The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – West Midlands
Shropshire
Initial proposals
Four of the five existing constituencies in Shropshire (including the Borough of Telford and Wrekin) are outside the permitted electorate range, but our initial proposals were able to move only four wards between constituencies to bring them all within range: two from Shrewsbury and Atcham to Ludlow; and two from North Shropshire to The Wrekin.
We also proposed some name changes to bring them more in line with our naming policy: Ludlow and Bridgnorth; Newport and Wellington; and Shrewsbury.
In respect of the proposed boundaries, those for Ludlow and Bridgnorth, North Shropshire and Shrewsbury were broadly supported in consultation responses, though we received a counter proposal to keep the Severn Valley ward in Shrewsbury by transferring the Rea Valley ward to Ludlow and Bridgnorth proposed constituency. There was also opposition to the configuration of the proposed Telford, and Newport and Wellington constituencies, where a counter proposal recommended exchanging the Priorslee, and Hadley & Leegomery wards between the two proposed constituencies, on the basis of the ties of the latter ward with Telford, and connections of Priorslee with Shifnal.
We also received significant opposition to two of the proposed names in Shropshire. There was particularly strong local support for the retention of The Wrekin name, as it is a renowned local geographical landmark, with which it was said local residents could identify better than with two relatively small towns. In a similar vein, many responses also felt that large parts of the proposed Ludlow and Bridgnorth constituency did not feel particular affinity to those relatively small population centres, and a more inclusive name for the constituency would therefore be South Shropshire.
Our Assistant Commissioners considered the counter proposal to exchange the wards of Severn Valley and Rea Valley. While they recognised the somewhat anomalous position of residents at the extreme north of the Severn Valley ward not being included in the Shrewsbury constituency, they noted that the counter proposal had not received support, whereas the initial proposal had received active support from some respondents located in the south of the Severn Valley ward; they therefore recommended retention of the initial proposals in this case, and we agreed.
The Assistant Commissioners also considered the competing evidence put forward as to whether Priorslee or Hadley & Leegomery ward should be included in the Telford constituency, with the other included in the proposed Newport and Wellington constituency. Overall, they considered that the case to retain Priorslee in the Telford constituency was the stronger, not least as the Telford constituency under this approach would only change to realign with local government ward boundary changes. They therefore recommended retention of the initial proposals, and we agreed.
In respect of names, the Assistant Commissioners recognised that, notwithstanding the Commission’s general policy to reference population centres in a constituency name, strength of local feeling would justify retention of the existing The Wrekin name, and a change to a more inclusive South Shropshire in the respective constituencies. We agreed.
Although there had been little opposition to the proposed North Shropshire constituency in earlier consultation, we received a significant number of responses in the final consultation period to the proposed transfer of the Shropshire council wards of Hodnet and Cheswardine into The Wrekin constituency. This opposition referenced the ties of these wards to the town of Market Drayton (remaining in North Shropshire constituency), and the lack of links to the south.
We also received a significant number of responses from the Horton area (one part of the Hadley & Leegomery ward), stressing their connection to Telford, though as this specifically referenced a proposed transfer of their area into the ‘Ercall Magna ward’, we believe these responses actually relate to changes of the Telford and Wrekin council ward boundaries, recommended by the separate Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
Finally, we received some further representation opposed to the proposed constituency boundary between Shrewsbury and South Shropshire, and particularly the effect this would have of excluding from the Shrewsbury constituency a small stretch of continuous housing within the A5.
We have noted the latest consultation responses with evidence of local ties between Hodnet and Cheswardine wards and the North Shropshire town of Market Drayton. North Shropshire constituency must, however, lose a large number of electors in order to bring it within the permitted range. Notwithstanding the local ties to Market Drayton, responses from these two wards did not suggest any viable alternative configuration that would see them retained in the North Shropshire constituency without causing significant disruption to other constituencies and/or breaking local ties elsewhere. As no new evidence, argument or counter proposals were received in respect of the Telford constituency, we therefore recommend no change to our revised proposals for three constituencies of: North Shropshire; Telford; and The Wrekin.
In respect of Shrewsbury and South Shropshire, we have reviewed again where the boundary between these two constituencies should lie, in light of the further representations received about the anomalous position of housing at the far north of the Severn Valley ward, but within the A5 running around the south of Shrewsbury. We remain of the view that an exchange of this ward with the Rea Valley ward would not be appropriate (not least because of the support for initial proposals from the south of the Severn Valley ward), but we also considered the possibility of a split of the Severn Valley ward: a split of the ward along the natural boundary of the A5 would transfer just a few hundred electors from South Shropshire to Shrewsbury, which both proposed constituencies could sustain while remaining within the permitted electorate range. A constituency boundary drawn along the A5 would, however, cut across the boundaries of two parish councils: Atcham and Berrington. Shropshire Council may look to undertake a community governance review of the area in the future – potentially realigning the town and parish council boundaries along the A5 – but in the meantime we are not minded to recommend a split of the Severn Valley ward, and therefore recommend two constituencies of Shrewsbury and South Shropshire unchanged from our revised proposals.
Our final recommendations for Shropshire are therefore for constituencies of: North Shropshire; Shrewsbury; South Shropshire; Telford; and The Wrekin. The areas covered by these constituencies are listed in Volume two and shown on the maps in Volume three of this report.
