Thornbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Thornbury
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Gloucestershire
Major settlements	Thornbury
1885–1950
Seats	One
Created from	West Gloucestershire
Replaced by	Stroud & Thornbury

Thornbury was a county constituency centred on the town of Thornbury in Gloucestershire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) 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 Chipping 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 Sodbury, Thornbury, and Warmley.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
	1885	Stafford Howard	Liberal
	1886	John Plunkett (Lord Dunsany from 1889)	Conservative
	1892	Charles Colston	Conservative
	1906	Athelstan Rendall	Liberal
	1922	Herbert Charles Woodcock	Conservative
	1923	Athelstan Rendall	Liberal
	1924	Sir Derrick Gunston, Bt.	Unionist
	1945	Joseph Alpass	Labour
	1950	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Thornbury ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stafford Howard	4,834	50.8
	Conservative	Benjamin St John Ackers	4,689	49.2
Majority			145	1.6
Turnout			9,523	84.0
Registered electors			11,333
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Thornbury ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Plunkett	4,935	54.9	+5.7
	Liberal	Stafford Howard	4,054	45.1	-5.7
Majority			881	9.8	N/A
Turnout			8,989	79.3	-4.7
Registered electors			11,333
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	-5.7

Elections in the 1890s

Colston

General election 1892: Thornbury ^{[2] [3] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Colston	5,202	51.1	-3.8
	Liberal	Stafford Howard	4,978	48.9	+3.8
Majority			224	2.2	-7.6
Turnout			10,180	85.8	+6.5
Registered electors			11,867
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.8

Allen

General election 1895: Thornbury ^{[2] [3] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Colston	5,727	55.3	+4.2
	Liberal	Arthur Acland Allen	4,638	44.7	-4.2
Majority			1,089	10.6	+8.4
Turnout			10,635	85.0	-0.8
Registered electors			12,195
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Thornbury ^{[2] [3] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Colston	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1906: Thornbury ^{[2] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Athelstan Rendall	7,370	58.4	New
	Conservative	Charles Colston	5,240	41.6	N/A
Majority			2,130	16.8	N/A
Turnout			12,610	89.5	N/A
Registered electors			14,096
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Thornbury ^{[2] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Athelstan Rendall	7,270	53.8	-4.6
	Conservative	Cyril Augustus Ward	6,251	46.2	+4.6
Majority			1,019	7.6	-9.2
Turnout			13,521	91.7	+2.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.6

George Cockerill

General election December 1910: Thornbury ^{[2] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Athelstan Rendall	6,820	53.9	+0.1
	Conservative	George Cockerill	5,837	46.1	-0.1
Majority			983	7.8	+0.2
Turnout			12,657	85.9	-5.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.1

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Athelstan Rendall
• Unionist: George Cockerill ^[8]

Athelstan Rendall

General election 1918: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Athelstan Rendall	9,999	62.0	+8.1
	National	Thomas Pilcher	6,132	38.0	New
Majority			3,687	24.0	+16.2
Turnout			16,131	47.6	−38.3
Registered electors			33,862
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Herbert Charles Woodcock	10,682	39.5	+1.5
	Liberal	Athelstan Rendall	10,578	39.2	-22.8
	Labour	Joseph Alpass	5,749	21.3	New
Majority			104	0.3	-23.7
Turnout			27,009	77.9	+30.3
Registered electors			34,655		+2.33
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Thornbury ^[9]

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	+2.7
Turnout			26,974	75.6	-2.3
Registered electors			35,695		+3.0
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+12.2

General election 1924: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Derrick Gunston	12,500	42.9	+4.9
	Liberal	Athelstan Rendall	10,283	35.3	-26.7
	Labour	Godfrey Elton	6,376	21.9	New
Majority			2,217	7.6	N/A
Turnout			29,159	79.5	+3.9
Registered electors			36,672		+2.7
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+15.8

General election 1929: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Derrick Gunston	13,914	34.0	-8.9
	Liberal	John Adam Day	13,614	33.2	-2.1
	Labour	Godfrey Elton	13,445	32.8	+10.9
Majority			300	0.8	-6.8
Turnout			40,973	82.5	+3.0
Registered electors			49,645		+35.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-3.4

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derrick Gunston	23,072	55.1	+21.1
	Labour	George Pearce Blizard	11,008	26.3	-6.5
	Liberal	J. Howard Whitehouse	7,826	18.7	-14.5
Majority			12,064	28.8	+28.0
Turnout			41,906	79.7	-2.8
Registered electors			52,547		+5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+13.8

General election 1935: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Derrick Gunston	19,180	47.4	-7.7
	Labour	F. A. Heron	15,164	37.5	+11.2
	Liberal	Wilfred John Jenkins	6,104	15.1	-3.6
Majority			4,016	9.9	-18.9
Turnout			40,448	71.5	-8.2
Registered electors			56,582		+7.7
	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;

• Conservative: Derrick Gunston
• Labour: Joseph Alpass ^[10]
• Liberal: Raymond Walton ^[11]

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Thornbury ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Alpass	28,364	49.3	+11.8
	Conservative	Derrick Gunston	18,927	32.9	-14.5
	Liberal	Ronald W Brighton	10,262	17.8	+2.7
Majority			9,437	16.4	N/A
Turnout			57,553	76.4	+4.9
Registered electors			75,286		+33.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.2

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
2. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 287. ISBN   9781349022984.
3. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
4. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
5. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1896
6. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
8. Standard 21 June 1913
9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
10. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
11. Gloucestershire Echo, 9 May 1938