Stroud (UK Parliament constituency)

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.^[2]

Stroud
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Stroud in South West England
County	Gloucestershire
Electorate	76,249 (2023) [1]
Major settlements	Stroud, Dursley, Nailsworth and Stonehouse
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of Parliament	Simon Opher (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Stroud & Thornbury
1885–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Stroud & Thornbury
1832–1885
Seats	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Gloucestershire

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.^[3]

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

Map of 2010-2024 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.^[4]

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).

Constituency profile

Stroud lies south of Gloucester, between the two larger Gloucestershire constituencies of The Cotswolds and Forest of Dean. Its east climbs the Cotswold Hills but Stroud is both smaller and more industrialised than east and west neighbours.

Most of the seat is rural or semi-rural with a middle belt that has a group of urbanised villages, including Caincross, Cam and Rodborough, with the main towns part of the West Country textile manufacturing heritage. The major market towns include Stroud itself, Dursley in the south, and the smaller towns of Berkeley (which has a smaller electorate than Chalford, but more facilities), Stonehouse and Nailsworth.

In November 2012, unemployment was 2.1%, compared to the national average of 3.8%.^[5]

Members of Parliament

Stroud parliamentary borough

MPs 1832–1885

Election	Member[6]		Party	Member[6]		Party
1832		David Ricardo	Whig[7]		William Henry Hyett	Whig[7]
1833 by-election		George Poulett Scrope	Whig[8][9][10][7]
1835					Charles Richard Fox	Whig[7][11][12]
May 1835 by-election					Lord John Russell	Whig[7]
1841					William Henry Stanton	Whig[13][14][15][9][10][7]
1852					Lord Moreton	Whig[16]
1853 by-election					Edward Horsman	Whig[8][17][18][19]
1859			Liberal			Liberal
1867 by-election		Henry Winterbotham	Liberal
1868					Sebastian Dickinson	Liberal
Jan. 1874 by-election		John Dorington	Conservative
1874[20]		Walter John Stanton	Liberal
May 1874 by-election[21]		John Dorington	Conservative		Alfred John Stanton	Liberal
July 1874 by-election[22]		Henry Brand	Liberal
1875 by-election[23]		Samuel Marling	Liberal
1880		Walter John Stanton	Liberal		Henry Brand	Liberal
1880	Parliamentary borough abolished. Name transferred to a new county division

Stroud division of Gloucestershire

MPs 1885–1950

Election		Member[6]	Party
	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

Election		Member[6]	Party
	1955	Sir Anthony Kershaw	Conservative
	1987	Roger Knapman	Conservative
	1997	David Drew	Labour Co-op
	2010	Neil Carmichael	Conservative
	2017	David Drew	Labour Co-op
	2019	Siobhan Baillie	Conservative
	2024	Simon Opher	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Stroud^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Simon Opher	25,607	46.4	+4.8
	Conservative	Siobhan Baillie	14,219	25.7	−20.0
	Reform UK	Chris Lester	6,329	11.5	+10.0
	Green	Pete Kennedy	5,729	10.4	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	George James	2,913	5.3	+3.1
	Independent	Saskia Whitfield	261	0.5	N/A
	Volt	Jason Hughes	163	0.3	N/A
Majority			11,411	20.7	N/A
Turnout			55,221	70.9	−8.7
Registered electors			77,912
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	12.4

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[25]
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	0.9
Turnout		60,688	79.6
Electorate		76,249

General election 2019: Stroud^[26][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Siobhan Baillie	31,582	47.9	+2.0
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	27,742	42.1	−4.9
	Green	Molly Scott Cato	4,954	7.5	+5.3
	Brexit Party	Desi Latimer	1,085	1.6	N/A
	Libertarian	Glenville Gogerly	567	0.9	N/A
Majority			3,840	5.8	N/A
Turnout			65,930	78.0	+1.0
Registered electors			84,536		+2.0
	Conservative gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	+3.5

General election 2017: Stroud^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	29,994	47.0	+9.3
	Conservative	Neil Carmichael	29,307	45.9	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Max Wilkinson	2,053	3.2	−0.2
	Green	Sarah Lunnon	1,423	2.2	−2.4
	UKIP	Glenville Gogerly	1,039	1.6	−6.4
Majority			687	1.1	N/A
Turnout			63,816	77.0	+1.5
Registered electors			82,839		+2.8
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.5

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Stroud

General election 2015: Stroud^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Carmichael	27,813	45.7	+4.9
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	22,947	37.7	−0.9
	UKIP	Caroline Stephens[31]	4,848	8.0	+5.8
	Green	Sarah Lunnon	2,779	4.6	+1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Walker-Smith	2,086	3.4	−12.0
	Independent	Richard Wilson	246	0.4	N/A
	Free Public Transport	David Michael	100	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,866	8.0	+5.8
Turnout			60,819	75.5	+1.4
Registered electors			80,544		+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.9

General election 2010: Stroud^{[32][33] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Carmichael	23,679	40.8	+2.5
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	22,380	38.6	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Dennis Andrewartha	8,955	15.4	+1.5
	Green	Martin Whiteside	1,542	2.7	−3.0
	UKIP	Steve Parker	1,301	2.2	+0.3
	Independent	Alan Lomas	116	0.2	N/A
Majority			1,299	2.2	N/A
Turnout			57,973	74.1	+3.9
Registered electors			78,286		+2.1
	Conservative gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	+2.0

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	22,527	39.6	−7.0
	Conservative	Neil Carmichael	22,177	39.0	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Hirst	8,026	14.1	+3.2
	Green	Martin Whiteside	3,056	5.4	+1.9
	UKIP	Edward Noble	1,089	1.9	+0.3
Majority			350	0.6	−8.6
Turnout			56,875	71.3	+1.4
Registered electors			79,757		+1.1
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−4.3

General election 2001: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	25,685	46.6	+3.9
	Conservative	Neil Carmichael	20,646	37.4	−0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Janice Beasley	6,036	10.9	−4.6
	Green	Kevin Cranston	1,913	3.5	−0.4
	UKIP	Adrian Blake	895	1.6	N/A
Majority			5,039	9.2	+4.4
Turnout			55,175	69.9	−9.3
Registered electors			78,878		+1.8
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+2.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Stroud ^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	David Drew	26,170	42.7	+13.3
	Conservative	Roger Knapman	23,260	37.9	−8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Hodgkinson	9,502	15.5	−6.1
	Green	John Marjoram	2,415	3.9	+1.2
Majority			2,910	4.8	N/A
Turnout			61,347	79.2	−4.3
Registered electors			77,494		+3.0
	Labour Co-op gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.8

General election 1992: Stroud^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Knapman	32,201	46.2	−4.0
	Labour	David Drew	18,796	26.9	+8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Myles Robinson	16,751	24.0	−7.3
	Green	Sue Atkinson	2,005	2.9	N/A
Majority			13,405	19.3	+0.4
Turnout			69,753	84.5	+3.9
Registered electors			82,553		+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Knapman	32,883	50.2	−1.1
	Liberal	Adrian Walker-Smith	20,508	31.3	−0.6
	Labour	Tom Levitt	12,145	18.5	+1.7
Majority			12,375	18.9	−0.5
Turnout			65,553	80.6	+2.9
Registered electors			81,275		+4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

General election 1983: Stroud ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	30,896	51.3	−1.2
	Liberal	Gerald Fallon	19,182	31.9	+4.2
	Labour	David Parsons	10,141	16.8	−3.0
Majority			11,714	19.4	−5.4
Turnout			60,219	77.7	−8.3
Registered electors			77,528		+7.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	32,534	52.6	+8.8
	Labour	B.J. Marshall	17,037	27.5	−3.6
	Liberal	James Heppell	12,314	19.9	−4.8
Majority			15,497	25.1	+12.4
Turnout			61,885	81.3	+0.9
Registered electors			76,137		+9.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.2

General election October 1974: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	24,406	43.8	+0.2
	Labour Co-op	Bill Maddocks	17,352	31.1	+1.9
	Liberal	S.A. Ritchie	13,756	24.7	−1.7
	United Democratic Party	J.S. Churchill	241	0.4	−0.4
Majority			7,054	12.7	−1.7
Turnout			55,755	80.4	−5.0
Registered electors			69,381		+0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.2

General election February 1974: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	25,619	43.6	−7.5
	Labour Co-op	Bill Maddocks	17,148	29.2	−6.9
	Liberal	S.A. Ritchie	15,521	26.4	+13.6
	Powell Conservative	J.S. Churchill	470	0.8	N/A
Majority			8,471	14.4	−0.6
Turnout			58,758	85.4	+5.1
Registered electors			68,805
	Conservative hold

General election 1970: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	27,089	51.1	+7.9
	Labour	R. Derek Wheatley	19,158	36.1	−4.0
	Liberal	David M. Davies	6,799	12.8	−3.8
Majority			7,931	15.0	+11.9
Turnout			53,046	80.3	−5.7
Registered electors			66,072		+12.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.9

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	21,804	43.2	−0.9
	Labour	Tom Cox	20,259	40.1	+1.9
	Liberal	John V. Smith	8,397	16.6	−1.1
Majority			1,545	3.1	−2.8
Turnout			50,460	85.0	+0.6
Registered electors			58,779		+1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.4

General election 1964: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	21,802	44.1	−4.0
	Labour	Dennis V. Hunt	18,889	38.2	+0.6
	Liberal	Iain P. Crawford	8,747	17.7	+3.4
Majority			2,913	5.9	−4.6
Turnout			49,438	85.4	+0.2
Registered electors			57,906		+1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.3

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	23,448	48.1	−1.3
	Labour	Alfred Evans	18,336	37.6	−3.5
	Liberal	Clement John McNair, 2nd Baron McNair	6,988	14.3	+4.8
Majority			5,112	10.5	+2.2
Turnout			48,772	85.2	+0.9
Registered electors			57,220		+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.1

General election 1955: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Kershaw	23,318	49.4
	Labour	Richard W. Evely	19,375	41.1
	Liberal	Eric Barnett Ayliffe	4,489	9.5
Majority			3,943	8.3
Turnout			47,182	84.3
Registered electors			55,962
	Conservative win (new seat)

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ben Parkin	22,495	40.8	+4.0
	Conservative	Walter Perkins	21,546	39.0	−24.2
	Liberal	Peter Cadbury	11,141	20.2	N/A
Majority			949	1.8	N/A
Turnout			55,182	72.6	+1.6
Registered electors			75,987		+40.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.1

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

General election 1935: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Perkins	24,282	63.2	−8.2
	Labour	Constance Borrett	14,133	36.8	+8.2
Majority			10,149	26.4	−16.6
Turnout			38,415	71.0	−5.5
Registered electors			54,140		+7.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.2

General election 1931: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Perkins	27,612	71.4	+21.9
	Labour	F W Davies	11,039	28.6	+2.5
Majority			16,573	42.8	+27.8
Turnout			38,651	76.5	−5.1
Registered electors			50,534		+1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+11.7

1931 Stroud by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Perkins	17,641	49.6	+5.1
	Labour	John Maynard	10,688	30.0	+3.9
	Liberal	Arthur Stanton	7,267	20.4	−9.1
Majority			6,953	19.6	+4.6
Turnout			35,596	71.4	−10.2
Registered electors			49,874		+2.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	+6.5

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frank Nelson	17,700	44.5	−9.7
	Liberal	Arthur Stanton	11,728	29.5	+8.9
	Labour	F. E. White	10,384	26.1	+0.9
Majority			5,972	15.0	−14.0
Turnout			39,812	81.6	+2.7
Registered electors			48,776		+30.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	+4.0

General election 1924: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frank Nelson	15,973	54.2	+7.4
	Labour	Edith Picton-Turbervill	7,418	25.2	N/A
	Liberal	Arthur Stanton	6,057	20.6	−32.6
Majority			8,555	29.0	N/A
Turnout			29,448	78.9	+0.7
Registered electors			37,336		+2.3
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+16.8

General election 1923: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick Guest	15,179	53.2	+21.9
	Unionist	Stanley Tubbs	13,355	46.8	−4.2
Majority			1,824	6.4	N/A
Turnout			28,534	78.2	−1.7
Registered electors			36,504		+1.1
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+13.0

General election 1922: Stroud

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Stanley Tubbs	14,723	51.0	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Allen	9,041	31.3	−28.6
	Labour	Samuel Edward Walters	5,081	17.6	−22.5
Majority			5,682	19.7	−0.1
Turnout			28845	79.9	+18.6
Registered electors			36,094		+4.1
	Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections 1832 to 1918

Elections in the 1910s

Lister

General election 1918: Stroud^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Ashton Lister	12,734	59.9
	Labour	Charles Wye Kendall	8,522	40.1	New
Majority			4,212	19.8
Turnout			21,256	61.3
Registered electors			34,685
	Liberal hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

George Hardy

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

General election December 1910: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Allen	5,051	51.0	−0.6
	Conservative	Cecil Edwin Fitch [40]	4,849	49.0	+0.6
Majority			202	2.0	−1.2
Turnout			9,900	90.1	−3.1
Registered electors			10,992		0.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.6

General election January 1910: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Allen	5,285	51.6	−4.5
	Conservative	Arthur William Clifford	4,962	48.4	+4.5
Majority			323	3.2	−9.0
Turnout			10,247	93.2	+2.6
Registered electors			10,992		+3.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.6

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Allen	5,401	56.1	+4.4
	Conservative	William Burton Stewart [41]	4,221	43.9	−4.4
Majority			1,180	12.2	+8.8
Turnout			9,622	90.6	+4.0
Registered electors			10,620		+1.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.4

C.P. Allen

General election 1900: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Allen	4,692	51.7	+5.1
	Conservative	Charles Cripps	4,379	48.3	−5.1
Majority			313	3.4	−3.4
Turnout			9,071	86.6	+3.0
Registered electors			10,474		−9.6
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.1

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Cripps	5,175	53.4	+4.5
	Liberal	Charles Allen	4,514	46.6	−4.5
Majority			661	6.8	N/A
Turnout			9,689	83.6	+2.1
Registered electors			11,588		+4.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.5

Brynmor Jones

General election 1892: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Brynmor Jones	4,611	51.1	+5.3
	Conservative	George Holloway	4,410	48.9	−5.3
Majority			201	2.2	N/A
Turnout			9,021	81.5	−0.8
Registered electors			11,069		+6.7
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.3

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Holloway	4,620	54.2	+5.9
	Liberal	Walter John Stanton	3,911	45.8	−5.9
Majority			709	8.4	N/A
Turnout			8,531	82.3	−4.3
Registered electors			10,371
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.9

Henry Brand

General election 1885: Stroud ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Brand	4,646	51.7	−1.1
	Conservative	George Holloway	4,333	48.3	+1.1
Majority			313	3.4	+1.1
Turnout			8,979	86.6	−5.2 (est)
Registered electors			10,371
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1880: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter John Stanton	3,098	26.5	+0.6
	Liberal	Henry Brand	3,081	26.3	+0.5
	Conservative	George Holloway	2,810	24.0	+1.2
	Conservative	John Dorington	2,722	23.2	−2.3
Majority			271	2.3	+2.0
Turnout			5,856 (est)	91.8 (est)	+0.7
Registered electors			6,376
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 1870s

1875 Stroud by-election^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Marling	2,783	51.9	+0.2
	Conservative	William Keppel	2,577	48.1	−0.2
Majority			206	3.8	+3.5
Turnout			5,360	88.7	−2.4
Registered electors			6,046
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.2

• Caused by the previous by-election being declared void on petition.

July 1874 Stroud by-election^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Brand	2,695	50.8	−0.9
	Conservative	James Thomas Stanton[43]	2,613	49.2	+0.9
Majority			82	1.6	N/A
Turnout			5,308	89.3	−1.8
Registered electors			5,942
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	−0.9

• Caused by Dorington's election being declared void on petition, due to "bribery, treating, and undue influence".^[44]

May 1874 Stroud by-election^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Dorington	2,796	25.9	+0.4
	Liberal	Alfred John Stanton	2,722	25.3	−0.6
	Liberal	Henry Brand	2,677	24.8	−1.0
	Conservative	George Holloway	2,582	24.0	+1.2
Majority			119	1.1	N/A
Majority			140	1.3	+1.0
Turnout			5,389 (est)	90.7 (est)	−0.4
Registered electors			5,942
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+0.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.9

• Caused by the election being declared void on petition on "account of treating, but the treating was not with knowledge of the candidates".^[45]

General election 1874: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter John Stanton	2,798	25.9	−10.0
	Liberal	Sebastian Dickinson	2,794	25.8	−11.4
	Conservative	John Dorington	2,763	25.5	+12.1
	Conservative	George Holloway	2,467	22.8	+9.4
Majority			31	0.3	−8.8
Turnout			5,411 (est)	91.1 (est)	+3.3
Registered electors			5,942
	Liberal hold		Swing	−10.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	−11.1

By-election, 8 Jan 1874: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Dorington	2,817	53.7	+26.9
	Liberal	Henry Allan	2,426	46.3	−26.8
Majority			391	7.4	N/A
Turnout			5,243	88.2	+0.4
Registered electors			5,942
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+26.8

• Caused by Winterbotham's death.

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sebastian Dickinson	2,907	37.2	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Winterbotham	2,805	35.9	N/A
	Conservative	John Dorington	2,096	26.8	N/A
Majority			709	9.1	−14.9
Turnout			4,952 (est)	87.8 (est)	+16.0
Registered electors			5,642
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

By-election, 20 August 1867: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Winterbotham	580	53.3	N/A
	Conservative	John Dorington	508	46.7	New
Majority			72	6.6	−17.4
Turnout			1,088	80.2	+8.4
Registered electors			1,356
	Liberal hold

• Caused by Scrope's resignation.

General election 1865: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Horsman	687	41.4	N/A
	Liberal	George Scrope	685	41.3	N/A
	Liberal	Ashley Ponsonby[46]	287	17.3	N/A
Majority			398	24.0	N/A
Turnout			973 (est)	71.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,356
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1859: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Horsman	Unopposed
	Liberal	George Scrope	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,320
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1857: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Horsman	Unopposed
	Whig	George Scrope	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,287
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

By-election, 6 March 1855^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Horsman	Unopposed
	Whig hold

• Caused by the appointment of Horsman as Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

By-election, 28 June 1853^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Horsman	Unopposed
	Whig hold

• Caused by Reynolds-Moreton's elevation to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl Ducie

General election 1852: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Scrope	565	29.8	−12.5
	Whig	Henry Reynolds-Moreton	528	27.8	−16.2
	Conservative	Samuel Baker[47]	488	25.7	New
	Radical	John Norton[48][49][50]	316	16.7	+2.9
Majority			40	2.1	−26.4
Turnout			949 (est)	71.4 (est)	+11.2
Registered electors			1,328
	Whig hold		Swing	−7.0
	Whig hold		Swing	−8.8

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1847: Stroud ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Henry Stanton	563	44.0	+4.3
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	541	42.3	+7.1
	Radical	Marcus Mereweather Turner[51][52]	176	13.8	N/A
Majority			365	28.5	+18.5
Turnout			728 (est)	60.2 (est)	−14.6
Registered electors			1,210
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1841: Stroud^[53][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Henry Stanton	594	39.7	−0.9
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	527	35.2	−6.4
	Conservative	Sir William Lascelles Wraxall, 2nd Baronet	377	25.2	+7.5
Majority			150	10.0	−12.9
Turnout			916	74.8	+0.8
Registered electors			1,224
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.3
	Whig hold		Swing	−5.1

• J Symons, formerly Editor of the Stroud Free Press, was a candidate but withdrew before the election took place.^[54]
• 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".^[55]

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1837: Stroud ^[42][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	698	41.6	−7.6
	Whig	John Russell	681	40.6	+0.4
	Conservative	John Adams	297	17.7	New
Majority			384	22.9	−6.7
Turnout			991	74.0	+2.2
Registered electors			1,340
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

By-election, 19 May 1835: Stroud ^[42][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Russell	Unopposed
Registered electors
	Whig hold

• Resignation of Fox

General election 1835: Stroud ^[42][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	866	49.2	+22.8
	Whig	Charles Richard Fox	708	40.2	N/A
	Radical	Jelinger Cookson Symons	187	10.6	N/A
Majority			521	29.6	+28.6
Turnout			937	71.8	−20.9
Registered electors			1,305
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

By-election, 27 May 1833: Stroud ^[42][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	Unopposed
	Whig hold

• Resignation of Ricardo

General election 1832: Stroud ^[42][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Henry Hyett	985	46.2
	Whig	David Ricardo	585	27.4
	Whig	George Julius Poulett Scrope	562	26.4
Majority			23	1.0
Turnout			1,156	92.7
Registered electors			1,247
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Gloucestershire