Post by WJ on May 24, 2020 17:33:21 GMT
The North Shropshire constituency has existed in some shape or form since 1832, though for almost 100 years it was known as Oswestry, until the name reverted back in 1983. Despite the name changes, the scope of the constituency has changed remarkably little during its history. This is a highly rural constituency dotted with small market towns that have mostly escaped the ravages of industrialisation and modernisation. Unsurprisingly, agriculture is the most important industry here. The largest settlements are Oswestry, Whitchurch and Market Drayton are the largest settlements in the constituency, with Ellesmere and Wem being of local importance and market towns. This is far from a homogenous constituency, with poor direct East-West links and with most of the market towns looking towards other areas beyond its borders.
The far west of the constituency feels distinctly Welsh with implausibly English villages such as Trefonen, Porth-y-waen, Rhydycroesau, Selattyn and, the particular favourite of boundary enthusiasts, Llanymynech, which is split between England and Wales. This is upland country where sheep farming dominates, though coal mining and lime-works also have left important marks on the landscape and political culture. This is also where Oswestry is situated. Oswestry is the largest settlement in the constituency, home to almost 17,000 souls. It is a historic market town that still retains a distinctly border town feel and on livestock days, one is as likely to hear Welsh spoken as English. Indeed, Oswestry and the surrounding area switched between England and Wales until the border was formalised in 1537. The town has also managed to fiercely maintain a competitive high street with many thriving independent shops. Moving east, the uplands around Oswestry turn to gently rolling countryside that flattens into the Shropshire-Cheshire plain. Large villages such as Ruyton-XI-Towns, Baschurch and the small town of Wem dominate here, though these days they mostly serve as dormitory villages for Shrewsbury to the south. North of them, where Ellesmere is located, the landscape is littered with large meres, lowland bogs and the Shropshire Union canal and it is here where the tourist industry has its strongest foothold. Just east of the meres, close to the tripoint between Shropshire, Wales and Cheshire is Whitchurch. Whitchurch feels distinctly “Cheshire” and the abundance of dairy farms around the town means that it is an important cheese making centre, particularly the manufacture of Cheshire cheese. Before that, clock making was the most important industry and it was here that the world’s first clock towers were designed and manufactured. Still further east, the landscape continues to flatten, and dairy industry increases its grip. Market Drayton, at the eastern end of the county is home to the British arm of the Müller Dairy. Market Drayton and surrounding villages have stronger links to Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Potteries than they do to the rest of Shropshire.
Politically, this is dyed in the wool Conservative country. Indeed, the constituency has returned a Conservative member at every election since its founding (barring a Liberal byelection win in 1904). The area has had only two MPs since the 1961 election. John Biffen, the early Tory Eurosceptic who rose to prominence under Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, State Secretary of Trade and finally Leader of the House of Commons. Yet he was demoted to the back benches after the 1987 election after falling out with Thatcher. He retired at the 1997 election, to be replaced by Owen Paterson, the prominent Eurosceptic and occasional front bencher. The seat became marginal in 1997, with Paterson only winning the seat with a 4% majority, following a strong challenge by Ian Lucas, later MP of Wrexham. The 1997 and 2001 elections were the nadir of the fortunes of the Conservative Party in Shropshire, indeed, at the 2001 election, North Shropshire was the only Conservative seat out of five left in the county. Despite this, Owen Paterson has managed to increase his vote share at all subsequent elections and now sits on a comfortable 62.7% share of the vote. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have fought between themselves for an increasingly distant second place.
On the local level, the pattern of Conservative dominance continues, indeed at the 2013 council elections, seven candidates were returned unopposed, including all three Whitchurch councillors. However, Oswestry has had a veritable rainbow of councillors in the recent past. The former mining wards to the north used to be nailed-on Labour seats, though their strength has withered away as the memory of mining fades.
The far west of the constituency feels distinctly Welsh with implausibly English villages such as Trefonen, Porth-y-waen, Rhydycroesau, Selattyn and, the particular favourite of boundary enthusiasts, Llanymynech, which is split between England and Wales. This is upland country where sheep farming dominates, though coal mining and lime-works also have left important marks on the landscape and political culture. This is also where Oswestry is situated. Oswestry is the largest settlement in the constituency, home to almost 17,000 souls. It is a historic market town that still retains a distinctly border town feel and on livestock days, one is as likely to hear Welsh spoken as English. Indeed, Oswestry and the surrounding area switched between England and Wales until the border was formalised in 1537. The town has also managed to fiercely maintain a competitive high street with many thriving independent shops. Moving east, the uplands around Oswestry turn to gently rolling countryside that flattens into the Shropshire-Cheshire plain. Large villages such as Ruyton-XI-Towns, Baschurch and the small town of Wem dominate here, though these days they mostly serve as dormitory villages for Shrewsbury to the south. North of them, where Ellesmere is located, the landscape is littered with large meres, lowland bogs and the Shropshire Union canal and it is here where the tourist industry has its strongest foothold. Just east of the meres, close to the tripoint between Shropshire, Wales and Cheshire is Whitchurch. Whitchurch feels distinctly “Cheshire” and the abundance of dairy farms around the town means that it is an important cheese making centre, particularly the manufacture of Cheshire cheese. Before that, clock making was the most important industry and it was here that the world’s first clock towers were designed and manufactured. Still further east, the landscape continues to flatten, and dairy industry increases its grip. Market Drayton, at the eastern end of the county is home to the British arm of the Müller Dairy. Market Drayton and surrounding villages have stronger links to Newcastle-under-Lyme and the Potteries than they do to the rest of Shropshire.
Politically, this is dyed in the wool Conservative country. Indeed, the constituency has returned a Conservative member at every election since its founding (barring a Liberal byelection win in 1904). The area has had only two MPs since the 1961 election. John Biffen, the early Tory Eurosceptic who rose to prominence under Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, State Secretary of Trade and finally Leader of the House of Commons. Yet he was demoted to the back benches after the 1987 election after falling out with Thatcher. He retired at the 1997 election, to be replaced by Owen Paterson, the prominent Eurosceptic and occasional front bencher. The seat became marginal in 1997, with Paterson only winning the seat with a 4% majority, following a strong challenge by Ian Lucas, later MP of Wrexham. The 1997 and 2001 elections were the nadir of the fortunes of the Conservative Party in Shropshire, indeed, at the 2001 election, North Shropshire was the only Conservative seat out of five left in the county. Despite this, Owen Paterson has managed to increase his vote share at all subsequent elections and now sits on a comfortable 62.7% share of the vote. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have fought between themselves for an increasingly distant second place.
On the local level, the pattern of Conservative dominance continues, indeed at the 2013 council elections, seven candidates were returned unopposed, including all three Whitchurch councillors. However, Oswestry has had a veritable rainbow of councillors in the recent past. The former mining wards to the north used to be nailed-on Labour seats, though their strength has withered away as the memory of mining fades.
