Burton and Uttoxeter


Burton and Uttoxeter is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024 by Jacob Collier of the Labour Party.
Although the constituency had always, since its creation in 1918, contained the town of Uttoxeter, it was formally known as Burton until the 2024 general election. Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, there were no changes to the constituency boundaries, but the Boundary Commission for England recommended that it be renamed Burton and Uttoxeter.

Constituency profile

The Burton and Uttoxeter constituency is located in Staffordshire and covers most of the East Staffordshire district. It includes the large town of Burton upon Trent with a population of around 76,000, the small market town of Uttoxeter and a large rural area with many smaller villages. Burton is a major centre for brewing and contains eight breweries. Burton has areas of high deprivation whilst the rural parts of the constituency are wealthier.
Levels of education, professional employment and income in the constituency are slightly lower than national averages. White people make up 85% of the population, a figure similar to the country as a whole, with Asians—primarily Pakistanis—forming 10%. Most of the constituency is represented by Reform UK councillors at the county council level, whilst at district council level the two towns of Burton and Uttoxeter elected mostly Labour Party councillors with the rural areas electing Conservatives. Voters in the constituency strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 64% supported Brexit compared to 52% nationwide.

Boundaries

Historic (Burton)

1918–1950: The County Borough of Burton, the Urban District of Uttoxeter, the Rural Districts of Tutbury and Uttoxeter, and part of the Rural District of Stafford.
1950–1983: The County Borough of Burton, the Urban District of Uttoxeter, and the Rural Districts of Tutbury and Uttoxeter.
1983–1997: The District of East Staffordshire
1997–2010: All the wards of the Borough of East Staffordshire except the Bagots and Yoxall wards.
2010–2024: As above, less the Needwood ward.

Current (Burton and Uttoxeter)

Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structure in place on 1 December 2020, the contents of the newly named constituency were unchanged from the previous Burton seat.
Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023, the constituency currently comprises the following wards or part wards of the Borough of East Staffordshire:
  • Anglesey; Blythe ; Branston; Brizlincote; Burton & Eton; Crown ; Dove; Heath; Horninglow & Outwoods; Shobnall; Stapenhill; Stramshall & Weaver; Stretton; Town; Winshill.
This constituency covers most of the East Staffordshire district. The main town is Burton upon Trent, while it also includes Uttoxeter, Tutbury and Rocester. The remaining small part of East Staffordshire, the area around Abbots Bromley and Yoxall, and, from the 2010 general election, the Needwood ward, is in the Lichfield constituency.

History

The constituency was created in 1885 replacing the previous East Staffordshire and North Staffordshire constituencies. Burton upon Trent is a centre of the brewing industry and for sixty years from 1885 to 1945, the MPs were from brewery-owning families. Despite the working class nature of Burton upon Trent from 1950 to 1997, the seat was held by the Conservative Party, albeit often with relatively small majorities. Traditionally the brewing industry has been a strong supporter of the Conservative Party. However, like many traditionally Conservative seats, it was lost to the Labour Party at the 1997 general election, which they won in a landslide. Janet Dean retained the seat until 2010, when the Conservative Andrew Griffiths retook it.
Griffiths retained the seat at the 2015 and 2017 general elections. In July 2018, he was suspended by the Conservative Party following allegations that he had sent up to 2,000 sexually explicit text messages to two female constituents. Although the whip was reinstated in December 2018, he was not reselected to fight the seat at the 2019 general election, with local party members instead choosing his estranged wife, Kate. She was duly elected and, in 2022, reverted to her maiden name of Kate Kniveton. At the 2024 election, Kniveton was defeated by Jacob Collier of the Labour Party.

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

Election results 1885–1918

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1880s

  • Caused by Bass' elevation to the peerage, becoming Lord Burton.