Shrewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Shrewsbury
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Shropshire
1918–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Shrewsbury and Atcham
1290–1918
Number of members	1290–1885: Two 1885–1918: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Shrewsbury was a parliamentary constituency in England, centred on the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

It was founded in 1290 as parliamentary borough, returning two members to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, its representation was reduced to one Member of Parliament (MP).

The parliamentary borough was abolished at with effect from the 1918 general election, and the name transferred to a new county constituency. It was abolished in 1983 and renamed Shrewsbury and Atcham.

Famous MPs have included Sir Philip Sidney in 1581, Robert Clive (known as 'Clive of India') from 1761 to his death in 1774, and Benjamin Disraeli (later Prime Minister) in 1841-47.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Shrewsbury, and the Rural Districts of Atcham and Chirbury.

1950-1983: The Municipal Borough of Shrewsbury, and the Rural District of Atcham.

Members of Parliament

Borough of Shrewsbury

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Constituency created (1290)

MPs 1290–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Robert Grafton	Hugh Wigan ^[1]
1388 (Feb)	Hugh Wigan	Robert Thornes ^[1]
1388 (Sep)	Robert Grafton	Hugh Wigan ^[1]
1390 (Jan)	Robert Grafton	Thomas Pride ^[1]
1390 (Nov)
1391	Hugh Wigan	Thomas Pride ^[1]
1393	Thomas Pride	Thomas Game ^[1]
1394	Thomas Pride	Hugh Wigan ^[1]
1395	Richard Aldescote	Roger Thornes ^[1]
1397 (Jan)	Thomas Skinner	John Geoffrey ^[1]
1397 (Sep)
1399	Nicholas Gerard	Thomas Berwick ^[1]
1401
1402	Thomas Pride	Roger Thornes ^[1]
1404 (Jan)	Thomas Pride	Simon Tour ^[1]
1404 (Oct)
1406	John Perle	Robert Thornes ^[1]
1407	Thomas Pride	John Scriven ^[1]
1410	Robert Thornes	Roger Thornes ^[1]
1411	Thomas Pride	John Whithiford ^[1]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	David Holbache	Urian St Pierre ^[1]
1414 (Apr)	Thomas Pride	? ^[1]
1414 (Nov)	Robert Horseley	William Horde ^[1]
1415	William Horde	John Shotton ^[1]
1416 (Mar)	William Horde	John Beget ^[1]
1416 (Oct)	William Horde	Robert Horseley ^[1]
1417	William Horde	David Holbache ^[1]
1419	Roger Corbet (died 1430)	David Rathbone ^[1]
1420	Robert Whitcombe	Richard Bentley ^[1]
1421 (May)	Urian St Pierre	Robert Whitcombe ^[1]
1421 (Dec)	William Horde	Robert Whitcombe ^[1]
1510	Roger Thornes	Thomas Knight^[2]
1512	Thomas Kynaston	Thomas Trentham ^[2]
1515	Sir Thomas Kynaston	Thomas Trentham ^[2]
1523	Edmund Cole	Adam Mytton ^[2]
1529	Robert Dudley alias Sutton	Adam Mytton ^[2]
1536	Robert Dudley alias Sutton	Adam Mytton ^[2]
1539	Nicholas Purcell	Robert Thornes ^[2]
1542	Adam Mytton	Richard Mytton ^[2]
1545	Nicholas Purcell	Edward Hosier^[2]
1547	Reginald Corbet	John Evans^[2]
1553 (Mar)	Nicholas Purcell	George Leigh^[2]
1553 (Oct)	Reginald Corbet	Nicholas Purcell^[2]
1554 (Apr)	Richard Mytton	Nicholas Purcell^[2]
1554 (Nov)	Thomas Mytton	George Leigh^[2]
1555	Reginald Corbet	Nicholas Purcell^[2]
1558	Nicholas Purcell	George Leigh^[2]
1558/9	Robert Ireland	George Leigh^[3]
1562/3	Robert Ireland	Richard Purcell ^[3]
1571	George Leigh	Robert Ireland ^[3]
1572 (Apr)	Richard Purcell	George Leigh, died and replaced January 1581 by Philip Sidney ^[3]
1584 (Nov)	Thomas Owen	Richard Barker ^[3]
1586 (Oct)	Reginald Scriven	Thomas Harris ^[3]
1588 (Oct)	Reginald Scriven	Andrew Newport ^[3]
1593	Reginald Scriven	Robert Wright ^[3]
1597	Reginald Scriven	Roger Owen ^[3]
1601 (Oct)	Reginald Scriven	John Barker ^[3]
1604	Richard Barker	Francis Tate
1614	Lewis Prowde	Francis Berkeley
1621	Sir Richard Newport	Francis Berkeley
1624	Francis Berkeley	Thomas Owen
1625	Sir William Owen	Thomas Owen
1626	Sir William Owen	Thomas Owen
1628	Sir William Owen	Thomas Owen
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	Francis Newport	Thomas Owen
1640 (Nov)	Francis Newport	William Spurstow
1645	Thomas Hunt	William Massam
1648	Thomas Hunt	William Massam
1653	Shrewsbury not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654	Richard Cheshire	Humphrey Mackworth
1656	Samuel Jones	Humphrey Mackworth
1658	William Jones	Humphrey Mackworth

MPs 1660–1885

	First member^[4]	First party	Second member^[4]	Second party
1660	Samuel Jones		Thomas Jones
1661	Robert Leighton		Thomas Jones
1677	Robert Leighton		Sir Richard Corbet
1679	Edward Kynaston		Sir Richard Corbet
1685	Edward Kynaston		Sir Francis Edwardes, 1st Baronet
1689	Hon. Andrew Newport	Tory	Sir Francis Edwardes, 1st Baronet
1690			Richard Mytton
1694			John Kynaston
1698	Richard Mytton		John Kynaston
1709	vacant		Sir Edward Leighton
January 1710	Thomas Jones		Sir Edward Leighton
October 1710	Edward Cressett		Richard Mytton
1713			Thomas Jones
1714			Corbet Kynaston
February 1715	Thomas Jones
November 1715	Andrew Corbet
1722	Richard Lyster
1723	Sir Richard Corbet		Orlando Bridgeman
1727	Richard Lyster		Sir John Astley
1734	William Kinaston		Sir Richard Corbet
1749 by-election	Thomas Hill		Sir Richard Corbet
1754			Robert More
1761			Robert Clive	Tory
1768	Noel Hill
1774^[5]	Charlton Leighton	Tory
March 8, 1775^[5]	William Pulteney	Whig
March 17, 1775			John Corbet	Tory
1780			Sir Charlton Leighton	Tory
1784 by-election			John Hill	Tory
1796			William Hill	Tory
1805 by-election	John Hill	Tory
1806	Henry Grey Bennet	Whig
1807	Thomas Jones	Tory
1811 by-election	Henry Grey Bennet	Whig
1812			Sir Rowland Hill	Tory
1814 by-election			Richard Lyster	Tory
1819 by-election			John Mytton	Tory
1820			Panton Corbett	Tory
1826	Robert Aglionby Slaney	Whig	Panton Corbett	Tory
1830			Richard Jenkins	Tory
1832			Sir John Hanmer	Tory
1834				Conservative
1835	John Cressett-Pelham	Conservative		Conservative
1837	Richard Jenkins	Conservative	Robert Aglionby Slaney	Liberal
1841	George Tomline	Conservative	Benjamin Disraeli	Conservative
1847	Edward Holmes Baldock	Conservative	Robert Aglionby Slaney	Liberal
1852	Edward Holmes Baldock	Conservative	George Tomline	Liberal
1857	Robert Aglionby Slaney	Liberal
1862 by-election	Henry Robertson	Liberal
1865	William James Clement	Liberal
1868	William James Clement	Liberal	James Figgins	Conservative
1870 by-election	Douglas Straight	Conservative	James Figgins	Conservative
1874	Charles Cecil Cotes	Liberal	Henry Robertson	Liberal
1885	Representation reduced to one Member

MPs 1885–1918

	Member	Party
1885	James Watson	Conservative
1892	Henry David Greene	Conservative
1906	Sir Clement Lloyd Hill	Conservative
1913 by-election	George Butler Lloyd	Conservative
1918	Borough abolished, name transferred to new county division

Shrewsbury division of Shropshire

MPs 1918–1983

	Member	Party
1918	George Butler Lloyd	Coalition Conservative
1922	Viscount Sandon	Conservative
1923	Joseph Sunlight	Liberal
1924	Viscount Sandon	Conservative
1929	Arthur Duckworth	Conservative
1945	Sir John Langford-Holt	Conservative
1983	constituency abolished: see Shrewsbury and Atcham

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

Shrewsbury by-election, 1913
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Butler Lloyd	2,412	58.3	+1.7
	Independent	James Robert Morris	1,727	n/a
Majority			685	16.6	+3.4
Turnout			4,139	81.0	−6.6
	Unionist hold		Swing

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Unionist: George Ambrose Lloyd^[6] ^[7]
Liberal:

General Election 1918
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Unionist	George Butler Lloyd	9,826
	Labour	Arthur Taylor	5,542
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Shrewsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Viscount Sandon	10,999	53.9
	Liberal	Joseph Sunlight	9,401	46.1	n/a
Majority			1,598	7.8
Turnout			20,400
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1923: Shrewsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Joseph Sunlight	11,097	51.3	+5.2
	Unionist	Viscount Sandon	10,548	48.7	-5.2
Majority			549	2.6	10.4
Turnout			21,645
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+5.2

General Election 1924: Shrewsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Viscount Sandon	13,220	55.6	+6.9
	Liberal	Joseph Sunlight	8,945	37.6	-13.7
	Labour	David Baxter Lawley	1,614	6.8	n/a
Majority			4,275	18.0	20.6
Turnout			23,779
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.3

General Election 1929: Shrewsbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	George Arthur Victor Duckworth	14,586	48.6	-7.0
	Liberal	Joseph Sunlight	11,794	39.3	+1.7
	Labour	A A Beach	3,662	12.2	+5.4
Majority			2,792	9.3
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing	-4.4

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Arthur Victor Duckworth	18,505	60.8
	Liberal	Dr. Elizabeth Trebelle Morgan	9,358	30.8
	Labour	Edward Porter	2,567	8.4
Majority			9,147	30.1
Turnout			30,430	82.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Arthur Victor Duckworth	18,401	65.7
	Labour	Cecil Charles Poole	9,606	34.3
Majority			8,795	31.4
Turnout			28,007	74.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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: Arthur Duckworth
Liberal: John Share Jones^[8]
Labour: S N Chapman^[9]

The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 caused general elections to be suspended until 1945.

General Election 1945
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Anthony Langford-Holt	15,174	44.4
	Labour	S N Chapman	10,580	31.0
	Liberal	Arthur Strettell Comyns Carr	8,412	24.6
Majority			4,594	13.4
Turnout				73.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Shrewsbury^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Anthony Langford-Holt	18,470	49.7
	Labour	Robert Bowen Cant	12,542	33.8
	Liberal	Norman Walter Elliott	6,126	16.5
Majority			5,928	15.9
Turnout				83.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Shrewsbury^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Anthony Langford-Holt	21,503	59.3
	Labour	Robert Cant	14,735	40.7
Majority			6,768	18.6
Turnout				80.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Shrewsbury^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Anthony Langford-Holt	21,319	60.8	+1.5
	Labour	D Geoffrey Allen	13,726	39.2	–1.5
Majority			7,593	21.7
Turnout			35,045	77.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Shrewsbury^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	John Anthony Langford-Holt	19,970	53.0	–7.8
	Labour	Kenneth V Russell	11,338	30.1	–9.1
	Liberal	Harold Shaw	6,387	16.9	N/A
Majority			8,632	22.9
Turnout			37,695	80.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Shrewsbury^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt	18,517	48.3	–4.7
	Labour	James O Murphy	12,658	33.0	+2.9
	Liberal	Geoffrey K Roberts	7,180	18.7	+1.8
Majority			5,859	15.3
Turnout			38,355	78.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Shrewsbury^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt	17,569	45.2	–3.1
	Labour	Thomas S Pritchard	14,603	37.6	+4.6
	Liberal	William Marsh	6,660	17.2	–1.5
Majority			2,966	7.6
Turnout			38,832	76.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Shrewsbury^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt	22,619	53.9	+8.7
	Labour	Peter A Kent	13,413	31.9	–5.7
	Liberal	Ian R Brodie	5,960	14.2	–3.0
Majority			9,206	22.0
Turnout			41,992	73.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974:^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt	21,095	44.4	–9.5
	Liberal	William Marsh	14,914	31.4	+17.2
	Labour	D.W. Woodvine	11,536	24.3	–7.6
Majority			6,181	13.0
Turnout			47,545	79.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974:^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt	19,064	43.1	–1.3
	Liberal	William Marsh	13,642	30.9	–0.5
	Labour	D.W. Woodvine	11,504	26.0	+1.7
Majority			5,422	12.3
Turnout			44,210	73.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979:^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir John Anthony Langford-Holt	23,548	48.6	+5.5
	Liberal	A. Laurie	13,364	27.6	–3.3
	Labour	J. Bishton	11,558	23.9	–2.1
Majority			10,184	21.0
Turnout			48,470	76.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-10-03.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-10-03.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "History of Parliament". Retrieved 2011-10-03.
1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
1 2 The result of the 1774 general election was the subject of a petition. The election of Charlton Leighton was overturned in favour of William Pulteney
↑ "The Representation of Shrewsbury - Mr Butler Lloyd to Retire at the Next Election - Parliamentary Unionist Candidate Adopted". Shrewsbury Chronicle. 27 February 1914. p. 2.
↑ Lloyd, later 1st Baron Lloyd of Dolobran, who was unrelated to George Butler Lloyd, was unavailable to stand at the 1918 General Election, being same month appointed Governor of Bengal.
↑ The Liberal Magazine, 1939
↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
↑ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1950-1973 by FWS Craig
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i18.htm UK General Election results February 1974
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74b/i18.htm UK General Election results October 1974
↑ http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/i18.htm UK General Election results May 1979

Sources

Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S., ed. The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 276–278. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 277–278. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 188. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 452. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.