Shrewsbury was one of Labour's least anticipated 1997 gains; the party had never won here before and finished third in 1992 as indeed they had done for many years. In the event, it was the sheer size of the national swing which catapulted 29-year old Paul Marsden into Parliament at the expense of Conservative whip Derek Conway, himself originally selected at a similar youthful age some 14 years earlier.

In fact the result here should not have been totally unexpected, as in 1995 Labour had been comfortably ahead in local elections to the borough of Shrewsbury and Atcham, which shares the same boundaries as the parliamentary constituency. This lead persisted into 1998, but by 1999 the Conservatives moved back in front with a narrow 2.5% lead, which was extended to 17% in the Euro elections and almost 10% in the 2000 local council elections. There is also a sizeable Liberal Democrat vote here, and where this goes next time could determine the ultimate outcome. Their candidate will be Jonathan Rule, while the Conservatives have selected Anthea McIntyre.

Parliamentary Statistics pre-Election 2001

Labour majority 1,670 (3.0%)  Conservative target 21 / Liberal Democrat target
MP Paul Marsden
1997 (Turnout 75.3%)
Labour	20,484	37.0%
Conservative	18,814	34.0%
Liberal Democrat	13,838	25.0%
Referendum	1,346	2.4%
UK Independence	477	0.9%
Others	385	0.7%

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For Shrewsbury & Alcham 2001 Election result - click here.