The Wrekin (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 52°42′58″N 2°27′14″W / 52.716°N 2.454°W / 52.716; -2.454

The Wrekin is a constituency^{[n 1]} in the House of Commons of the British Parliament, located in the county of Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. It has existed continuously since its creation by the Representation of the People Act 1918, and is named after a prominent landmark hill in the area, The Wrekin. The constituency has periodically swung back and forth between the Labour and Conservative parties since the 1920s, and has been held since 2005 by a Conservative MP, Mark Pritchard.^{[n 2]}

The Wrekin
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of The Wrekin in Shropshire
Location of Shropshire within England
County	Shropshire
Electorate	66,111 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Albrighton, Cosford, Shifnal, Wellington
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Mark Pritchard (Conservative Party (UK))
Seats	One
Created from	Wellington, Newport and Ludlow

History

Political history

The seat saw a first winning candidate from the Labour Party relatively early in its history, in 1923. The seat alternated between the two largest modern parties eight times between 1923 and 1979.

In more recent history, reflecting the growing population of Telford and the rich iron smelting, railway and mining industries as major historic employers in the area, the seat was more Labour-leaning than the national average but still marginal, being represented by a Conservative for the first eight years of the Thatcher ministry and then (from 1987) returning a Labour member, who went on to serve a new seat created to serve Telford in 1997, and another Labour member until 2005, followed by the present Conservative who was elected that year. The current Conservative majority is 18,726 votes.

Most prominent members in Parliament

Gerald Fowler (Labour) reached the frontbenches of government as the Minister for Education and Science from 1969 to 1970, again in 1974 and 1976 and as Minister for the Privy Council Office from 1974 to 1976.

Anthony Trafford (Conservative) went on after serving as MP to serve as a health minister, from the House of Lords in 1989.

Bruce Grocott (Labour) went on, after serving as MP for the newly created neighbouring seat from 1997 to 2001, to serve as the Government's Chief Whip in the House of Lords for six years.

Boundaries

 

Map of current boundaries

1918–1950: The Borough of Wenlock, the Urban Districts of Dawley, Newport, Oakengates, and Wellington, and the Rural Districts of Newport, and Shifnal and Wellington.

1950–1983: The Urban Districts of Dawley, Newport, Oakengates, and Wellington, and the Rural Districts of Shifnal and Wellington.

1983–1997: The District of The Wrekin wards of Arleston, Brookside, College, Cuckoo Oak, Dawley Magna, Donnington, Donnington Wood, Dothill, Ercall, Hadley, Haygate, Hollinswood/Randlay, Ironbridge (The Gorge), Ketley, Ketley Bank, Langley, Lawley, Leegomery, Lilleshall, Madeley, Malinslee, Park, Priorslee, Stirchley, Wombridge, Woodside, Wrockwardine, and Wrockwardine Wood.

1997–2010: The District of The Wrekin wards of Arleston, Church Aston, College, Donnington, Donnington Wood, Dothill and Park, Edgmond, Ercall, Ercall Magna, Hadley, Haygate, Ketley, Leegomery, Lilleshall, Newport East, Newport North, Newport West, and Wrockwardine, and the District of Bridgnorth wards of Albrighton, Idsall, Manor, and Sheriffhales.

2010–present: The Borough of Telford and Wrekin wards of Apley Castle, Arleston, Church Aston and Lilleshall, College, Donnington, Dothill, Edgmond, Ercall, Ercall Magna, Hadley and Leegomery, Haygate, Muxton, Newport East, Newport North, Newport South, Newport West, Park, Shawbirch, and Wrockwardine, and the District of Bridgnorth wards of Albrighton South, Donington and Albrighton North, Shifnal Idsall, Shifnal Manor, and Shifnal Rural.

When originally constituted, the constituency, with a population of 71,352, was the largest division of Shropshire created in the 1918 boundary changes.^[2]

In the Third Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission, which took effect for the 1983 general election, the constituency was redefined after major local government changes. This redefinition resulted in a quarter of the electorate being removed to Shropshire North and Ludlow.^[3]

Parliament approved major boundary changes which took effect at the 1997 general election, which created a new constituency containing and named after the town of Telford, before which Telford had been one of the largest elements of The Wrekin. The new Telford constituency took 62.9% of the electorate of The Wrekin leaving the remaining 37.1% to constitute a revised constituency of The Wrekin that incorporated areas previously within Shropshire North and Ludlow from two sides.^[4]

The area almost encircles Telford, a 'New Town', encompassing much of the rural parts of the Telford and Wrekin borough, in which most of the constituency is. Its major settlements include: Wellington, Newport and Shifnal, as well as the suburban northern reaches of Telford (including Donnington). A small but significant area relates to the former Bridgnorth local government district (now part of the unitary Shropshire) and contains RAF Cosford and a number of commuter villages along the M54 motorway: the civil parishes of Sheriffhales, Shifnal, Tong, Boscobel, Albrighton, Donington and Boningale make up the non-Telford and The Wrekin-administered portion. Boundary changes to realign the constituency boundaries to fit with the borough's most recent ward revisions resulted in the removal of Ketley (to the constituency of Telford) for the 2010 general election.^[5]

Future proposals: Under constituency boundary proposals announced in September 2016 this constituency was proposed to lose the Donnington and Hadley and Leegomery wards to Telford constituency, while the remainder would be merged into a new seat called Bridgnorth, Wellington and the Wrekin.^[6]

In June 2021 the boundary commission put forward a new name for the constituency of "Wellington and Newport" and that the wards of Hodnet and Cheswardine would be added from the North Shropshire constituency. The suggested name change has met with opposition locally.^[7]

Constituency profile

The constituency is in the east of Shropshire, specifically, around The Wrekin hill and therefore in undulating country within fast road access (and some rail access) commuter's reach to the West Midlands, Stafford and Stoke on Trent.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 3.1% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[8]

Members of Parliament

Year		Member^[9]	Whip	Notes
	1918	Sir Charles Henry	Coalition Liberal	MP for Wellington to 1918
	Feb 1920	Charles Palmer	Independent Unionist
	1920		Independent Parliamentary Group
	Nov 1920	Sir Charles Townshend	Independent Parliamentary Group
	1922	Howard Stransom Button	Unionist
	1923	Henry Nixon	Labour
	1924	Thomas Oakley	Unionist
	1929	Edith Picton-Turbervill	Labour
	1931	James Baldwin-Webb	Conservative
	1941	Arthur Colegate	Conservative	MP for Burton 1950-55
	1945	Ivor Owen Thomas	Labour
	1955	William Yates	Conservative	MP for Holt in the Australian House of Representatives 1975–80
	1966	Gerald Fowler	Labour
	1970	Anthony Trafford	Conservative
	1974	Gerald Fowler	Labour
	1979	Warren Hawksley	Conservative	MP for Halesowen and Stourbridge 1992-97
	1987	Bruce Grocott	Labour	MP for Telford 1997–2001
	1997	Peter Bradley	Labour
	2005	Mark Pritchard	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: The Wrekin^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pritchard	31,029	63.5	+8.1
	Labour	Dylan Harrison	12,303	25.2	–10.9
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Janke	4,067	8.3	+5.6
	Green	Tim Dawes	1,491	3.0	+1.4
Majority			18,726	38.3	+19.0
Turnout			48,890	69.2	–3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+9.5

General election 2017: The Wrekin^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pritchard	27,451	55.4	5.7
	Labour	Dylan Harrison	17,887	36.1	10.1
	UKIP	Denis Allen	1,656	3.3	13.5
	Liberal Democrats	Rod Keyes	1,345	2.7	1.6
	Green	Pat McCarthy	804	1.6	1.6
	Independent	Fay Easton	380	0.8	New
Majority			9,564	19.3	4.4
Turnout			49,523	72.2	3.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.2

General election 2015: The Wrekin^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pritchard	22,579	49.7	2.0
	Labour	Katrina Gilman	11,836	26.0	1.1
	UKIP	Jill Seymour	7,620	16.8	12.3
	Liberal Democrats	Rod Keyes	1,959	4.3	13.1
	Green	Cath Edwards^[13]	1,443	3.2	New
Majority			10,743	23.7	3.1
Turnout			45,437	68.9	1.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.55

General election 2010: The Wrekin^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pritchard	21,922	47.7	5.6
	Labour Co-op	Paul Kalinauckas	12,472	27.1	12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Alyson Cameron-Daw	8,019	17.4	2.4
	UKIP	Malcolm Hurst	2,050	4.5	0.9
	BNP	Susan Harwood	1,505	3.3	New
Majority			9,450	20.6	18.6
Turnout			45,968	70.1	3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	8.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: The Wrekin^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Mark Pritchard	18,899	41.9	3.5
	Labour	Peter Bradley	17,957	39.9	7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Bill Tomlinson	6,608	14.7	3.3
	UKIP	Bruce Lawson	1,590	3.5	0.4
Majority			942	2.0	N/A
Turnout			45,054	67.0	3.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	5.4

General election 2001: The Wrekin^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Bradley	19,532	47.1	0.2
	Conservative	Jacob Rees-Mogg	15,945	38.4	1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Jenkins	4,738	11.4	1.4
	UKIP	Denis Brookes	1,275	3.1	New
Majority			3,587	8.7	2.0
Turnout			41,490	63.1	13.5
	Labour hold		Swing	0.95

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: The Wrekin^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Bradley	21,243	46.9
	Conservative	Peter Bruinvels	18,218	40.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Jenkins	5,807	12.8
Majority			3,025	6.7	N/A
Turnout			45,268	76.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Note: although The Wrekin was a Labour-held seat in the previous Parliament, boundary changes removed many Labour-leaning areas that now fall in the neighbouring seat of Telford, which Bruce Grocott decided to contest in 1997 instead of the new Wrekin seat. These changes made it notionally a Conservative seat, hence this is a gain rather than a hold.

General election 1992: The Wrekin^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bruce Grocott	33,865	48.3	5.5
	Conservative	Elizabeth Holt	27,217	38.8	1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony West	8,032	11.5	5.1
	Green	Robert Saunders	1,008	1.4	New
Majority			6,648	9.5	7.3
Turnout			70,122	77.1	1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	3.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: The Wrekin^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bruce Grocott	27,681	42.8	6.1
	Conservative	Warren Hawksley	26,225	40.6	1.6
	SDP	George Cook	10,737	16.6	7.8
Majority			1,456	2.2	N/A
Turnout			64,643	78.3	2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	2.3

General election 1983: The Wrekin^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Warren Hawksley	22,710	39.0	6.6
	Labour	Bruce Grocott	21,379	36.7	7.5
	SDP	Mark Biltcliffe	14,208	24.4	New
Majority			1,331	2.3	0.9
Turnout			58,297	75.5	2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	0.45

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Warren Hawksley	32,672	45.6	+7.8
	Labour	Gerald Fowler	31,707	44.2	-4.5
	Liberal	R. Yarnell	7,331	10.2	-3.3
Majority			965	1.4	N/A
Turnout			71,710	78.4	+3.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election October 1974: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gerald Fowler	30,385	48.7	+2.4
	Conservative	Philip Banks	23,547	37.8	+1.4
	Liberal	Wally Dewsnip	8,442	13.5	-3.8
Majority			6,838	10.9	+1.0
Turnout			62,374	74.5	-6.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gerald Fowler	30,642	46.3	-3.2
	Conservative	Anthony Trafford	24,121	36.4	-14.1
	Liberal	Ian George Powney	11,487	17.3	New
Majority			6,521	9.9	N/A
Turnout			66,250	80.8	+2.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1970: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Trafford	26,282	50.5	+1.4
	Labour	Gerald Fowler	25,764	49.5	-1.4
Majority			518	1.0	N/A
Turnout			52,046	78.8	-2.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gerald Fowler	23,692	50.9	+8.2
	Conservative	William Yates	22,846	49.1	+0.4
Majority			846	1.8	N/A
Turnout			46,538	81.3	-0.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General election 1964: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Yates	21,765	48.7	-4.9
	Labour	Donald Bruce	19,078	42.7	-3.7
	Liberal	John Nicholas Davies	3,839	8.6	New
Majority			2,687	6.0	-1.2
Turnout			44,682	82.0	-2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Yates	22,030	53.6	+3.0
	Labour	Donald Bruce	19,052	46.4	-3.0
Majority			2,978	7.2	+6.0
Turnout			41,082	84.20	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Yates	19,019	50.6	+3.9
	Labour	Ivor Owen Thomas	18,541	49.4	-3.0
Majority			478	1.2	N/A
Turnout			37,560	80.1	-3.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1951: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivor Owen Thomas	20,109	52.4	-1.3
	Conservative	John Cordle	18,305	46.7	+0.4
Majority			1,804	4.7	-2.7
Turnout			38,414	83.1	+1.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivor Owen Thomas	19,730	53.7	-2.6
	Conservative	F.G. Bibbings	17,039	46.3	+2.6
Majority			2,691	7.4	-5.2
Turnout			36,769	81.3	+9.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ivor Owen Thomas	22,453	56.3	+14.2
	Conservative	Arthur Colegate	17,422	43.7	-14.2
Majority			5,031	12.6	N/A
Turnout			39,875	72.3	-6.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

1941 The Wrekin by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Arthur Colegate	9,946	53.2	4.7
	Ind. Conservative	Noel Pemberton Billing	7,121	38.1	New
	Independent	Arthur Patrick Kennedy	1,638	8.8	New
Majority			2,825	15.1	0.7
Turnout			18,705
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

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: James Baldwin-Webb
• Labour: Ivor Owen Thomas

General election 1935: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Baldwin-Webb	20,665	57.9	-3.2
	Labour	Geoffrey Garratt	15,040	42.1	+3.2
Majority			5,625	15.8	-6.4
Turnout			35,705	78.5	-4.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: The Wrekin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Baldwin-Webb	22,258	61.1	+25.5
	Labour	Edith Picton-Turbervill	14,162	38.9	-4.5
Majority			8,096	22.2	N/A
Turnout			36,420	83.2	+6.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: The Wrekin^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edith Picton-Turbervill	14,569	44.4	0.0
	Unionist	Thomas Oakley	11,707	35.6	20.1
	Liberal	W. E. Boyes	6,575	20.0	New
Majority			2,862	8.8	N/A
Turnout			32,851	76.7	2.5
Registered electors			42,823
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	10.1

General election 1924: The Wrekin^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Thomas Oakley	14,003	55.7	8.9
	Labour	Henry Nixon	11,132	44.4	8.8
Majority			2,871	11.3	N/A
Turnout			25,135	74.2	8.2
Registered electors			33,866
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	2.5

General election 1923: The Wrekin^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry Nixon	11,657	53.2	5.6
	Unionist	Arthur Nicholas Fielden	10,274	46.8	5.6
Majority			1,383	6.4	N/A
Turnout			21,931	66.0	1.8
Registered electors			33,253
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	5.6

General election 1922: The Wrekin^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Howard Button	11,652	52.4	New
	Labour	Richard Edward Jones	10,603	47.6	N/A
Majority			1,049	4.8	N/A
Turnout			22,255	67.8	N/A
Registered electors			32,844
	Unionist gain from Ind. Parliamentary Group		Swing	N/A

 

Townshend

The Wrekin by-election, November 1920^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Parliamentary Group	Charles Townshend	14,565	57.9	17.2
	Labour	Charles Duncan	10,600	42.1	3.7
Majority			3,965	15.8	13.5
Turnout			25,165	78.3	7.3
Registered electors			32,053
	Ind. Parliamentary Group hold		Swing

The Wrekin by-election, February 1920^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Parliamentary Group	Charles Palmer	9,267	40.7	New
	Labour	Charles Duncan	8,729	38.4	New
C	Liberal	John Bayley	4,750	20.9	N/A
Majority			538	2.3	N/A
Turnout			22,746	71.0	N/A
	Ind. Parliamentary Group gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1910s

 

Henry

General election 1918: The Wrekin^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Charles Henry	Unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• Parliamentary constituencies in Shropshire

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all British constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. . 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "31. County of Salop" in "Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission (England and Wales)" Cd. 8756.
3. "BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", 1983, p. 143, 230.
4. "Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies", BBC/ITN/PA News/Sky, 1995, p. 181, 267.
5. "2010 post-revision map non-metropolitan areas and unitary authorities of England" (PDF).
6. "It's All Change For MPs, Political map to be transformed". Shropshire Star. 13 September 2016. p. 1. Report by Mark Andrews.
7. "MP in campaign to save landmark boundary name". Shropshire Star. 16 June 2021. p. 2. Report by Lisa O'Brien. Mark Pritchard being the MP indicated by the headline.
8. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
10. "Wrekin, The Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
11. "Shrewsbury & Atcham Parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
12. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "Telford & Wrekin Green Party - People". greenparty.org.uk.
14. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
19. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
22. The Constitutional Year Book, 1929
23. The Constitutional Year Book, 1925
24. Debretts House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1922