North Shropshire (UK Parliament constituency)
North Shropshire | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Shropshire |
Electorate | 77,052 (2023)[1] |
Major settlements | Wem, Whitchurch, Ellesmere, Oswestry and Market Drayton |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrats) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Oswestry and Wrekin[2] |
1832–1885 | |
Seats | Two |
Replaced by | Oswestry Wellington Newport |
North Shropshire is a constituency in the county of Shropshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Helen Morgan of the Liberal Democrats after a by-election on 16 December 2021. The former MP, Owen Paterson of the Conservatives, resigned his seat on 5 November 2021 when faced with suspension from the Commons for a breach of advocacy rules and the consequent possibility of a recall petition. The seat had previously been a safe seat for the Conservatives.
Boundaries
[edit]1832–1885: The Hundreds of Oswestry, Pimhill, North Bradford and South Bradford, as well as the Liberty of Shrewsbury.[3]
1983–1997: The District of North Shropshire, the Borough of Oswestry, and the District of The Wrekin wards of Church Aston, Edgmond, Ercall Magna, Newport East, Newport North, and Newport West.
1997–2024: The District of North Shropshire and the Borough of Oswestry.
The district councils of North Shropshire and Oswestry were abolished in 2009, but the constituency boundaries remained unaltered.
2024–present: The County of Shropshire electoral districts of: Ellesmere Urban; Gobowen, Selattyn and Weston Rhyn; Llanymynech; Market Drayton East; Market Drayton West; Oswestry East; Oswestry South; Oswestry West; Prees; Ruyton and Baschurch; St. Martin’s; St. Oswald; Shawbury; The Meres; Wem; Whitchurch North; Whitchurch South; Whittington.[4]
- The constituency was reduced in size to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the electoral districts of Cheswardine and Hodnet to The Wrekin.
Constituency profile
[edit]The area is rural and north of Shrewsbury, west of Newcastle-under-Lyme in the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation, south of Cheshire and Wrexham, having five small towns (in size order): Oswestry, Market Drayton, Whitchurch, Wem and Ellesmere. Residents' health and wealth are similar to UK averages.[5]
History
[edit]From its first creation in 1832 to the abolition of the first creation in 1885 the constituency covered approximately half of the county and elected two members, formally Knights of the Shire. In 1885 the county was (together with South Shropshire) divided between four constituencies: Ludlow, Newport, Oswestry and Wellington.
In 1983 the constituency was revived in a smaller form as the successor to the Oswestry seat and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Its first MP was John Biffen, who had been MP for Oswestry since a 1961 byelection. He served in various cabinet roles under Margaret Thatcher from 1979 until he fell out of favour after the 1987 general election.Biffen retired for the 1997 general election and was succeeded by fellow Conservative Owen Paterson.
Paterson was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in May 2010 and from the September 2012 Cabinet reshuffle, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,[6] until another reshuffle in June 2014. Paterson resigned as an MP in November 2021 for breaching Commons lobbying rules while working for two firms as a consultant.[7] A by-election was held on 16 December 2021, triggered by the resignation and was won by Helen Morgan for the Liberal Democrats with a 34% swing. The swing was seventh largest in United Kingdom by-election history.[8]
In December 2023, the Labour Party included the seat in its published list of 211 non-battleground seats, indicating they did not see it as necessary to win in order to gain a majority at the 2024 general election,[9] when it was retained by Helen Morgan on a further swing to the Liberal Democrats. Compared to the notional 2019 results the overall swing was 41.3%.
Members of Parliament
[edit]MPs 1832–1885
[edit]- Constituency created in 1832
Election | First member[10] | First party | Second member[10] | Second party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1832 | Sir Rowland Hill, Bt | Tory[11][12][13] | John Cotes | Whig[11][12][13] | ||
1834 | Conservative[11] | |||||
1835 | William Ormsby-Gore | Conservative[11] | ||||
1843 by-election | Viscount Clive | Conservative[11] | ||||
1848 by-election | John Whitehall Dod | Conservative | ||||
1857 | Hon. Rowland Hill | Conservative | ||||
1859 | John Ormsby-Gore | Conservative | ||||
1865 | Hon. Charles Cust | Conservative | ||||
1866 by-election | Hon. Adelbert Brownlow-Cust | Conservative | ||||
1867 by-election | Viscount Newport | Conservative | ||||
1876 by-election | Stanley Leighton | Conservative | ||||
1885 | Constituency abolished |
MPs since 1983
[edit]Oswestry and Wrekin prior to 1983
Election | Member[10] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | John Biffen | Conservative | |
1997 | Owen Paterson | Conservative | |
2021 by-election | Helen Morgan | Liberal Democrats |
Elections
[edit]Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Elections in the 2020s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Helen Morgan | 26,214 | 52.9 | +42.5 | |
Conservative | Simon Baynes | 10,903 | 22.0 | −39.7 | |
Reform UK | Mark Whittle | 7,687 | 15.5 | N/A | |
Labour | Natalie Rowley | 3,423 | 6.9 | −15.5 | |
Green | Craig Emery | 1,234 | 2.5 | −0.8 | |
Independent | Samuel Cladingbowl | 133 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Majority | 15,311 | 30.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 49,594 | 64.1 | −3.8 | ||
Registered electors | 77,573 | ||||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | 41.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Helen Morgan | 17,957 | 47.2 | +37.2 | |
Conservative | Neil Shastri-Hurst | 12,032 | 31.6 | −31.1 | |
Labour | Ben Wood | 3,686 | 9.7 | −12.4 | |
Green | Duncan Kerr | 1,738 | 4.6 | +1.4 | |
Reform UK | Kirsty Walmsley | 1,427 | 3.8 | New | |
UKIP | Andrea Allen | 378 | 1.0 | New | |
Reclaim | Martin Daubney | 375 | 1.0 | New | |
Monster Raving Loony | Alan "Howling Laud" Hope | 118 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Independent | Suzie Akers-Smith | 95 | 0.2 | New | |
Heritage | James Elliot | 79 | 0.2 | New | |
Rejoin EU | Boris Been Bunged | 58 | 0.2 | New | |
Freedom Alliance | Earl Jesse | 57 | 0.1 | New | |
Party Party | Russell Dean | 19 | 0.1 | New | |
No description | Yolande Kenward | 3 | 0.0 | New | |
Majority | 5,925 | 15.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 38,022 | 46.3 | −21.6 | ||
Rejected ballots | 74 | 0.2 | |||
Registered electors | 82,314 | ||||
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing | +34.2 |
Elections in the 2010s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 35,444 | 62.7 | +2.2 | |
Labour | Graeme Currie | 12,495 | 22.1 | −9.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Helen Morgan | 5,643 | 10.0 | +4.7 | |
Green | John Adams | 1,790 | 3.2 | +0.1 | |
Shropshire Party | Robert Jones | 1,141 | 2.0 | New | |
Majority | 22,949 | 40.6 | +11.2 | ||
Turnout | 56,513 | 67.9 | −1.1 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +5.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 33,642 | 60.5 | +9.0 | |
Labour | Graeme Currie | 17,287 | 31.1 | +11.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Tom Thornhill | 2,948 | 5.3 | −0.7 | |
Green | Duncan Kerr | 1,722 | 3.1 | −1.8 | |
Majority | 16,355 | 29.4 | −2.2 | ||
Turnout | 55,599 | 69.0 | +1.4 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -1.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 27,041 | 51.5 | ±0.0 | |
Labour | Graeme Currie | 10,457 | 19.9 | +1.8 | |
UKIP | Andrea Allen[19] | 9,262 | 17.6 | +12.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Tom Thornhill | 3,184 | 6.0 | −14.9 | |
Green | Duncan Kerr | 2,575 | 4.9 | +3.3 | |
Majority | 16,584 | 31.6 | +1.0 | ||
Turnout | 52,483 | 67.6 | +0.9 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | -0.9 |
Class War originally selected Al Derby as a candidate here, but he changed to Wolverhampton North East.[20]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 26,692 | 51.5 | +1.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ian Croll | 10,864 | 20.9 | +1.2 | |
Labour | Ian McLaughlan | 9,406 | 18.1 | −7.8 | |
UKIP | Sandra List | 2,432 | 4.7 | −0.1 | |
BNP | Phil Reddall | 1,667 | 3.2 | New | |
Green | Steve Boulding | 808 | 1.6 | New | |
Majority | 15,828 | 30.6 | +6.9 | ||
Turnout | 51,869 | 65.7 | +4.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +0.3 |
Elections in the 2000s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 23,061 | 49.6 | +1.0 | |
Labour | Sandra Samuels | 12,041 | 25.9 | −9.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Steve Bourne | 9,175 | 19.7 | +6.9 | |
UKIP | Ian Smith | 2,233 | 4.8 | +2.3 | |
Majority | 11,020 | 23.7 | +10.3 | ||
Turnout | 46,510 | 61.4 | −1.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +5.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 22,631 | 48.6 | +8.4 | |
Labour | Mike Ion | 16,390 | 35.2 | −0.8 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ben Jephcott | 5,945 | 12.8 | −7.6 | |
UKIP | David Trevanion | 1,165 | 2.5 | New | |
Independent | Russell Maxfield | 389 | 0.8 | New | |
Majority | 6,241 | 13.4 | +9.2 | ||
Turnout | 46,520 | 63.1 | −9.5 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1990s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Owen Paterson | 20,730 | 40.2 | ||
Labour | Ian Lucas | 18,535 | 36.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats | John Stevens | 10,489 | 20.4 | ||
Referendum | Denis Allen | 1,764 | 3.4 | New | |
Majority | 2,195 | 4.2 | |||
Turnout | 51,518 | 72.6 | |||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Biffen | 32,443 | 50.5 | −1.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Stevens | 16,232 | 25.3 | −2.1 | |
Labour | Bob Hawkins | 15,550 | 24.2 | +3.8 | |
Majority | 16,211 | 25.2 | +0.4 | ||
Turnout | 64,225 | 77.7 | +2.2 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +0.2 |
Elections in the 1980s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Biffen | 30,385 | 52.2 | −1.2 | |
Liberal | Gordon Smith | 15,970 | 27.4 | −4.2 | |
Labour | Bob Hawkins | 11,866 | 20.4 | +5.7 | |
Majority | 14,415 | 24.8 | +3.0 | ||
Turnout | 58,221 | 75.5 | +2.8 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Biffen | 28,496 | 53.4 | ||
Liberal | David Evans | 16,829 | 31.6 | ||
Labour | Helen Jones | 7,860 | 14.7 | ||
Independent For Referendum | J.L. Phillimore | 135 | 0.3 | ||
Majority | 11,667 | 21.8 | |||
Turnout | 53,320 | 72.7 | |||
Conservative win (new seat) |
Elections in the 1880s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Stanley Leighton | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | George Bridgeman | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 7,729 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Elections in the 1870s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Stanley Leighton | 2,737 | 50.3 | N/A | |
Conservative | Salusbury Kynaston Mainwaring[31] | 2,700 | 49.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 37 | 0.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 5,437 | 74.1 | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 7,342 | ||||
Conservative hold |
- Caused by Gore's elevation to the peerage, becoming Lord Harlech.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | George Bridgeman | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 7,557 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Elections in the 1860s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Ormsby-Gore | 3,602 | 38.2 | N/A | |
Conservative | George Bridgeman | 3,403 | 36.1 | N/A | |
Liberal | Richard George Jebb[32] | 2,412 | 25.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 991 | 10.5 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 5,915 (est) | 77.7 (est) | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 7,611 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | George Bridgeman | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold |
- Caused by Brownlow-Cust's elevation to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl Brownlow.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Adelbert Brownlow-Cust | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold |
- Caused by Cust's resignation.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | Charles Cust | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 5,315 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Elections in the 1850s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | Rowland Hill | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,110 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Whitehall Dod | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | Rowland Hill | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,227 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Whitehall Dod | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | William Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,685 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Elections in the 1840s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Whitehall Dod | Unopposed | |||
Conservative hold |
- Caused by Herbert's succession to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl of Powis
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Edward Herbert | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | William Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,876 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Edward Herbert | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,876 | ||||
Conservative hold |
- Caused by Hill's succession to the peerage, becoming 2nd Viscount Hill
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Rowland Hill | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | William Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 5,075 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Elections in the 1830s
[edit]Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Rowland Hill | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | William Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,910 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Rowland Hill | Unopposed | |||
Conservative | William Ormsby-Gore | Unopposed | |||
Registered electors | 4,653 | ||||
Conservative hold | |||||
Conservative gain from Whig |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tory | Rowland Hill | 2,981 | 41.7 | ||
Whig | John Cotes (1799-1874) | 2,117 | 29.6 | ||
Tory | William Ormsby-Gore | 2,045 | 28.6 | ||
Turnout | 4,296 | 91.8 | |||
Registered electors | 4,682 | ||||
Majority | 864 | 12.1 | |||
Tory win (new seat) | |||||
Majority | 72 | 1.0 | |||
Whig win (new seat) |
See also
[edit]- North Shropshire by-election (disambiguation)
- Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire
- List of parliamentary constituencies in West Midlands (region)
References
[edit]- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – West Midlands". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "'Shropshire North', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 26 August 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
- ^ "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 8 West Midlands region.
- ^ "Shropshire North: Seat Details". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
- ^ "David Cameron's right turn in cabinet reshuffle". The Guardian. 4 September 2012.
- ^ "Tory MP Owen Paterson resigns amid standards row". BBC News. BBC. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ McGuinness, Alan (17 December 2021). "North Shropshire: Liberal Democrats pull off shock win as Tory by-election defeat piles further pressure on Boris Johnson". Sky News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ Belger, Tom (8 December 2023). "Labour selections: Full list of 211 'non-battleground' seats now open to applications". labourlist.org. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
- ^ a b c Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 15–16. Retrieved 27 May 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "York Herald". 22 December 1832. p. 2. Retrieved 27 May 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b "Result of the Elections in Shropshire". Morning Post. 24 December 1832. p. 2. Retrieved 27 May 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "UK parliamentary election - 4 July 2024". Shropshire Council. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ "16-Dec-2021 By-election". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "Shropshire North parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ "Shrewsbury & Atcham Parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "Al Derby". Who Can I Vote For? by Democracy Club. 14 December 2021.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ web.manager@shropshire.gov.uk. "Democracy – Shropshire Council" (PDF). www.shropshire.gov.uk.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. pp. 446–447. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
- ^ "North Shropshire". York Herald. 7 January 1876. p. 6. Retrieved 19 January 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "North Shropshire Election". Wellington Journal. 14 November 1868. p. 4. Retrieved 17 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Sources
[edit]- UK Polling Report
- Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 446–447. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
External links
[edit]- North Shropshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- North Shropshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- North Shropshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK