Stoke-on-Trent — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Stoke-on-Trent was won by Liberal-Labour at the Dec 1910 general election, with a majority of 1,987 votes over Conservative. This page covers every general election in Stoke-on-Trent from 1832 to Dec 1910.

This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.

Full Election History, 1832–Dec 1910

Election	Elected	Votes	Vote Share	Runner-up	Majority	Turnout
1832	Josiah Wedgwood (Whig); John Davenport (Conservative)	625	36.0% (top seat)	Richard Edensor Heathcote (Whig)	37 (1.6 pts)	84.6%
1835	John Davenport (Conservative); Richard Edensor Heathcote (Whig)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1837	William Taylor Copeland (Conservative); John Davenport (Conservative)	670	29.8% (top seat)	Matthew Bridges (Radical)	198 (8.6 pts)	77.8%
1841	John Lewis Ricardo (Whig); William Taylor Copeland (Conservative)	606	44.3% (top seat)	Frederick Dudley Ryder (Conservative)	120 (6.1 pts)	58.3%
1847	John Lewis Ricardo (Whig); William Taylor Copeland (Conservative)	819	44.2% (top seat)	Thomas Piers Healey (Whig)	435 (20.2 pts)	63.6%
1852	John Lewis Ricardo (Whig); Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower (Whig)	848	36.3% (top seat)	William Taylor Copeland (Conservative)	79 (3.1 pts)	39.8%
1857	William Taylor Copeland (Conservative); John Lewis Ricardo (Whig)	822	44.3% (top seat)	Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower (Whig)	58 (2.0 pts)	67.3%
1859	John Lewis Ricardo (Liberal); William Taylor Copeland (Conservative)	1,074	43.4% (top seat)	Samuel Pope (Liberal)	505 (17.4 pts)	65.3%
1865	Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope (Conservative); Henry Riversdale Grenfell (Liberal)	1,373	35.6% (top seat)	George Melly (Liberal)	96 (2.3 pts)	64.5%
1868	George Melly (Liberal); William Sargeant Roden (Liberal)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1874	George Melly (Liberal); Robert Heath (Conservative)	6,180	28.6% (top seat)	William Sargeant Roden (Liberal)	811 (3.5 pts)	61.3%
1880	William Woodall (Liberal); Henry Broadhurst (Liberal-Labour)	11,379	40.8% (top seat)	Robert Heath (Conservative)	6,253 (21.0 pts)	74.4%
1885	William Leatham Bright (Liberal)	4,790	63.1%	Haden Corser (Conservative)	1,990 (26.2 pts)	82.4%
1886	William Leatham Bright (Liberal)	3,255	60.9%	Haden Corser (Conservative)	1,162 (21.7 pts)	58.0%
1892	George Granville Leveson-Gower (Liberal)	4,629	61.9%	Sampson Waters (Conservative)	1,783 (23.8 pts)	72.0%
1895	Douglas Harry Coghill (Liberal Unionist)	4,396	51.2%	George Granville Leveson-Gower (Liberal)	200 (2.3 pts)	77.4%
1900	Douglas Harry Coghill (Conservative)	4,932	51.0%	Godfrey Baring (Liberal)	200 (2.1 pts)	73.9%
1906	John Ward (Liberal-Labour)	7,660	64.1%	Douglas Harry Coghill (Conservative)	3,372 (28.2 pts)	84.8%
Jan 1910	John Ward (Liberal-Labour)	7,688	57.4%	David Hope Kid (Conservative)	1,991 (14.9 pts)	88.8%
Dec 1910	John Ward (Liberal-Labour)	7,049	58.2%	Samuel Joyce Thomas (Conservative)	1,987 (16.4 pts)	80.3%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1832 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Josiah Wedgwood	Whig	822	36.0%	Yes
John Davenport	Conservative	625	27.4%	Yes
Richard Edensor Heathcote	Whig	588	25.8%	No
George Miles Mason	Radical	247	10.8%	No

1835 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Davenport	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
Richard Edensor Heathcote	Whig	Unopposed		Yes

1837 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Taylor Copeland	Conservative	683	29.8%	Yes
John Davenport	Conservative	670	29.2%	Yes
Matthew Bridges	Radical	472	20.6%	No
Francis Brinsley Sheridan	Whig	469	20.4%	No

1841 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Lewis Ricardo	Whig	870	44.3%	Yes
William Taylor Copeland	Conservative	606	30.9%	Yes
Frederick Dudley Ryder	Conservative	486	24.8%	No

1847 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Lewis Ricardo	Whig	954	44.2%	Yes
William Taylor Copeland	Conservative	819	38.0%	Yes
Thomas Piers Healey	Whig	384	17.8%	No

1852 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Lewis Ricardo	Whig	921	36.3%	Yes
Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower	Whig	848	33.4%	Yes
William Taylor Copeland	Conservative	769	30.3%	No

1857 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Taylor Copeland	Conservative	1,261	44.3%	Yes
John Lewis Ricardo	Whig	822	28.9%	Yes
Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower	Whig	764	26.8%	No

1859 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Lewis Ricardo	Liberal	1,258	43.4%	Yes
William Taylor Copeland	Conservative	1,074	37.0%	Yes
Samuel Pope	Liberal	569	19.6%	No

1865 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope	Conservative	1,463	35.6%	Yes
Henry Riversdale Grenfell	Liberal	1,373	33.4%	Yes
George Melly	Liberal	1,277	31.0%	No

1868 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Melly	Liberal	Unopposed		Yes
William Sargeant Roden	Liberal	Unopposed		Yes

1874 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Melly	Liberal	6,700	28.6%	Yes
Robert Heath	Conservative	6,180	26.4%	Yes
William Sargeant Roden	Liberal	5,369	22.9%	No
Alfred Armstrong Walton	Liberal-Labour	5,198	22.2%	No

1880 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Woodall	Liberal	12,130	40.8%	Yes
Henry Broadhurst	Liberal-Labour	11,379	38.3%	Yes
Robert Heath	Conservative	5,126	17.2%	No
Edward Vaughan Hyde Kenealy	Independent	1,091	3.7%	No

1885

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Leatham Bright	Liberal	4,790	63.1%	Yes
Haden Corser	Conservative	2,800	36.9%	No

1886

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
William Leatham Bright	Liberal	3,255	60.9%	Yes
Haden Corser	Conservative	2,093	39.1%	No

1892

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Granville Leveson-Gower	Liberal	4,629	61.9%	Yes
Sampson Waters	Conservative	2,846	38.1%	No

1895

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Douglas Harry Coghill	Liberal Unionist	4,396	51.2%	Yes
George Granville Leveson-Gower	Liberal	4,196	48.8%	No

1900

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Douglas Harry Coghill	Conservative	4,932	51.0%	Yes
Godfrey Baring	Liberal	4,732	49.0%	No

1906

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Ward	Liberal-Labour	7,660	64.1%	Yes
Douglas Harry Coghill	Conservative	4,288	35.9%	No

Jan 1910

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Ward	Liberal-Labour	7,688	57.4%	Yes
David Hope Kid	Conservative	5,697	42.6%	No

Dec 1910

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Ward	Liberal-Labour	7,049	58.2%	Yes
Samuel Joyce Thomas	Conservative	5,062	41.8%	No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Stoke-on-Trent has been contested at 20 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Conservative, Liberal, Liberal-Labour, Liberal Unionist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Stoke-on-Trent in the Dec 1910 general election?

Liberal-Labour won Stoke-on-Trent in Dec 1910 with 7,049 votes (58.2%), a majority of 1,987 votes over Conservative in second place.

Which parties have won Stoke-on-Trent since 1832?

Since 1832, Stoke-on-Trent has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Liberal Unionist, Liberal-Labour, Whig.

What was the closest result in Stoke-on-Trent?

The closest result on record for Stoke-on-Trent was 1832, when Whig beat Whig by just 37 votes (1.6 percentage points).

Did Stoke-on-Trent ever elect more than one MP at a time?

Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Stoke-on-Trent elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.