Thornbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Thornbury
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Gloucestershire
Major settlements	Thornbury
1885–1950
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 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 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	Athelstan Rendall	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;

• Conservative: Sir Derrick Gunston
• Labour: Joseph Alpass^[4]
• Liberal: Raymond Walton^[5]

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)
2. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
3. 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