Oswestry (UK Parliament constituency)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox UK constituency Oswestry was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983, when it was renamed North Shropshire. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post method of election.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Borough of Oswestry, the Sessional Divisions of Chirbury, Condover, Ford, Oswestry, and Pimhill (except Myddle), and the parish of Fitz.

1918–1949: The Borough of Oswestry, the Urban Districts of Ellesmere, Market Drayton, Wem, and Whitchurch, and the Rural Districts of Drayton, Ellesmere, Oswestry, Wem, and Whitchurch.

1950–1966: The Borough of Oswestry, the Urban Districts of Ellesmere, Market Drayton, Wem, and Whitchurch, and the Rural Districts of Drayton, Ellesmere, Oswestry, and Wem.

1966–1967: The Borough of Oswestry, the Urban Districts of Ellesmere, Wem, and Whitchurch, and the Rural Districts of Ellesmere, Market Drayton, Oswestry, and Wem.

1967–1974: The Rural Districts of Market Drayton, North Shropshire and Oswestry.

1974–1983: The District of North Shropshire and the Borough of Oswestry.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1885	Stanley Leighton	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1901 by-election	George Ormsby-Gore	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1904	Allan Heywood Bright	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1906	William Bridgeman	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1929	Bertie Leighton	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1945	Oliver Poole	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1950	David Ormsby-Gore	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1961	John Biffen	Conservative
	1983	Constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

File:Henry Jephson.jpg

Jephson

General election 1885: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stanley Leighton	Template:Replace	55.8
		Henry Lorenzo Jephson	3,772	44.2
Majority			981	11.6
Turnout			8,525	84.5
Registered electors			10,083
	win (new seat)

File:Stanley Leighton.jpg

Leighton

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1886: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

Elections in the 1890s

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1892: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

General election 1895: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stanley Leighton	Template:Replace	56.1
		Owen Thomas	3,598	43.9
Majority			1,007	12.2
Turnout			8,203	82.4
Registered electors			9,958
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

General election 1900: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	hold

1901 Oswestry by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		George Ormsby-Gore	Template:Replace	56.8
		Allan Bright	3,430	43.2
Majority			1,088	13.6
Turnout			7,948	79.5
Registered electors			9,998
	hold		Swing	N/A

1904 Oswestry by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Allan Bright	Template:Replace	52.2
		William Bridgeman	4,157	47.8
Majority			385	4.4
Turnout			8,699	86.3
Registered electors			10,075
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	N/A

General election 1906: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Bridgeman	Template:Replace	52.6
		Allan Bright	4,508	47.4
Majority			503	5.2
Turnout			9,519	90.7
Registered electors			10,490
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Bridgeman	Template:Replace	53.3
		Edward Powell	4,379	46.7
Majority			624	6.6
Turnout			9,382	92.4
Registered electors			10,151
	hold		Swing	+0.7

General election December 1910: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Bridgeman	Template:Replace	54.1
		Edward Powell	4,121	45.9
Majority			746	8.2
Turnout			8,988	88.5
Registered electors			10,151
	hold		Swing	+0.8

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: William Bridgeman
• Liberal:

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link coalition 1918Template:Election box end 1918

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1918: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Thomas Morris	8,467	40.8
Majority			3,809	18.4
Turnout			20,743	64.9
	hold		Swing

General election 1922: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Bridgeman	Template:Replace	50.2
		Russell Sidebottom	6,660	26.0
		Thomas Morris	6,105	23.8
Majority			6,177	24.2
Turnout			25,602	80.2
	hold		Swing

General election 1923: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Bridgeman	Template:Replace	46.6
		Russell Sidebottom	9,713	39.3
		Sidney Ronald Campion	3,477	14.1
Majority			1,815	7.3
Turnout			24,718	75.8
	hold		Swing	-8.5

General election 1924: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Bridgeman	Template:Replace	55.1
		Russell Sidebottom	6,143	23.7
		Thomas Morris	5,503	21.2
Majority			8,173	31.4
Turnout			25,962	78.9
	hold		Swing	+12.0

General election 1929: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Bertie Leighton	Template:Replace	47.0
		John Share Jones	10,565	32.0
		H S Evans	6,944	21.0
Majority			4,989	15.0
Turnout			33,053	78.8
	hold		Swing	-8.2

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Bertie Leighton	Template:Replace	74.0
		William Elim Warder	8,343	26.0
Majority			15,397	48.0
Turnout			32,083	74.7
	hold		Swing

General election 1935: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Bertie Leighton	Template:Replace	N/A
	hold

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: Bertie Leighton
• Liberal:

General election 1945: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Oliver Poole	Template:Replace	54.7
		Gilbert Boyd-Carpenter	10,777	30.9
		Leslie Corbet Burcher	5,049	14.5
Majority			8,305	23.8
Turnout			34,908	71.7
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Ormsby-Gore	Template:Replace	61.81
		Arthur George Wait	14,556	38.19
Majority			9,006	23.62
Turnout			38,118	78.27
	hold		Swing

General election 1951: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Ormsby-Gore	Template:Replace	62.23
		Arthur George Wait	14,471	37.77
Majority			9,372	24.46
Turnout			38,314	76.89
	hold		Swing

General election 1955: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Ormsby-Gore	Template:Replace	64.77
		Mark E Boggin	12,434	35.23
Majority			10,425	29.54
Turnout			35,293	70.17
	hold		Swing

General election 1959: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		David Ormsby-Gore	Template:Replace	55.9
		Glyn Thomas	10,531	28.0
		David G. Rees	6,068	16.1
Majority			10,524	27.9
Turnout			37,654	74.2
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1961 Oswestry by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	40.8
		John Buchanan	8,647	28.4
		Brian Walden	8,519	28.0
	Patriotic Front	John E. Dayton	839	2.8
Majority			3,781	12.4
Turnout			30,433	60.8
	hold		Swing	-13.7

General election 1964: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	47.4
		George J. Costley	11,407	29.8
		Thomas Rowland Crowther	8,745	22.8
Majority			6,747	17.6
Turnout			38,709
	hold		Swing	+2.4

General election 1966: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	48.24
		George J. Costley	13,011	35.41
		Thomas R. Crowther	6,010	16.35
Majority			4,716	12.83
Turnout			36,748	73.35
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	50.7
		Neil Turner	10,801	26.9
		Edward Paul Cadbury	8,963	22.3
Majority			9,560	23.8
Turnout			40,125	72.0
	hold		Swing	+5.5

General election February 1974: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	46.93
		David J Evans	13,428	30.83
		J Bishton	9,685	22.24
Majority			7,010	16.10
Turnout			43,551	77.91
	hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	47.28
		J Bishton	10,751	26.52
		David J Evans	10,623	26.20
Majority			8,414	20.76
Turnout			40,539	71.84
	hold		Swing

General election 1979: Oswestry

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Biffen	Template:Replace	54.64
		Peter Ernest Sandland-Nielsen	10,150	23.55
		David J Evans	9,405	21.82
Majority			13,401	31.09
Turnout			43,106	73.90
	hold		Swing

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire#Historical constituencies
• List of former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
• Unreformed House of Commons