Borough of Oswestry

Borough of Oswestry
Borough of Oswestry
	; Shown within Shropshire non-metropolitan county;
History
• Origin	Oswestry Rural District
• Created	1 April 1974
• Abolished	31 March 2009
• Succeeded by	Shropshire
Status	Non-metropolitan district, Borough
ONS code	39UD
Government	Oswestry Borough Council
• HQ	Oswestry

52°51′40″N 3°03′18″W / 52.861°N 3.055°W / 52.861; -3.055

The Borough of Oswestry was a local government district with borough status in Shropshire, England, from medieval times until its abolition in 2009. Until 1974 the borough just covered the town of Oswestry itself. The borough was enlarged in 1974 to also include the surrounding rural area.^[1]

Its council was based in Oswestry, the only town and largest settlement in the borough. Villages in the borough included Morda, St Martin's, Whittington, Gobowen, Pant, Trefonen and Ruyton XI Towns.^[2]

The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2009 when the new Shropshire unitary authority was established, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.^[3]

History

The town of Oswestry was an ancient borough, governed under the terms of various charters dating back to at least 1398.^[4] The borough was reformed to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. By the mid-twentieth century some municipal boroughs were considered too small to efficiently provide all the services expected of them, and so the government introduced the concept of rural boroughs under the Local Government Act 1958. This allowed a small municipal borough to merge with a neighbouring rural district, whilst allowing the former municipal borough to retain some of its privileges, such as the ability to appoint a mayor. In other regards, such rural boroughs were comparable to parish councils. Oswestry became a rural borough on 1 April 1967, becoming part of the surrounding Oswestry Rural District.^[5]

On 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the Oswestry Rural District became a non-metropolitan district, and the borough status which had previously only applied to the town of Oswestry itself was transferred to the larger district, allowing the new district council to take the name Oswestry Borough Council.^[6]^[7]

The borough of Oswestry and its council were abolished on 1 April 2009, when the new Shropshire Council unitary authority was established, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.^[8]

Political control

The first elections to the enlarged council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:^[9]^[10]

Party in control		Years
	Independent	1974–1987
	No overall control	1987–1991
	Independent	1991–2003
	No overall control	2003–2007
	Conservative	2007–2009

Leadership

The last leader of the council was David Lloyd, a Conservative.

Councillor	Party		From	To
David Lloyd^[11]^[12]		Conservative	pre-2006	31 Mar 2009

Council elections

By-election results

Llanyblodwel By-Election 1 June 2000
Party		Votes	%
	Independent	122	43.0
	Liberal Democrats	90	31.7
	Conservative	72	25.4
Majority		32	11.3
Turnout		284	46.0
	Independent hold	Swing

Victoria By-Election 28 June 2001
Party		Votes	%
	Conservative	291	44.2
	Liberal Democrats	266	40.4
	Independent	101	15.3
Majority		25	3.8
Turnout		658
	Conservative gain from Independent	Swing

Gatacre By-Election 6 September 2001
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	327	53.7	+21.5
	Conservative	158	25.9	+25.9
	Labour	77	12.6	−12.7
	Independent	33	5.4	+5.4
	Independent	14	2.3	+2.3
Majority		169	27.8
Turnout		609	26.4
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour	Swing

Cambrian By-Election 10 June 2004^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Edwards	341	42.8	+20.0
	Independent		281	35.3	−1.1
	Conservative		174	21.9	−18.9
Majority			60	7.5
Turnout			796	39.0
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Royton & West Felton 29 September 2005
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Castle By-Election 3 November 2005^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frances Burman	255	55.3	+9.9
	Liberal Democrats	Elaine Channon	206	44.7	+7.0
Majority			49	10.6
Turnout			461	23.2
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Sweeney Trefonen By-Election 3 November 2005^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joyce Barrow	314	71.0	+32.0
	Liberal Democrats	Romer Hoseason	128	29.0	+15.6
Majority			186	42.0
Turnout			442	14.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Whittington By-Election 30 November 2006^[18]
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	314	57.2	+57.2
	Labour	121	22.0	−4.1
	Liberal Democrats	114	20.7	+20.7
Majority		193	35.2
Turnout		549	30.8
	Conservative gain from Independent	Swing

Llanyblodwell and Pant By-Election 21 June 2007
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	254	73.6	+41.9
	Independent	91	19.8
	Independent	81	17.6
	Independent	34	7.4
Majority		163
Turnout		460	24.0
	Conservative gain from Independent	Swing

Sweeney and Trefonen By-Election 1 May 2008
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	684	54.9	−14.8
	Liberal Democrats	562	45.1	+14.8
Majority		122	9.8
Turnout		1,246	40.4
	Conservative hold	Swing

Castle By-Election 2 October 2008^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Romer Hoseason	198	38.7	+0.3
	Conservative	Phil May	174	34.1	−27.5
	Independent	Alan Davies	139	27.2	+27.2
Majority			59	4.6
Turnout			511	22.2
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing