The Lichfield constituency was newly created in the 1995 boundary changes which added an extra seat to Staffordshire. It inherited Michael Fabricant as sitting Member from Mid Staffordshire.
Mid Staffordshire itself had an electoral history of some significance, since it supplied one of the most dramatic by-election results of recent political history when Sylvia Heal won the seat for Labour in 1990, contributing in many eyes to the removal from power of Margaret Thatcher later that year.
Lichfield, however, offers a more sedate electoral prospect than its notional predecessor. It is centred around the cathedral city of Lichfield, which used to draw its fame from being the birthplace of Dr Samuel Johnson though perhaps now is more renowned for a statue of John Smith, captain of the Titanic. The constituency is swelled by private estates, such as Boley Park, and a number of rural villages like Armitage and King’s Bromley, both of which have tended to lean towards the Conservatives. This, and a sprinkling of light industry, should have made a very safe Tory seat, but a notional majority of more than 10,000 in 1997 became an actual one of just 238 votes in 1997 over Labour.