East Staffordshire (UK Parliament constituency)

For the local government district, see East Staffordshire.

East Staffordshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Staffordshire
1868–1885
Number of members	Two
Replaced by	Handsworth Lichfield Burton
Created from	South Staffordshire North Staffordshire

East Staffordshire or Staffordshire East (formally the Eastern division of Staffordshire) was a county constituency in the county of Staffordshire. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.

History

The constituency was first created by the Second Reform Act for the 1868 general election, and abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election.

Boundaries

1868–1885: The Hundreds of Offlow (North) and Offlow (South) (excluding the Townships of Willenhall and Wednesfield), and the parish of Rushall. ^{[1] [2]}

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1868		Michael Bass	Liberal		John Robinson McClean	Liberal Party
1873 by-election					Samuel Allsopp	Conservative
1880					Henry Wiggin	Liberal
1885	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: East Staffordshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Bass	3,885	36.9
	Liberal	John Robinson McClean	3,675	34.9
	Conservative	John Hartley [4]	2,972	28.2
Majority			703	6.7
Turnout			6,752 (est)	69.9 (est)
Registered electors			9,658
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)

Elections in the 1870s

McClean's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 8 Aug 1873: East Staffordshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Allsopp	3,630	57.4	+29.2
	Liberal	John Jaffray [5]	2,693	42.6	−29.2
Majority			937	14.8	N/A
Turnout			6,323	67.3	−2.6
Registered electors			9,402
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+29.2

General election 1874: East Staffordshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Bass	Unopposed
	Conservative	Samuel Allsopp	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,484
	Liberal hold
	Conservative gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: East Staffordshire ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Bass	4,809	29.5	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Wiggin	4,617	28.4	N/A
	Conservative	Samuel Allsopp	3,552	21.8	N/A
	Conservative	John Hardy	3,306	20.3	N/A
Majority			1,065	6.6	N/A
Turnout			8,142 (est)	75.4 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			10,799
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

References

1. "Representation of the People Act 1867" (PDF). Retrieved 27 July 2017.
2. "The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 31 & 32 Victoria, 1867-8. The Boundary Act, 1868". London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1868. pp. 119–166. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
3. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. p. 455. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
4. "The Representation of East Staffordshire" . Birmingham Daily Gazette . 10 November 1868. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "East Staffordshire Nomination" . Newcastle Journal . 1 August 1873. p. 3. Retrieved 21 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)