To compensate and bring the electorate within the permitted range, the parts in the Stafford and Staffordshire Moorlands local authorities were added from the abolished constituency of Stone.

Following a further local government boundary review in the City of Stoke-on-Trent which came into effect in May 2023,[3][4] the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election: The seat is non-rural and in the upper valley of the Trent covering half of the main city of the Potteries, a major ceramics centre since the 17th century.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 equal to the regional average of 4.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.

This was overturned in the 2024 election when, despite boundary changes favorable to the Conservatives, Labour'sAllison Gardner won the seat, albeit with a small majority of 627 votes.

[9] Jack Ashley (later Lord Ashley) became deaf as a result of an operation, but his disability campaigns led to major enactments and public sector changes to improve ordinary life for deaf people, including the inclusion of sign language in television programmes and campaigns to help other disabled people.