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Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was subjected to minor boundary changes, and reverted to the name of Shrewsbury - dropping the "and Atcham" to reflect the abolition in 2009 of the Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council. The re-established constituency was first contested at the 2024 general election.
Boundaries
Map of boundaries 1983-2024
The constituency lay at the centre of Shropshire, a large inland county of England, bordering Wales.
At its heart lay the town of Shrewsbury (2011 population 71,715), which is the county town of Shropshire. It was otherwise a rural constituency. Villages such as Bayston Hill, Ford, Dorrington, Condover, Minsterley, Pontesbury, Bomere Heath, Wroxeter and Atcham were included. Its southern edge was the northern side of the Shropshire Hills AONB. The landscape of the constituency featured many small rivers which drain the fields and coppices into the upper plain of the River Severn, which cut straight through the area. The main roads through the area were the A5 and A49, providing links to nearby Telford as well as North Wales and the cities of Birmingham and Manchester. The total population of the area was around 105,000.
History
The constituency was established in 1983, replacing the Shrewsbury constituency, although this change was in name only and not in its boundaries.
On 10 December 2001, following his demand for a parliamentary debate before military intervention in Afghanistan, the incumbent Labour member, Paul Marsden, left the government's benches to join the Liberal Democrats; he remained there until 5 April 2005, when he sought to show strong solidarity with Labour Stop the War MPs by returning to his old party, becoming the first politician to cross the floor twice since Winston Churchill. During much of his time with the Liberal Democrats, Marsden was a senior health spokesman, shadowing the Secretary of State for Health and ministers.
A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.