Cirencester and Tewkesbury |
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Former county constituency for the House of Commons |
County | Gloucestershire |
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Major settlements | Cirencester, Tewkesbury |
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1918–1997 |
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Seats | One |
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Created from | Cirencester and Tewkesbury |
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Replaced by | The Cotswolds Tewkesbury |
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Cirencester and Tewkesbury was a parliamentary constituency in Gloucestershire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1918 general election and abolished for the 1997 general election when it was partly replaced by the new constituencies of Cotswold and Tewkesbury.
History
The only party to have returned an MP for this constituency was the Conservatives, who represented it for most of the seat's existence. The exception was the period from 1951 to 1959, when William Morrison, first elected as a Conservative, became the Speaker of the House of Commons, a role in which the incumbent is traditionally unaffiliated to a party. The seat centred on the towns of Cirencester and Tewkesbury, covering much of the Cotswolds, a picturesque rolling landscape designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1966.[1] The seat was divided between the Cotswold (later renamed The Cotswolds) and Tewkesbury constituencies. Its last MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, went on to represent the Cotswold constituency upon its 1997 creation. At elections contested by the major parties, Cirencester and Tewkesbury generally elected Conservatives with large majorities, and thus could usually have been classed as a safe seat for the party.
Boundaries
1918–1950: The Borough of Tewkesbury, the Urban Districts of Cirencester, Stow-on-the-Wold, and Tetbury, the Rural Districts of Campden, Cirencester, Marston Sicca, Northleach, and Pebworth, and parts of the Rural Districts of Cheltenham, Faringdon, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury, Tewkesbury, and Winchcombe.
1950–1955: The Borough of Tewkesbury, the Urban District of Cirencester, and the Rural Districts of Cheltenham, Cirencester, North Cotswold, Northleach, and Tetbury.
1955–1974: The Borough of Tewkesbury, the Urban District of Cirencester, and the Rural Districts of Cheltenham, Cirencester, North Cotswold, and Northleach.
1974–1983: As prior but with redrawn boundaries.
1983–1997: The District of Cotswold wards of Ampneys, Beacon, Blockley, Bourton-on-the-Water, Campden, Churn Valley, Cirencester Abbey, Cirencester Beeches, Cirencester Chesterton, Cirencester Stratton, Cirencester Watermoor, Coln, Ermin, Evenlode Vale, Fairford, Fossehill, Fosseridge, Hampton, Kempsford, Lechlade, Mickleton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, Sandywell, Sherborne Brook, Stow-on-the-Wold, Thames Head, Three Rivers, Vale, and Water Park, and the Borough of Tewkesbury wards of Ashchurch, Bishop's Cleeve East, Bishop's Cleeve North, Bishop's Cleeve South, Cleeve Hill, Coombe Hill, Crickley, Dumbleton, Gotherington, Shurdington, Swindon, Tewkesbury Mitton, Tewkesbury Newtown, Tewkesbury Prior's Park, Tewkesbury Town, Twyning, and Winchcombe.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Election in the 1990s
General election 1992: Cirencester and Tewkesbury[3][4] Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Conservative | Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 40,258 | 55.6 | +0.2 |
| Liberal Democrats | Edward J. Weston | 24,200 | 33.4 | −2.6 |
| Labour | Trevor A. Page | 7,262 | 10.0 | +1.8 |
| Natural Law | R Clayton | 449 | 0.6 | New |
| Independent | PA Trice-Rolph | 287 | 0.4 | New |
Majority | 16,058 | 22.2 | +2.8 |
Turnout | 72,456 | 82.1 | +4.2 |
Registered electors | 88,299 | | +5.0 |
| Conservative hold | Swing | +1.4 | |
Elections in the 1980s
General election 1983: Cirencester and Tewkesbury[6] [7] Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Conservative | Nicholas Ridley | 34,282 | 57.2 | +1.2 |
| Liberal | Philip T Beckerlegge | 20,455 | 34.1 | +7.3 |
| Labour | Terence JR Penny | 5,243 | 8.7 | −8.5 |
Majority | 13,827 | 23.1 | −6.1 |
Turnout | 59,980 | 74.9 | −5.8 |
Registered electors | 80,067 | | +8.6 |
| Conservative hold | Swing | −3.0 | |
Elections in the 1970s
General election 1979: Cirencester and Tewkesbury Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Conservative | Nicholas Ridley | 37,651 | 56.0 | +9.1 |
| Liberal | Philip T Beckerlegge | 18,057 | 26.8 | −3.6 |
| Labour | RS Trafford | 11,575 | 17.2 | −5.5 |
Majority | 19,594 | 29.2 | +12.7 |
Turnout | 67,283 | 78.7 | +2.0 |
Registered electors | 85,444 | | +6.3 |
| Conservative hold | Swing | +6.3 | |
General election 1970: Cirencester and Tewkesbury Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Conservative | Nicholas Ridley | 30,217 | 56.0 | −2.2 |
| Labour | Howard G Lovell | 16,131 | 29.9 | −11.9 |
| Liberal | Denys Robinson | 7,593 | 14.1 | New |
Majority | 14,086 | 26.1 | +9.7 |
Turnout | 53,941 | 73.9 | −1.0 |
Registered electors | 72,980 | | +14.8 |
| Conservative hold | Swing | +4.9 | |
Elections in the 1960s
General election 1964: Cirencester and Tewkesbury Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Conservative | Nicholas Ridley | 24,786 | 51.5 | −11.8 |
| Labour | John M Bowyer | 15,518 | 32.3 | −4.4 |
| Liberal | Arnold Geoffroy de Montmorency | 7,790 | 16.2 | New |
Majority | 9,268 | 19.2 | −7.4 |
Turnout | 48,094 | 78.0 | +1.4 |
Registered electors | 61,626 | | +6.1 |
| Conservative hold | Swing | −3.7 | |
Elections in the 1950s
Election in the 1940s
General election 1945: Cirencester and Tewkesbury[8] Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Conservative | William Morrison | 19,490 | 48.1 | N/A |
| Labour | Alan Ernest Gwynn Hawkins | 12,380 | 30.5 | New |
| Liberal | Christopher Money Harris | 8,681 | 21.4 | New |
Majority | 7,110 | 17.6 | N/A |
Turnout | 40,551 | 67.7 | N/A |
Registered electors | 59,890 | | N/A |
| Conservative hold |
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
Elections in the 1920s
General election 1924: Cirencester and Tewkesbury[12] Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Unionist | Thomas Davies | 18,201 | 72.0 | +5.8 |
| Labour | Joseph Alpass | 7,078 | 28.0 | −5.8 |
Majority | 11,123 | 44.0 | +11.6 |
Turnout | 25,279 | 68.4 | +4.8 |
| Unionist hold | Swing | +5.8 | |
Election in the 1910s
See also
References
Citations
- ^ "Cotswold District Council - Cotswolds AONB". www.cotswold.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 4)
- ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ Percentage change and swing for 1983 is calculated relative to the BBC/ITN 1979 notional constituency result, not actual 1979 result. See British Broadcasting Corporation; Independent Television News. The BBC/ITN Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, F W S Craig
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
Sources
- F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949 (Glasgow: Political Reference Publications, 1969)