Tewkesbury existed in this period, first in the
parliamentary borough form. It returned two MPs until this was reduced to one in 1868, then saw itself become instead a larger county division under the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and it was abolished in 1918.
Prominent politicians
William Dowdeswell was
Chancellor of the Exchequer for two years under
Rockingham, and his short tenure of this position appears to have been a successful one, he being in
Lecky's words a good financier, but nothing more. To general astonishment, he refused to abandon his friends and to take an office under
The 1st Earl of Chatham ("Pitt the Elder"), who succeeded Rockingham in August 1766. Dowdeswell then led the Rockingham party in the
House of Commons, taking an active part in debate until his death. In 1774 he warned MPs against passing the Boston Port Act, related to the later
Boston Tea Party.
Charles Hanbury-Tracy was heir to much of the
Pontypool part the growing iron industry and served as the chairman of the commission of 1835 that commissioned the new
Houses of Parliament and judged designs.
The fourth periodic review of Westminster constituencies in 1997 saw the seat's recreation, from the similar, but slightly larger county division Tewkesbury and Cirencester, compared to the present seat.
1997–2010: The Borough of Tewkesbury wards of Ashchurch, Bishop's Cleeve East, Bishop's Cleeve North, Bishop's Cleeve South, Brockworth Glebe, Brockworth Moorfield, Brockworth Westfield, Churchdown Brookfield, Churchdown Parton, Churchdown Pirton,
Cleeve Hill, Coombe Hill, Crickley, De Winton, Dumbleton,
Gotherington, Horsbere, Innsworth,
Shurdington, Tewkesbury Mitton, Tewkesbury Newtown, Tewkesbury Prior's Park, Tewkesbury Town,
Twyning, and Winchcombe, and the Borough of Cheltenham wards of Leckhampton with Up Hatherley,
Prestbury, and
Swindon.
2010–present: The Borough of Tewkesbury wards of Ashchurch with Walton Cardiff,
Badgeworth,
Brockworth, Churchdown Brookfield, Churchdown St John's, Cleeve Grange, Cleeve Hill, Cleeve St Michael's, Cleeve West, Coombe Hill,
Hucclecote, Innsworth with Down Hatherley, Isbourne,
Northway, Oxenton Hill,
Shurdington, Tewkesbury Newtown, Tewkesbury Prior's Park, Tewkesbury Town with Mitton, Twyning, and Winchcombe, the Borough of Cheltenham wards of Prestbury and Swindon Village, and the City of Gloucester ward of Longlevens.
The Borough of Cheltenham wards of: Prestbury; Springbank; Swindon Village.
The City of Gloucester wards of: Elmbridge; Longlevens.
The Borough of Tewkesbury wards of: Cleeve Grange; Cleeve Hill; Cleeve St. Michael’s; Cleeve West; Innsworth; Isbourne; Northway; Severn Vale North; Severn Vale South; Tewkesbury East; Tewkesbury North & Twyning; Tewkesbury South; Winchcombe.[3]
In order to bring the electorate within the permitted range, the area between the city of Gloucester and the town of Cheltenham, including the communities of
Badgeworth,
Brockworth,
Churchdown and
Shurdington will be included in the newly created constituency of
North Cotswolds. The Springbank and Elmbridge wards will be transferred in from the
Cheltenham and
Gloucester seats respectively.
Constituency profile
The town has a raised centre with the second largest
parish church in the country that is the church of a former
Benedictinemonastery, named
Tewkesbury Abbey, the town also has its own
mustard and July medieval battle
festival. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[4]
Members of Parliament
MPs 1610–1629
Constituency created (1610)
The constituency was enfranchised on 23 March 1610 – the first record of its members sworn is 16 April 1610.[5]
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;
^Alford's election was declared void and his opponent, Stephens, was declared duly elected. However, Alford had also been elected for Arundel, and continued to sit for that borough.
^Percentage change and swing for 2010 is calculated relative to the PA (Rallings and Thrasher) 2005 notional result, not actual 2005 result
"Press Association Elections".
Press Association. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^Percentage change and swing for 1997 is calculated relative to the Rallings and Thrasher 1992 notional constituency result, not actual 1992 result. See C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995)
^
abcJenkins, Terry.
"Tewkesbury". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
Sources
Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
[1]
D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
[2]
The Constitutional Year Book for 1913 (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913)
F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
J. Holladay Philbin, Parliamentary Representation 1832 - England and Wales (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965)
Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847 (2nd edition, edited by FWS Craig — Chichester: Parliamentary Reference Publications, 1973)