Cannock Chase
Notional 2005 Results:
Labour: 21325 (50.9%)
Conservative: 12670 (30.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 5832 (13.9%)
Other: 2086 (5%)
Majority: 8655 (20.6%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 12912 (29.9%)
Labour: 22139 (51.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 5934 (13.8%)
UKIP: 2170 (5%)
Majority: 9227 (21.4%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 12345 (30.1%)
Labour: 23049 (56.1%)
Liberal Democrat: 5670 (13.8%)
Majority: 10704 (26.1%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 14227 (27.2%)
Labour: 28705 (54.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 4537 (8.7%)
Referendum: 1663 (3.2%)
Other: 3234 (6.2%)
Majority: 14478 (27.6%)
Boundary changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Tony Wright(Labour) Will stand down at the next election (more information at They work for you)
Candidates: Aidan Burley (Conservative) Born 1979, New Zealand.Susan Woodward (Labour) John Pugh (UKIP)
2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 92126
Male: 49.3%
Female: 50.7%
Under 18: 23.8%
Over 60: 18.6%
Born outside UK: 2%
White: 98.6%
Black: 0.2%
Asian: 0.5%
Mixed: 0.4%
Other: 0.2%
Christian: 80.8%
Full time students: 2%
Graduates 16-74: 10.7%
No Qualifications 16-74: 34.9%
Owner-Occupied: 73.7%
Social Housing: 19.3% (Council: 16.5%, Housing Ass.: 2.8%)
Privately Rented: 4.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 5.4%
Yes, before 1983 the seats in this area were more like the way they are now – with Rugeley in the Cannock seat and Burntwood in the Lichfield seat (as Lichfield&Tamworth then).
The Lichfield&Tamworth seat would have an electorate of about 150,000 today.
Electoral Calculus currently predicts a Labour majority of 5.23%. Given recent polls, and that the Tories need a 10.3% swing here, this looks about right, if perhaps generous to Labour rather than the Tories (particularly as the MP is standing down).
I am not sure the point has been made before that this seat has a notably low LibDem vote. This means that there is little scope for the Conservatives to pick up tactical votes from people disillusioned with the Government. But conversely, the Tories could be held back slightly if the UKIP vote increases.
From the above answers I take it Rugeley was indeed in Cannock, but was it so for the whole of that seat’s existence? And how about before 1918, when Cannock was created? (An educated guess would be Lichfield)
My post on 21st December would suggest the same
No idea what is going on in Cannock but there have now been 3 Conservative councillors defecting to the LibDems in the last week . Mark Green has followed the Bennetts . Council is now LibDem 18 Lab 14 Con 9 .
It would be interesting to find out whether any of the famous Cameron posters have appeared in Cannock. If so it would mean the Tories are very serious about taking the seat. On the other hand if none appear in seats like Tamworth and Burton it would mean the Tories pretty much think those are already in the bag. Someone was talking about that sort of thing on PoliticalBetting recently – finding out which seats the parties think they can win according to where political posters appear, something which the parties themselves want to keep secret because it doesn’t look good to have assumed either a win or loss in a particular seat, and it’s very bad for the morale of local parties if they find out HQ don’t think they can win (in Labour’s case).
When a political party buys/rents a large number of poster sites as the Conservatives have done here , they will only a somewhat limited choice as to where the posters go . To get a decent price they may have to take sites in constituencies where they are not challengong or safe and the company they are renting from may have no poster sites in a constituency where they would like one .
I personally think Labour will hold on narrowly here, largely due to the choice of Labour candidate
And another defection here,
Cllr Lisa Pearce, elected as Conservative, defected to Liberal Democrat, now defects back to Conservative!
The council situation here looks frustratingly chaotic. The Tory group leader has had enough at any rate: http://www.expressandstar.com/2010/01/26/council-tory-leader-quits-role/