North Shropshire

52°51′22″N 2°43′23″W / 52.856°N 2.723°W / 52.856; -2.723

North Shropshire District
North Shropshire
Shown within Shropshire non-metropolitan county
History
 • OriginMarket Drayton Rural District
North Shropshire Rural District
 • Created1 April 1974
 • Abolished31 March 2009
 • Succeeded byShropshire
StatusDistrict
ONS code39UC
GovernmentNorth Shropshire District Council
 • HQWem

North Shropshire was a local government district in Shropshire, England from 1974 to 2009. The district council was based at Edinburgh House in Wem. Other settlements included the towns of Ellesmere, Market Drayton and Whitchurch, as well as the large villages of Shawbury and Baschurch. The district bordered onto Wales, Cheshire and Staffordshire as well as the Shropshire districts of Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Atcham and the unitary Telford and Wrekin.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of Market Drayton Rural District and North Shropshire Rural District.[1]

The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2009, when the new Shropshire Council unitary authority was established, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.[2]

Settlements

The district council classified Wem, Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Ellesmere as the market towns of North Shropshire, while it gave the classification of "main service villages" to Baschurch, Cheswardine, Clive, Cockshutt, Dudleston Heath, Hadnall, Hinstock, Hodnet, Prees, Shawbury, Tilstock, Welshampton and Woore. The district also included many other smaller villages and hamlets.

Infrastructure

The main roads in the district were the A41, A49 and the A53. There were no motorways.

There were four railway stations in the district: (Yorton, Wem, Prees and Whitchurch), all on the Welsh Marches Line. The Shrewsbury to Chester Line ran through the district as well, but the only station on that section of the line within North Shropshire had been at Baschurch, which had closed in 1965, prior to the district's creation. The Shropshire Union Canal and Ellesmere Canal/Llangollen Canal both ran through the district.

Political control

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:[3]

Party in control Years
Independent 1973–2003
No overall control 2003–2007
Conservative 2007–2009

Leadership

The last leader of the council was David Minnery, a Conservative.

Councillor Party From To
David Minnery[4] Conservative 31 Mar 2009

Council elections

  • 1973 North Shropshire District Council election
  • 1976 North Shropshire District Council election (New ward boundaries)[5]
  • 1979 North Shropshire District Council election
  • 1983 North Shropshire District Council election
  • 1987 North Shropshire District Council election
  • 1991 North Shropshire District Council election (District boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)[6]
  • 1995 North Shropshire District Council election
  • 1999 North Shropshire District Council election
  • 2003 North Shropshire District Council election (New ward boundaries)[7][8]
  • 2007 North Shropshire District Council election

By-election results

Market Drayton North By-Election 3 October 1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour 405 61.9
Conservative 249 38.1
Majority 156 23.8
Turnout 634 23.2
Labour hold Swing
Prees By-Election 19 November 1998
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 277 55.4
Independent 233 46.6
Majority 44 8.8
Turnout 510 23.0
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Wem Rural By-Election 22 June 2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 290 82.9
Independent 60 17.1
Majority 230 65.8
Turnout 350 40.0
Conservative hold Swing
Sutton By-Election 27 July 2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 111 55.2
Independent 66 32.8
Independent 24 11.9
Majority 45 22.4
Turnout 201 32.0
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Weston Rhyn By-Election 26 April 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats 369 60.8
Independent 238 39.2
Majority 131 21.6
Turnout 607 31.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Clive By-Election 13 September 2001
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative unopposed
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Whitchurch South By-Election 6 October 2005
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Dakin 204 51.6 +24.5
Independent Andrew Richardson 191 48.4 +2.6
Majority 13 3.2
Turnout 395 17.4
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Hordley, Tetchill and Lyncal By-Election 19 October 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stephen Davenport 169 59.7
Independent William Lewis 74 26.1
Independent Jennifer Wright 40 14.1
Majority 95 33.6
Turnout 283 26.5
Conservative gain from Independent Swing

See also

References

  1. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 6 September 2022
  2. ^ "The Shropshire (Structural Change) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2008/1866, retrieved 18 September 2022
  3. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Council leaves positive legacy after tough time". Shropshire Star. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  5. ^ legislation.gov.uk - The District of North Shropshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1976. Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
  6. ^ legislation.gov.uk - The Shropshire (District Boundaries) Order 1987. Retrieved on 6 November 2015.
  7. ^ legislation.gov.uk - The District of North Shropshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2000. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.
  8. ^ legislation.gov.uk - The District of North Shropshire (Electoral Changes) (Amendment) Order 2006. Retrieved on 3 November 2015.
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