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%.
In the initial proposals of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat would be reshaped and renamed "Stoke-on-Trent South". The proposed seat would comprise the electoral wards of Bentilee and Ubberley, Boothen and Oak Hill, Broadway and Longton East, Eaton Park, Fenton East, Fenton West and Mount Pleasant, Hanley Park and Shelton, Hartshill and Basford, Joiner’s Square, Lightwood North and Normacot, Meir Hay, Meir North, Meir Park, Meir South, Penkhull and Stoke, Sandford Hill, Springfields and Trent Vale, and Weston Coyney.
History
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.
Political history
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. 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. Stoke-on-Trent Central ranked highest for political apathy at the 2015 election, recording the lowest turnout in the United Kingdom.
