Shrewsbury and Atcham (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 52°39′54″N 2°46′08″W / 52.665°N 2.769°W

Shrewsbury and Atcham
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Shrewsbury and Atcham in Shropshire.

Outline map

Location of Shropshire within England.
County Shropshire
Electorate 73,978 (December 2010)
Major settlements Shrewsbury
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of parliament Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Shrewsbury
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency West Midlands

Shrewsbury and Atcham is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Daniel Kawczynski, a Conservative.[n 2]

Geography

The constituency lies at the centre of Shropshire, a large inland county of England, bordering Wales.

The constituency was established in 1983, replacing the Shrewsbury constituency, although this change was only in name not in its boundaries.

Component settlements and landscape

At its heart lies the town of Shrewsbury (population 70,000), which is the county town of Shropshire. It is otherwise a rural constituency. Villages such as Bayston Hill, Ford, Dorrington, Condover, Minsterley, Pontesbury, Bomere Heath, Wroxeter and Atcham are included. Its southern edge is the northern side of the Shropshire Hills AONB. The landscape of the constituency features many small rivers which drain the fields and coppices into the upper plain of the River Severn, cutting straight through the area. The main roads through the area are the A5 and A49.

Local government

The constituency is coextensive with that of the Central area of Shropshire Council (the same area as the former Shrewsbury and Atcham borough, which the constituency was originally named after).

History

On 10 December 2001, following his demand for a parliamentary debate before military intervention in Afghanistan, the incumbent Labour member, Paul Marsden, left the government's benches and remained with the Liberal Democrats until 5 April 2005 when he sought to show strong solidarity with Labour stop the war MPs by returning to his old party, the first politician to cross the floor twice since Winston Churchill. During much of his time with the Liberal Democrats, Marsden was a senior health spokesman, shadowing the Secretary of State for Health and ministers.

Shrewsbury and Atcham is the only British constituency to be profiled on the "Better Know a District" segment of the American television show The Colbert Report.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[1] Party
1983 Derek Conway Conservative
1997 Paul Marsden Labour
10 December 2001 Liberal Democrats
4 April 2005 Labour
2005 Daniel Kawczynski Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Shrewsbury and Atcham[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Green Emma Bullard[3]
Labour Dr Laura Davies[4]
UKIP Suzanne Evans[5]
Conservative Daniel Kawczynski
Children of the Atom Stirling McNeillie[6]
Liberal Democrat Christine Tinker[7]
General Election 2010: Shrewsbury and Atcham[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Daniel Kawczynski 23,313 43.9 +6.3
Liberal Democrat Charles West 15,369 29.0 +6.1
Labour Jon Tandy 10,915 20.6 -13.5
UKIP Peter Lewis 1,627 3.1 +0.4
BNP James Whittall 1,168 2.2 N/A
Green Alan Whittaker 565 1.1 -1.2
Impact James Gollins 88 0.2 N/A
Majority 7,944 15.0
Turnout 53,045 70.3 +1.0
Conservative hold Swing +0.1

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Shrewsbury and Atcham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Daniel Kawczynski 18,960 37.7 +0.3
Labour Michael Ion 17,152 34.1 −10.5
Liberal Democrat Richard Burt 11,487 22.8 +10.4
UKIP Peter Lewis 1,349 2.7 −0.5
Green Emma Bullard 1,138 2.3 +0.4
Independent James Gollins 126 0.3 −0.2
World Nigel Harris 84 0.2 N/A
Majority 1,808 3.6
Turnout 50,296 68.7 +17.6
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +5.4
General Election 2001: Shrewsbury and Atcham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Marsden 22,253 44.6 +7.6
Conservative Anthea McIntyre 18,674 37.4 +3.4
Liberal Democrat Jonathan Rule 6,173 12.4 −12.6
UKIP Henry Curteis 1,620 3.2 +2.4
Green Emma Bullard 931 1.9 N/A
Independent James Gollins 258 0.5 +0.1
Majority 3,579 7.2
Turnout 49,909 66.6 −8.7
Labour hold Swing −5.5

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Shrewsbury and Atcham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Marsden 20,484 37.0 +11.0
Conservative Derek Conway 18,814 34.0 −11.8
Liberal Democrat Anne Woolland 13,838 25.0 −2.0
Referendum Party Dylan Barker 1,346 2.4 N/A
UKIP David Rowlands 477 0.9 N/A
Country, Field and Shooting Sports Alan Dignan 257 0.5 N/A
People's Party Alan Williams 128 0.2 N/A
Majority 1,670 3.0
Turnout 55,344 75.3 −7.2
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +11.4
General Election 1992: Shrewsbury and Atcham[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derek Conway 26,681 45.8 −2.0
Liberal Democrat Kenneth Hemsley 15,716 27.0 −4.1
Labour Liz Owen 15,157 26.0 +6.2
Green Geoff Hardy 677 1.2 +0.0
Majority 10,965 18.8 +2.1
Turnout 58,231 82.5 +5.5
Conservative hold Swing −4.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Shrewsbury and Atcham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derek Conway 26,027 47.8 −1.7
SDP–Liberal Alliance Robert Hutchison 16,963 31.1 −0.9
Labour Liz Owen 10,797 19.8 +1.4
Green Geoff Hardy 660 1.2 N/A
Majority 9,064 16.7
Turnout 54,447 77.0 +3.0
Conservative hold Swing −1.6
General Election 1983: Shrewsbury and Atcham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derek Conway 24,397 49.5 +0.9
SDP–Liberal Alliance A Bowen 15,773 32.0 +4.4
Labour Alan Mosley 9,080 18.4 −5.5
Majority 8,624 17.5
Turnout 49,250 74.0 −2.7
Conservative hold Swing +2.7

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
References
  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
  2. ↑ "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
  3. ↑ "Shrewsbury North Shropshire – Candidates announced". greenparty.org.uk.
  4. ↑ "Doctor selected as Shrewsbury Labour Parliamentary candidate". shropshirelive.com.
  5. ↑ "Ukip announces its Shrewsbury election candidate " Shropshire Star". shropshirestar.com.
  6. ↑ "And your candidates are . . . Shropshire and Montgomeryshire election nominations close " Shropshire Star". shropshirestar.com.
  7. ↑ "Executive Committee". Christine Tinker and Shrewsbury & Atcham Liberal Democrats.
  8. ↑ General election results 2010 Shropshire Council
  9. ↑ Election 2010 – Shrewsbury & Atcham BBC News
  10. ↑ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.

Sources