Stoke-on-Trent Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Context of the 2019 result. The three seats of the city bore the opposite result to the other three-seat cities (such as Coventry, Nottingham, Leicester and Hull)

1950–1955: Wards 10 to 18 and 28 of the county borough of Stoke on Trent.^[2]

1955–1983: Wards 9 to 16 of the county borough of Stoke on Trent.^[3]

1983–2010: The Abbey, Berryhill, Brookhouse, Hanley Green, Hartshill, Shelton and Stoke West wards of the City of Stoke-on-Trent.^[4]

2010–2024:

Since the implementation of the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies after the 2005 election the seat has had these electoral wards:

• Abbey Green, Bentilee and Townsend, Berryhill and Hanley East, Hanley West and Shelton, Hartshill and Penkhull, Northwood and Birches Head, and Stoke and Trent Vale in the City of Stoke-on-Trent.^[5][6]

2024-present:

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The City of Stoke-on-Trent wards of: Abbey Hulton and Townsend; Bentilee and Ubberley; Birches Head and Central Forest Park; Boothen and Oak Hill; Eaton Park; Etruria and Hanley; Fenton East; Fenton West and Mount Pleasant; Hanley Park and Shelton; Hartshill and Basford; Joiner’s Square; Meir Hay; Penkhull and Stoke; Sandford Hill; Sneyd Green; Springfields and Trent Vale.^[7]

In order to bring the electorate within the permitted range, significant parts of the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency will be transferred in, including the town of Fenton. In addition, the boundary with Stoke-on-Trent North will be re-aligned to take account of changes to ward boundaries.

Following a further local government boundary review in the City of Stoke-on-Trent which came into effect in May 2023,^[8][9] the constituency will now comprise the following from the 2024 general election:

• The City of Stoke-on-Trent wards of: Abbey Hulton; Basford & Hartshill; Bentilee, Ubberley & Townsend; Birches Head & Northwood; Boothen; Etruria and Hanley (nearly all); Bucknall & Eaton Park; Fenton East; Fenton West & Mount Pleasant; Hanley Park, Joiner’s Square & Shelton; Hartshill Park & Stoke; Meir Hay North, Parkhall & Weston Coney (part); Moorcroft & Sneyd Green (part); Penkhull & Springfields; Sandford Hill; Trent Vale & Oak Hill; and a very small part of Longton & Meir Hay South.^[10]

The contribution of the city to Britain's economy and history is prominent as home to Staffordshire Potteries: Aynsley, Burleigh, Doulton, Dudson, Heron Cross, Minton, Moorcroft, Twyford and Wedgwood, most in this particular seat.

Owing to a reduction in clay and coal excavation works in the area, and canal trade, this seat has the highest unemployment rates of the three Stoke seats; this seat has 6.2% of workless registered unemployment benefit claimants, compared to a national average of 3.8% and regional average of 4.7%.^[11]

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election. The large town had, in succession, two forerunners, the first of which gained representation by way of the "Great Reform Act" in 1832. The constituency has a majority of residents from a clear-cut working-class background, many of whom work or have worked in trade union-represented industries. Of these, many were employed in The Potteries, the smaller foundries or in nearby hubs for the civil infrastructure and automotive industries; the latter of these remains an important source of employment in the region. The constituency's housing—overwhelmingly low-rise, and in some cases highly ornate Victorian terraces and semi-detached houses—is, compared with Staffordshire as a whole, a relatively dense urban network of streets.

Statistics are confusing as to the current status of the area, reflecting the great demographic—in particular, economic sector—changes in the constituency. Tristram Hunt's result at the 2015 general election gave the seat the 60th-most marginal majority of the Labour Party's 232 seats, measured by percentage of majority.^[12] Labour's continuous tenure of Stoke-on-Trent Central from 1950 to 2019 placed it among the approximately 120 constituencies of the 232 which returned Labour members in 2015—all their predecessor areas included—to have withstood landslides for the Conservative Party during the intervening period (such as the 1983 general election). Stoke-on-Trent Central ranked highest for political apathy at the 2015 election, recording the lowest turnout in the United Kingdom.^[13]

Barnett Stross was awarded the Order of the White Lion in recognition of his role in the development of relations between the UK and Czechoslovakia, and for his role in the renewal of the substantial village of Lidice; he also led statutory efforts that began specific protection of workers against industrial disease.

Mark Fisher was for 13 months the Minister for the Arts at the outset of the Blair ministry.

Tristram Hunt was the Shadow Secretary of State for Education in the Labour Party's Shadow Cabinet from October 2013 until September 2015.

General election 2024: Stoke-on-Trent Central^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Snell	14,950	42.4	0.5
	Reform UK	Luke Shenton	8,541	24.2	19.9
	Conservative	Chandra Kanneganti	6,221	17.6	29.5
	Independent	Navid Kaleem	2,281	6.5	New
	Green	Adam Colclough	1,703	4.8	2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Laura McCarthy	999	2.8	1.0
	Independent	Andy Polshaw	315	0.9	New
	Independent	AliRom Alirom	279	0.8	New
Majority			6,409	18.2	N/A
Turnout			35,289	48.0	9.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	14.5

General election 2019: Stoke-on-Trent Central ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Gideon	14,557	45.4	5.6
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Snell	13,887	43.3	8.2
	Brexit Party	Tariq Mahmood	1,691	5.3	New
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Pritchard	1,116	3.5	1.5
	Green	Adam Colclough	819	2.6	1.5
Majority			670	2.1	N/A
Turnout			32,070	57.9	0.9
	Conservative gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	6.9

General election 2017: Stoke-on-Trent Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gareth Snell	17,083	51.5	12.2
	Conservative	Daniel Jellyman	13,186	39.8	17.2
	UKIP	Mick Harold	1,608	4.8	17.9
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Andras	680	2.0	2.2
	Green	Adam Colclough	378	1.1	2.5
	Independent	Barbara Fielding	210	0.6	New
Majority			3,897	11.7	4.9
Turnout			33,145	57.0	7.1
	Labour hold		Swing	2.5

Vote changes are made with reference to the 2015 general election, not to the 2017 by-election.

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Staffordshire
• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)

53°01′N 2°10′W / 53.01°N 2.16°W / 53.01; -2.16