin on Oct 2, 2023 15:17:43 GMT
This is a new seat, bearing little relation to any previous seat in west Staffordshire. There are 4 parts to it. Firstly, starting from the north, is the small market town of Stone, halfway between Stafford and Stoke, which has a population of 16,000. It is modestly prosperous, with more managerial than routine workers, and good educational qualifications. Traditionally Conservative, at local level it is now dominated by Residents. The town sits on the upper valley of the river Trent and the associated Trent & Mersey canal, and the seat extends southwards along the Trent valley towards Rugeley, with some quite remote farming country away from the river towards Uttoxeter. This section has 13,000 voters, similar to Stone, and has no settlement larger than a village. The village of Haywood is where the Trent & Mersey canal meets the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal. Both these areas are in Stafford District, the former being previously part of the eponymous Stone seat, and the latter, solidly Conservative, formerly part of the Stafford seat. The majority of the new seat, just under two-thirds, comes from South Staffordshire District. Directly to the south of Stafford is the small town of Penkridge, with a population of 9000. This is an almost wholly modern commuter village. There is also some pleasant rural countryside on the Shropshire border to the west of the town, around the village of Wheaton Aston. This section of the seat was formerly in the Stafford constituency, and contains 12,000 very Conservative voters. The largest contributor to the new seat is the north of the old South Staffordshire constituency. East of the M6 is largely urban, and is distinctly down market of the rest of the seat. In the far north of the District, Hatherton and Huntington are essentially parts of Cannock, and there are Labour votes here. South of Cannock are Cheslyn Hay and Great Wyrley. While the urban area is continuous, they are separated by the railway running north from Walsall, which can only be crossed in two places. Cheslyn Hay is an older settlement with terraces of Edwardian houses, and also has some Labour voters, sending occasional councillors to the District Council. Great Wyrley, despite a distant mining history, is more modern with extensive bungalows. Both send many commuters into Greater Birmingham to the south. West of the M6, and north of the M54 is an extensive and largely flat rural area with overgrown villages like Brewood and Featherstone. The expansive Brewood ward is demographically similar to Penkridge to the north, and distinctly up market from Featherstone, once a mining area, which has quite a bit of council housing, and the lowest educational qualifications in the seat. The presence of a number of prisons no doubt contributes to this. Lastly south of the M54 and west of the M6, and not sure whether it is part of Wednesfield, Willenhall, or a separate village, is Essington. Overall the seat is a strange shape, arcing around Stafford to the east and south, and stretching from the environs of Stoke all the way to the edge of the Greater Birmingham conurbation. It links two areas with little in common, except for a solid record of voting Conservative nationally, albeit with some Independents locally. The Stafford section is considerably up market of the South Staffordshire section, but overall the seat is fairly average, distinguished mainly by the high level of owner-occupation. This is a bits left over seat, created by the Boundary Commission to minimise changes elsewhere, as a result of Staffordshire needing to lose half a seat. It will however form a safe haven for Gavin Williamson, currently MP for South Staffordshire, and serial former cabinet minister, with the MP for Stone, long-serving Bill Cash, patron of the anti-EU movement, having announced his retirement. Census data: Owner-occupied 76% (49/575 in England & Wales), private rented 12% (558th), social rented 13% (391st). : White 95%(194th), Black 1%(347th), South Asian 2%(343rd), Mixed 2%(348th), Other 1%(519th) : Managerial & professional 40% (242nd), Routine & Semi-routine 26% (343rd) : Degree level 31%(325th), Minimal qualifications 28%(268th) : Students 4% (518th), Over 65: 24% (111th) Boundaries : The new seat is made up of 46% from South Staffordshire, 31% from Stafford and 24% from Stone 44% of the old South Staffordshire seat is here, plus 30% of the Stafford seat, and 24% of Stone
| Notional | % | Conservative | 32,010 | 68.5 | Labour | 10,088 | 21.6 | Liberal Democrat | 3,046 | 6.5 | Green | 1.597 | 3.4 | | Majority | 21,922 | 46.9 |
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Post by notabrummie on Apr 29, 2024 17:55:52 GMT
This is an absolute dog's dinner of of a constituency. What the hell have the small villages of the south got in common with Stone. The majority of the people that I have spoken to have never had the need or desire to go to Stone.
It also means that we will still be lumbered with Williamson, possibly the only person in modern times to have been given a knighthood for being sacked from just about every job he has ever had.
(Or does he know things?)
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Post by iainbhx on Apr 30, 2024 6:54:04 GMT
This is an absolute dog's dinner of of a constituency. What the hell have the small villages of the south got in common with Stone. The majority of the people that I have spoken to have never had the need or desire to go to Stone. It also means that we will still be lumbered with Williamson, possibly the only person in modern times to have been given a knighthood for being sacked from just about every job he has ever had. (Or does he know things?) He was Chief Whip for a while, so I presume he knows things, but as it's Gav, I'm not totally certain about that. |
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Post by therealriga on Apr 30, 2024 16:54:31 GMT
This is an absolute dog's dinner of of a constituency. What the hell have the small villages of the south got in common with Stone. The majority of the people that I have spoken to have never had the need or desire to go to Stone.The overwhelming majority of planet earth has no need or desire to go to Stone and, having done a temp job there many moons ago, can't say I blame them. The commission does have form in creating weird seats featuring Stone, Mid Staffordshire was also a mess. |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on Apr 30, 2024 17:03:29 GMT
This is an absolute dog's dinner of of a constituency. What the hell have the small villages of the south got in common with Stone. The majority of the people that I have spoken to have never had the need or desire to go to Stone.The overwhelming majority of planet earth has no need or desire to go to Stone and, having done a temp job there many moons ago, can't say I blame them. The commission does have form in creating weird seats featuring Stone, Mid Staffordshire was also a mess. So was Stone.. |
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nyx
Non-Aligned
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Post by nyx on Apr 30, 2024 23:22:21 GMT
I think the problem with this constituency comes simply from the fact that if it were drawn better, it would negatively impact neighbouring seats. It would be quite easy to omit Stone and the areas east of Stafford from this constituency (letting the Stoke area seats get closer to the upper end of the allowable size range), and therefore making a much more reasonable "Codsall, Great Wyrley, and Penkridge" or something like that. But there would be ugly knock on effects.
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john07
Labour & Co-operative
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Post by john07 on May 1, 2024 11:29:29 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name.
How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name.
We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243.
The whole system of naming constituencies is riven with anomolies. Why is Hazel Grove so named despite the fact that bits of Hazel Grove (including Norbury) are now within Cheadle Constituency? You could argue that the seat should be renamed as Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, and High Lane (plus a few bits of central Stockport)? The alternative would be to call the seat Stockport East and really bring the pitchforks out. On balance it would be better left as Hazel Grove.
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The Bishop
Labour
Down With Factionalism!
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Post by The Bishop on May 1, 2024 11:56:15 GMT
We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243. Though as has been pointed out several times before, that appendage is because of the former Atcham Rural District - not the village. Given that the old RD's went out of existence half a century ago, however.... |
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Post by gwynthegriff on May 1, 2024 12:10:12 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. Bus enthusiasts will be familiar with Great Wyrley*. But Stone & Penkridge would be quite adequate. * Green Bus of Great Wyrley, which had a fleet of elderly buses and a very elderly proprietor who (it has been suggested, I make no comment) ran the business with passing regard for rules and regulations. Allegedly. |
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Post by iainbhx on May 1, 2024 12:14:00 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. Bus enthusiasts will be familiar with Great Wyrley*. But Stone & Penkridge would be quite adequate. West Staffordshire would be fine, no need to indulge the fare dodgers of Penkridge. |
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nyx
Non-Aligned
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Post by nyx on May 1, 2024 13:11:01 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243. The whole system of naming constituencies is riven with anomolies. Why is Hazel Grove so named despite the fact that bits of Hazel Grove (including Norbury) are now within Cheadle Constituency? You could argue that the seat should be renamed as Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, and High Lane (plus a few bits of central Stockport)? The alternative would be to call the seat Stockport East and really bring the pitchforks out. On balance it would be better left as Hazel Grove. There are many options. For example, there would be "Goyt" for Hazel Grove, so as to have a shorter constituency name. As for Stone, Great Wyrley, and Penkridge, one could simply name the constituency after the town equidistant between Great Wyrley and Penkridge: Huntington. I see no potential confusion that could arise from this. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 1, 2024 14:26:28 GMT
Bus enthusiasts will be familiar with Great Wyrley*. But Stone & Penkridge would be quite adequate. West Staffordshire would be fine, no need to indulge the fare dodgers of Penkridge. Problem is that most of west Staffordshire along the Shropshire border is now in Stafford constituency. The fact that there is no sensible name for this constituency emphsises its artificiality. |
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Post by johnloony on May 1, 2024 14:27:51 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243. The whole system of naming constituencies is riven with anomolies. Why is Hazel Grove so named despite the fact that bits of Hazel Grove (including Norbury) are now within Cheadle Constituency? You could argue that the seat should be renamed as Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, and High Lane (plus a few bits of central Stockport)? The alternative would be to call the seat Stockport East and really bring the pitchforks out. On balance it would be better left as Hazel Grove. There are many options. For example, there would be "Goyt" for Hazel Grove, so as to have a shorter constituency name. As for Stone, Great Wyrley, and Penkridge, one could simply name the constituency after the town equidistant between Great Wyrley and Penkridge: Huntington. I see no potential confusion that could arise from this. The Boundary Commission should be encouraged to be more honest and just call it “Staffordshire Leftover Bits”. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on May 1, 2024 16:23:45 GMT
Bus enthusiasts will be familiar with Great Wyrley*. But Stone & Penkridge would be quite adequate. West Staffordshire would be fine, no need to indulge the fare dodgers of Penkridge. We always thought of Penkridge as a bucolic piece of Middle England - prominent church, canal etc. etc. And then a group of its finest teenagers boarded our Desiro one day and we discovered it was more like Middle Earth. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on May 1, 2024 16:26:03 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243. The whole system of naming constituencies is riven with anomolies. Why is Hazel Grove so named despite the fact that bits of Hazel Grove (including Norbury) are now within Cheadle Constituency? You could argue that the seat should be renamed as Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, and High Lane (plus a few bits of central Stockport)? The alternative would be to call the seat Stockport East and really bring the pitchforks out. On balance it would be better left as Hazel Grove. There are many options. For example, there would be "Goyt" for Hazel Grove, so as to have a shorter constituency name. As for Stone, Great Wyrley, and Penkridge, one could simply name the constituency after the town equidistant between Great Wyrley and Penkridge: Huntington. I see no potential confusion that could arise from this. No reporter commenting on the result announced at 3.30am will object. After all, they have no problem with getting Jeremy Hunt right ... |
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bsjmcr
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Post by bsjmcr on May 1, 2024 20:59:12 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243. The whole system of naming constituencies is riven with anomolies. Why is Hazel Grove so named despite the fact that bits of Hazel Grove (including Norbury) are now within Cheadle Constituency? You could argue that the seat should be renamed as Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, and High Lane (plus a few bits of central Stockport)? The alternative would be to call the seat Stockport East and really bring the pitchforks out. On balance it would be better left as Hazel Grove. That reminds me, which constituency does Alton Towers now fall under? Even that would be a more recognisable and concise name, and spellable, for some reason I keep reading it as Great Wryley. As for HG, Marple alone would be a pretty and literary name. In fact the abandoned review suggested (IIRC) Marple and Hyde, which sounds like a good novel. And a seat that Wragg would have struggled to hold, even without any scandal, though I suspect would have just scraped in, in 2019. I’m surprised you picked on HG when there is Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton. Perhaps on that basis I should have suggested Bury South, Radcliffe South, Whitefield, Prestwich, Kersal and Broughton Park, and Bury North, Radcliffe North, Tottington and Ramsbottom. |
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nyx
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Post by nyx on May 1, 2024 21:06:24 GMT
That reminds me, which constituency does Alton Towers now fall under? It's still in Staffordshire Moorlands. |
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john07
Labour & Co-operative
Posts: 14,636
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Post by john07 on May 1, 2024 21:20:21 GMT
No constituency should be lumbered with a triple barrel name. How many not from the area have an arse-clue where Great Wyrley is? It sounds like a fairground ride. Pick the biggest settlement and use that name or alternatively use a Staffordshire compass point name. We had the nonsense of the Shrewsbury constituency being called Shrewsbury and Atcham. The former has a population of 76,782 while the latter has 243. The whole system of naming constituencies is riven with anomolies. Why is Hazel Grove so named despite the fact that bits of Hazel Grove (including Norbury) are now within Cheadle Constituency? You could argue that the seat should be renamed as Bredbury, Romiley, Marple, and High Lane (plus a few bits of central Stockport)? The alternative would be to call the seat Stockport East and really bring the pitchforks out. On balance it would be better left as Hazel Grove. That reminds me, which constituency does Alton Towers now fall under? Even that would be a more recognisable and concise name, and spellable, for some reason I keep reading it as Great Wryley. As for HG, Marple alone would be a pretty and literary name. In fact the abandoned review suggested (IIRC) Marple and Hyde, which sounds like a good novel. And a seat that Wragg would have struggled to hold, even without any scandal, though I suspect would have just scraped in, in 2019. I’m surprised you picked on HG when there is Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton. Perhaps on that basis I should have suggested Bury South, Radcliffe South, Whitefield, Prestwich, Kersal and Broughton Park, and Bury North, Radcliffe North, Tottington and Ramsbottom. I picked on Hazel Grove because I lived there briefly (in a bit that is probably no longer in the Constituency) before moving to Adswood and then Cheadle Hulme. I stood in Hazel Grove Ward (Stockport District) and Bredbury & Romiley (GMC) as well as the constituency in 1979. I am sure you can find issues everywhere. The problem is that the Boundaries Commission need to balance out producing Constituencies of approximate equal electorate with trying to keep coherent communities together. It is not always possible to do both. |
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Post by doktorb🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ on May 1, 2024 21:47:27 GMT
That reminds me, which constituency does Alton Towers now fall under? Even that would be a more recognisable and concise name, and spellable, for some reason I keep reading it as Great Wryley. As for HG, Marple alone would be a pretty and literary name. In fact the abandoned review suggested (IIRC) Marple and Hyde, which sounds like a good novel. And a seat that Wragg would have struggled to hold, even without any scandal, though I suspect would have just scraped in, in 2019. I’m surprised you picked on HG when there is Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton. Perhaps on that basis I should have suggested Bury South, Radcliffe South, Whitefield, Prestwich, Kersal and Broughton Park, and Bury North, Radcliffe North, Tottington and Ramsbottom. I picked on Hazel Grove because I lived there briefly (in a bit that is probably no longer in the Constituency) before moving to Adswood and then Cheadle Hulme. I stood in Hazel Grove Ward (Stockport District) and Bredbury & Romiley (GMC) as well as the constituency in 1979. I am sure you can find issues everywhere. The problem is that the Boundaries Commission need to balance out producing Constituencies of approximate equal electorate with trying to keep coherent communities together. It is not always possible to do both. Parliament set them very tight, erm, boundaries with the quota. Hopefully the next review will be under far looser constraints. The more rules, the less wiggle room, the increased chance for crazy constituencies. And I do like the weirder ones with silly names, though even I have limits. |
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Post by johnloony on May 1, 2024 22:04:22 GMT
That reminds me, which constituency does Alton Towers now fall under? It's still in Staffordshire Moorlands. We discovered Alton Towers in 1981 when it was shown on Blue Peter. We happened to be staying at our uncle’s house in north Staffordshire at the time, so we went to it the next day. |
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