Thornbury (UK Parliament constituency)

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Thornbury
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County Gloucestershire
Major settlements Thornbury
18851950
Number of members One
Replaced by Stroud & Thornbury

Thornbury was a county constituency centred on the town of Thornbury in Gloucestershire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Divisions of Sodbury, Thornbury, and Lawford's Gate except the part included in the parliamentary borough of Bristol.

1918-1950: The Urban District of Kingswood, and the Rural Districts of Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, and Warmley.

Members of Parliament

Election Member [1] Party
1885 Stafford Howard Liberal
1886 John William Plunkett Conservative
1892 Charles Colston Conservative
1906 Athelstan Rendall Liberal
1922 Herbert Charles Woodcock Conservative
1923 Athelstan Rendall Liberal
1924 Sir Derrick Wellesley Gunston, Bt. Unionist
1945 Joseph Herbert Alpass Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Elections

Election 1885–1910

Charles Colston
George Cockerill
Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
General election, 1885 [2]
New constituency
Electorate: 11,333
Turnout: 9,484 (84.0%)
Liberal win
Majority: 145 (1.6%)
Stafford Howard Liberal 4,845 50.8 N/A
Benjamin St John Ackers Conservative 4,639 49.2 N/A
General election, 1886 [2]
Electorate: 11,333
Turnout: 8,989 (79.3%) −4.7
Conservative gain from Liberal
Majority: 881 (9.8%)
Swing: 5.7% from Lib to Con
John William Plunkett Conservative 4,935 54.9 +5.7
E. S. Howard Liberal 4,054 45.1 −5.7
General election, 1892 [2]
Electorate: 11,867
Turnout: 10,180 (85.8%) +6.5
Conservative hold
Majority: 224 (2.2%) −7.6
Swing: 3.8% from Con to Lib
Charles Colston Conservative 5,202 51.1 −3.8
E. S. Howard Liberal 4,978 48.9 +3.8
General election, 1895 [2]
Electorate: 12,195
Turnout: 10,635 (85.0%) −0.8
Conservative hold
Majority: 1,089 (10.6%) +8.4
Swing: 4.2% from Lib to Con
Charles Colston Conservative 5,727 55.3 +4.2
E. S. Howard Liberal 4,638 44.7 −4.2
General election, 1900 [2] Conservative hold Charles Colston Conservative unopposed
General election, 1906 [2]
Electorate: 14,096
Turnout: 12,610 (89.5%)
Liberal gain from Conservative
Majority: 2,130 (16.8%)
Athelstan Rendall Liberal 7,370 58.4 N/A
Charles Colston Conservative 5,240 41.6 N/A
General election, January 1910 [2]
Electorate: 14,792
Turnout: 13,521 (91.7%) +2.2
Liberal hold
Majority: 1,019 (7.6%) −9.2
Swing: 4.6% from Lib to Con
Athelstan Rendall Liberal 7,270 53.8 −4.6
Hon. C. A. Ward Conservative 6,251 46.2 +4.6
General election, December 1910 [2]
Electorate: 14,742
Turnout: 12,657 (85.9%) −5.8
Liberal hold
Majority: 983 (7.8%) +0.1
Swing: 0.1% from Con to Lib
Athelstan Rendall Liberal 6,820 53.9 +0.1
George Cockerill Conservative 5,837 46.1 −0.1

Elections in the 1910s

Athelstan Rendall
General Election 1918: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal 9,999 62.0 +8.1
National Party Thomas David Pilcher 6,132 38.0 n/a
Majority 3,687 24.0 +23.9
Turnout 16,131 47.6 -38.3
Liberal hold Swing n/a
  • endorsed by the Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Charles Woodcock 10,682 39.5 n/a
Liberal Athelstan Rendall 10,578 39.2 -22.8
Labour Joseph Herbert Alpass 5,749 21.3 n/a
Majority 104 0.3 24.3
Turnout 27,009 77.9 +30.3
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
General Election 1923: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Athelstan Rendall 16,722 62.0 +22.8
Unionist Herbert Charles Woodcock 10,252 38.0 -1.5
Majority 6,470 24.0 24.3
Turnout 26,974 75.6 -2.3
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +12.2
General Election 1924: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Derrick Wellesley Gunston 12,500 42.8 +4.8
Liberal Athelstan Rendall 10,283 35.3 -26.7
Labour Godfrey Elton 6,376 21.9 n/a
Majority 2,217 7.5 31.5
Turnout 29,159 79.5 +3.9
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +15.8
General Election 1929: Thornbury[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Derrick Wellesley Gunston 13,914 34.0 -8.8
Liberal John Adam Day 13,614 33.2 -2.1
Labour Godfrey Elton 13,445 32.8 +10.9
Majority 300 0.8 -6.7
Turnout 40,973 82.5 +3.0
Unionist hold Swing -3.4

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derrick Wellesley Gunston 23,072 55.0 +21.0
Labour George Pearce Blizard 11,008 26.3 -6.5
Liberal John Howard Whitehouse 7,826 18.7 -14.5
Majority 12,064 28.7 +27.9
Turnout 41,906 79.7 -2.8
Conservative hold Swing +13.8
General Election 1935: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Derrick Wellesley Gunston 19,180 47.4 -7.6
Labour F. A. Heron 15,164 37.5 +11.2
Liberal Rev Wilfred J. Jenkins 6,104 15.1 -3.6
Majority 4,016 9.9 -18.8
Turnout 40,448 71.5 -8.2
Conservative hold Swing -9.4

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 1940s

General Election 1945: Thornbury [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Herbert Alpass 28,364 49.3 +11.8
Conservative Sir Derrick Wellesley Gunston 18,927 32.9 -14.5
Liberal Ronald W Brighton 10,262 17.8 +2.7
Majority 9,437 16.4 26.3
Turnout 57,553 76.4 +4.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +13.2

References

  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  4. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  5. Gloucestershire Echo, 9 May 1938