Stroud is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It is held by Simon Opher of the Labour Party, who won the seat from Siobhan Baillie of the Conservatives in 2024.
Constituency profile
Stroud is a constituency in Gloucestershire in South West England. It is named after its largest town, Stroud, which has a population of around 27,000. Other settlements include the towns of Cainscross, Stonehouse, Nailsworth, Dursley, Berkeley and Wotton-under-Edge and the villages of Rodborough, Chalford and Cam.
This is a mostly rural constituency covering the small market towns and villages to the south of Gloucester. The east of the constituency around the town of Stroud lies within the Cotswolds. Unusually for South West England, Stroud has an industrial heritage as a mill town; the steep river valleys and nearby rural hills on which sheep grazed made it a prime location for wool production. The constituency is mostly affluent with low levels of deprivation, especially in the small villages. Stroud was named the best place to live in the UK by the The Sunday Times in 2021. The constituency also includes Sharpness, an important port on the River Severn. House prices across the constituency are generally similar to the regional and national averages.
The Stroud constituency has a large retired population and low proportions of young and middle-aged adults. Residents have above-average levels of income and homeownership and the child poverty rate is low. They have average levels of education and a high proportion work in the manufacturing sector. The percentage of residents claiming unemployment benefits is low. White people made up 97% of the population at the 2021 census.
At the local council level, the constituency's main population centres (Stroud, its connected towns and villages, and the adjacent Cam and Dursley) are mostly represented by the Labour Party. The rural areas in the east, within the Cotwolds, elected Green Party councillors whilst the western rural areas along the River Severn elected Conservatives. An estimated 54% of voters in the Stroud constituency supported remaining in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the UK-wide figure of 48%.
History The seat's parliamentary borough forerunner was created by the First Reform Act for the 1832 general election. It elected two MPs using the bloc vote until transformed in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for that year's general election, the name being transferred to a single-seat county division which covered a wider zone.
This was abolished at the 1950 general election, chiefly replaced with a new seat, Stroud and Thornbury. That was in turn abolished at the 1955 general election, when the present entity was created. Since this recreation the seat has had boundary changes.2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England
Formerly a safe Conservative seat, Stroud has been a marginal seat since 1997, changing hands five times in eight elections (in 1997, 2010, 2017, 2019 and 2024).
Boundaries
1955–1974: The Urban Districts of Nailsworth and Stroud, the Rural Districts of Dursley, Stroud, and Tetbury, and part of the Rural District of Gloucester.
1974–1983: The Urban Districts of Nailsworth and Stroud, the Rural Districts of Dursley, Stroud, and Tetbury, and in the Rural District of Gloucester the parishes of Arlingham, Brookthorpe with Whaddon, Eastington, Elmore, Frampton on Severn, Fretherne with Saul, Frocester, Hardwicke, Harescombe, Haresfield, Longney, Moreton Valence, Quedgeley, Standish, Upton St Leonards, and Whitminster.
1983–1997: The District of Stroud wards of Berkeley, Bisley, Cainscross, Cam, Cambridge, Central, Chalford, Dursley, Eastington, Hinton, King's Stanley, Leonard Stanley, Minchinhampton, Nailsworth, Nibley, Painswick, Parklands, Randwick, Rodborough, Severn, Stonehouse, Thrupp, Trinity, Uley, Uplands, Vale, Whiteshill, Woodfield, and Wotton and Kingswood, and the District of Cotswold wards of Avening, Grumbold's Ash, and Tetbury.
1997–2010: All the wards of the District of Stroud except the Wotton and Kingswood ward.
2010–2024: The District of Stroud wards of Amberley and Woodchester, Berkeley, Bisley, Cainscross, Cam East, Cam West, Central, Chalford, Coaley and Uley, Dursley, Eastington and Standish, Farmhill and Paganhill, Hardwicke, Nailsworth, Over Stroud, Painswick, Rodborough, Severn, Slade, Stonehouse, The Stanleys, Thrupp, Trinity, Uplands, Upton St Leonards, Vale, and Valley.
The seat had 24 of the 27 wards of Stroud district (the rest were in The Cotswolds seat). The north-west limit is the Severn, which meanders from Gloucester as the upper estuary.
2024–present: Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election the constituency is composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The District of Stroud wards of: Amberley and Woodchester; Berkeley Vale; Cainscross; Cam East; Cam West; Chalford; Coaley & Uley; Dursley; Nailsworth; Randwick, Whiteshill & Ruscombe; Rodborough; Severn; Stonehouse; Stroud Central; Stroud Farmhill & Paganhill; Stroud Slade; Stroud Trinity; Stroud Uplands; Stroud Valley; The Stanleys; Thrupp; Wotton-under-Edge.
In order to bring the electorate within the permitted range, northern areas, including the communities of Bisley, Hardwicke and Painswick, were transferred to the newly created constituency of North Cotswolds. Wotton-under-Edge was added from The Cotswolds (abolished 2024).
Members of Parliament
Stroud parliamentary borough
MPs 1832–1885 ElectionMemberPartyMemberParty1832 David Ricardo Whig William Henry Hyett Whig1833 by-election George Poulett Scrope Whig1835 Charles Richard Fox WhigMay 1835 by-election Lord John Russell Whig1841 William Henry Stanton Whig1852 Lord Moreton Whig1853 by-election Edward Horsman Whig1859 Liberal Liberal1867 by-election Henry Winterbotham Liberal1868 Sebastian Dickinson LiberalJan. 1874 by-election John Dorington Conservative1874The February 1874 general election in Stroud was declared void after a petition Walter John Stanton LiberalMay 1874 by-electionThe May 1874 by-election was held two elect two members, after results of the general election had been declared void. Two MPs were elected, but the election of Dorington was overturned on petition John Dorington Conservative Alfred John Stanton LiberalJuly 1874 by-electionThe July 1874 by-election was held to elect a replacement for Dorington, whose victory at the May 1874 by-election had been declared void on petition Henry Brand Liberal1875 by-electionThe February 1875 by-election was held to elect a replacement for Brand, whose victory at the July 1874 by-election had been declared void on petition. Samuel Marling Liberal1880 Walter John Stanton Liberal Henry Brand Liberal1880Parliamentary borough abolished. Name transferred to a new county division
Stroud division of Gloucestershire
MPs 1885–1950 ElectionMemberParty 1885 Henry Brand Liberal 1886 George Holloway Conservative 1892 David Brynmor Jones Liberal 1895 Charles Cripps Conservative 1900 Charles Allen Liberal 1918 Sir Ashton Lister Liberal 1922 Stanley Tubbs Conservative 1923 Frederick Guest Liberal 1924 Sir Frank Nelson Unionist 1931 by-election Walter Perkins Conservative 1945 Ben Parkin Labour 1950 constituency abolished. See Stroud & Thornbury
Stroud County Constituency
MPs since 1955
ElectionMemberParty 1955 Sir Anthony Kershaw Conservative 1987 Roger Knapman Conservative 1997 David Drew Labour Co-op 2010 Neil Carmichael Conservative2017David DrewLabour Co-op 2019 Siobhan Baillie Conservative 2024 Simon Opher Labour
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Conservative 27,733 45.7 Labour 25,266 41.6 Green 4,857 8.0 Liberal Democrats 1,356 2.2 Brexit Party 909 1.5 Others 567 0.9Turnout60,68879.6Electorate76,249
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Election in the 1940s
General Election 1939–40:
Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected; Conservative: Walter Perkins
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections 1832 to 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: Liberal: George Hardy Unionist: Cecil Edwin Fitch
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1870s
Caused by the previous by-election being declared void on petition.
Caused by Dorington's election being declared void on petition, due to "bribery, treating, and undue influence".
Caused by the election being declared void on petition on "account of treating, but the treating was not with knowledge of the candidates".
Caused by Winterbotham's death.
Elections in the 1860s
Caused by Scrope's resignation.
Elections in the 1850s
Caused by the appointment of Horsman as Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Caused by Reynolds-Moreton's elevation to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl Ducie
Elections in the 1840s
J Symons, formerly Editor of the Stroud Free Press, was a candidate but withdrew before the election took place.Gloucester Journal 24 June 1841 The Gloucester Journal described him as "A Chartist of Nailsworth by name Chapman who has issued his address couched in flaming terms worthy of the Northern Star (goes on to comment that he was a small publican and tailor".Gloucester Journal 26 June 1841
Elections in the 1830s
Resignation of Fox
Resignation of Ricardo
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in Gloucestershire
References
Sources Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. .
External links Stroud UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Stroud UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Stroud UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK