Cannock Chase
Labour hold

This industrial area in South Staffordshire around the heathland which has given the constituency its name has usually been sympathetic to the Labour cause, although often it has been included with less solid territory which has created marginal status. Now, however, Cannock is paired with Rugeley, the most Labour-friendly part of the abolished Mid Staffordshire seat, and in 1997 Tony Wright polled just about twice as many votes as his nearest (Conservative) challenger. It should be safe for at least one more election.

Dr. Tony Wright, elected here in 1992, is an academic maverick ignored for office after a short spell as PPS to the Lord Chancellor, and an increasingly vocal critic of New Labour's "theoretical vapidity." Born in 1948, educated at Kettering Grammar School, LSE, Harvard, and Balliol College Oxford, he taught Politics for 17 years at Birmingham University. With his cheeky-chappy mien reflecting the detachment and lack of earnest self-belief of the career politician, he has settled for role of gadfly on radical freedom of information legislation and on Lib-Lab tactical voting. Reflecting academic Labourites' strange obsession with constitutional tinkering, he wants fixed term parliaments and has also called for a new national anthem, but is happy for Prince Charles to marry Mrs. Parker Bowles. His call for all England footballers who score a hat-trick of goals to be knighted was seen by Quentin Letts (late of the Telegraph) as an example of how embarrassing it is to see "a clever man trying to be so feebly populist."

South Staffordshire Labour Party

West Midlands Liberal Democrats

Cannock Chase District Council

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 6.32% 14.99% 42.18 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.07% 2.13% 3.07 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 0.00% 2.49% 0.00 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 12.47% 4.43% 281.85 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 16.90% 7.27% 232.37 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.00% 2.56% 0.00 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 0.00% 3.94% 0.00 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 8.38% 13.04% 64.30 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 19.95% 12.70% 157.05 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 16.68% 8.14% 204.79 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 0.00% 4.02% 0.00 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 2.75% 3.19% 86.31 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 15.27% 11.31% 135.03 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.20% 3.06% 6.66 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 1.00% 2.52% 39.74 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 9.38% 9.41% 99.66 £5-10K 18.01% 16.63% 108.30 £10-15K 18.27% 16.58% 110.23 £15-20K 14.81% 13.58% 109.01 £20-25K 11.00% 10.39% 105.81 £25-30K 7.88% 7.77% 101.36 £30-35K 5.58% 5.79% 96.28 £35-40K 3.94% 4.33% 91.01 £40-45K 2.80% 3.27% 85.85 £45-50K 2.01% 2.48% 80.96 £50-55K 1.46% 1.90% 76.42 £55-60K 1.07% 1.47% 72.25 £60-65K 0.79% 1.15% 68.47 £65-70K 0.59% 0.91% 65.03 £70-75K 0.45% 0.72% 61.90 £75-80K 0.34% 0.57% 59.07 £80-85K 0.26% 0.46% 56.49 £85-90K 0.20% 0.37% 54.14 £90-95K 0.16% 0.31% 52.00 £95-100K 0.13% 0.25% 50.04 £100K + 0.55% 1.34% 41.09