Burton
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 18678 (42%)
Conservative: 16544 (37.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 5771 (13%)
Other: 3435 (7.7%)
Majority: 2134 (4.8%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 18280 (38.2%)
Labour: 19701 (41.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 6236 (13%)
BNP: 1840 (3.8%)
UKIP: 913 (1.9%)
Other: 912 (1.9%)
Majority: 1421 (3%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 17934 (38.6%)
Labour: 22783 (49%)
Liberal Democrat: 4468 (9.6%)
UKIP: 984 (2.1%)
Other: 288 (0.6%)
Majority: 4849 (10.4%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 21480 (39.4%)
Labour: 27810 (51%)
Liberal Democrat: 4617 (8.5%)
Other: 604 (1.1%)
Majority: 6330 (11.6%)
Boundary changes: small changes, loses Barton-under-Needwood to Lichfield.
Profile: A long spindly seat following the eastern edge of Staffordshire, Burton stretches from Burton-on-Trent at one end of the constituency and the nearby village of Tutbury, through Needwood Forest to Uttoxeter before stretching North to take in villages like Ellastone and Wootton at the foot of the Weaver Hills, the beginning of the Peak District. Burton itself is largely Labour, but the rural wards dilute it enough to make the seat a marginal.
Burton itself has strong associations with the brewing industry, the town has five brewers, including Marston and Coors (which produces Carling and Worthington). The town is also home to the production of Marmite and formerly of Branston pickle, though production has since moved to Suffolk. Uttoxeter to the West is a market town currently undergoing major redevelopment of the old cattle market and town centre and best known for the Uttoxeter National Hunt racecourse. The nearby village of Rocester the base of JCB, who are a major local employer.
Outgoing MP: Janet Dean(Labour) born 1949, Crewe. Educated at Winsford Verdin Grammar School. Former bank clerk and then full time mother. Has served as County and Borough councillor in Uttoxeter and Mayor of East Staffordshire District Council. First elected to Burton in 1997. She has announced that she will stand down at the next election (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Andrew Griffiths (Conservative) Educated at High Arcal School, Dudley. Former manager with the Halifax, currently Chief of staff to Eric Pickles MP. Contested Dudley North in 2001. Contested West Midlands Region in 2004 European Elections.Ruth Smeeth (Labour) Former public affairs manager for Nestle. Philip Lancaster (UKIP)Alan Hewitt (BNP) Former paratrooper.
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 93426
Male: 48.8%
Female: 51.2%
Under 18: 24.1%
Over 60: 20.5%
Born outside UK: 4.7%
White: 93.4%
Black: 0.7%
Asian: 4.7%
Mixed: 0.9%
Other: 0.3%
Christian: 76.8%
Muslim: 4.4%
Full time students: 2.2%
Graduates 16-74: 14.9%
No Qualifications 16-74: 32.9%
Owner-Occupied: 74.8%
Social Housing: 14.9% (Council: 8.6%, Housing Ass.: 6.3%)
Privately Rented: 7%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 16.5%
Meant to say, the by-election was for Heath ward on Uttoxeter Town Council, and they held it with 64 votes.
Tim, I obviously don’t agree with you about Stone and Lichfield, but equally obviously I’m biased about that because I live in the area.
I don’t really see any reason to believe in this shift you’re talking about. The south and south west will continue to be more Tory than places like Dudley and Wolverhampton.
‘The south and south west will continue to be more Tory than places like Dudley and Wolverhampton.’
Of course it will but the point I’m making is that you wouldn’t expect it to be anything other than Tory, whereas Dudley and Wolverhampton would appear to be anything but
They seem unlikely locations for potential Tory gains
The fact that places like Litchfield and Stone are Tory, even through the nadir years of 1997 and 2001, whereas much more Tory-appearing places like Winchester, Lewes, Northavon, Cheltenham and Bath aren’t, is an indication of the point I’m making
Interestingly Lib Dem candidate Gavin Webb’s membership of the Liberal Democrats is disputed by fellow Lib Dem candidate David Jack (Stoke-on-Trent North).
Sounds like a case of will the real Lib Dem please stand up.
The BNP have picked up 13% in the Uttoxeter Town division. If they’re polling that sort of percentage in 99% white Uttoxeter they’ll probably pick up a lot more in Burton-on-Trent itself.
Labour incredibly have been reduced from controlling Staffordshire county council to having 3 councillors out of 62.
They were lucky to hold 2 of those seats. In Burton Town they won with 34% and in Burton Trent with 31%.
The other seat held by Labour was Cannock Chase – Chadsmoor which now counts as their only safe seat on Staffordshire county council.
The Lib Dem PPC, Gavin Webb (who was a bit detached from the party in the first place, having been suspended for a while and describing himself as a Liberal Democrat (Libertarian) on Stoke council) has resigned from the party to join the Libertarian Party.
This has always been a weak seat for the LDs/Liberals. Their best since 1945 was probably the 19.1% they received in 1983 when Labour were still more than 10% ahead of them. They didn’t even contest the seat in February 1974 when the Liberals polled 20% in GB. They put a candidate up in October who polled 15%. I think that was quite unusual actually – for the Liberals to contest the October election but not February. IIRC there were quite a lot of examples of the reverse happening, mainly seats where the Liberals did badly in February and didn’t want to lose their deposit again a few months later.
The Liberals contested about 100 more seats in October 1974 compared to February.
(This would have meant they contested almost every GB seat).
Their national vote per candidate was 24% in February 1974 – the highest since the early part of the century, apart from 1983.
The Liberals contested about 250 seats in 1970, and polled about 7.5% of the national vote. Adjust that for seats contested, it’s probably only about 2% below 1979.
It is odd that they couldn’t contest all seats in both 1974 elections. Maybe they just didn’t have enough money, candidates or organisation until 1979.
http://www.libdemvoice.org/gavin-webb-quits-lib-dems-joins-libertarian-party-16100.html
The BNP have selected Alan Hewitt here
February 1974 was very disappointing for the Liberals; Jeremy Thorpe was hoping to break the 2 party system. Their vote was down by 1% in October 1974.
Moving on to 2010 to this seat – a certain Tory gain!