Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each.

The constituency of Staffordshire East was one of them.

When it was created in England in 1979, it consisted of the Westminster Parliament constituencies of Burton, Cannock, Leek, Lichfield and Tamworth, Stoke-on-Trent Central, Stoke-on-Trent North, Stoke-on-Trent South,^[1] although this may not have been true for the whole of its existence.