# Stroud Constituency Labour Party

The Labour Party has been active in the Stroud constituency area since at least 1897 and the constituency has been represented in UK Parliament by two Labour MPs, Ben Parkin and David Drew. The Constituency Labour Party first purchased a building in 1930.
The Party is currently represented by four Councillors on Stroud District Council and five on the wider area of Gloucestershire County Council. Previous Labour Group leaders have included Steve Lydon, Margaret Nolder, Steve Greenwood. Labour leaders on the predecessor Councils have included Bill Maddox (Stroud RDC) Walter Preston(Stroud UDC) and Tom Langham (Stroud UDC). Tom Langham was the first Labour Chair of Stroud UDC in 1935. On 30 June 2022, Cllr Doina Cornell, the Leader of Stroud District Council, left the Labour Party following her removal from the long list of Labour candidates for the Stroud Parliamentary constituency. Three other members of the council also left the Labour Party the day after, with more following the subsequent year.

## Independent Labour Party

The first recorded attempt to promote Socialism in Stroud was a visit of 40 trade unionists and ILP members in June 1895, this was chaired by David Fraser the President of the Gloucester ILP. In July 1897 the “Clarion Van” visited Stroud for four days and meetings were addressed by John Bruce Glasier, Councillor Alpass(from Berkeley), Fenton Macpherson and Mary Macpherson. Glasier and the Macphersons were accommodated by a Mr and Mrs Hunt during their stay in Stroud. A branch of the ILP was formed in the Town in August 1897. A public meeting organised by the Branch was held on Sunday 16 January 1898 addressed by Pete Curran.

## Trades and Labour Council

A Trades and Labour Council started in about 1898.
The Trades Union Congress continues to support a network of locally organised Union Councils and while the Stroud Trades Council came to an end in about 1999 there are 21 Trades Councils in the South West with two covering Gloucestershire—Cheltenham and District Trades Council and Gloucester and District Trades Council .

## Trade and Labour Club

By 1908 the Labour Movement had a Club building on Lower Street.

## Far Hill

The official opening of the new Headquarters for the Constituency at Far Hill on Cainscross Road took place on 20 September 1930. The building has previously been the depot of the Cotswold Grocery Stores and had been purchased for £1000 with the Club and Institute becoming the headquarters of the Stroud Constituency Labour Party but also the home of trade union branches in the area. Charles Duncan Labour MP for Clay Cross visited the town for the official opening. The building was sold to Stroud Urban District Council in the early 1970s and demolished and the site was used for a waste tip and council car park but has subsequently been redeveloped for a DIY store. The Current Labour Party offices are based at 5a Lansdown.

## Parliamentary candidates

The first time a Labour Candidate contested an election for the Stroud Constituency was in 1918. Of the 17 individuals who have stood, two were elected for Stroud with four others subsequently elected for other constituencies.

### Stroud 1918–1945

Labour Candidates in Stroud Constituency 1918–1945 :
| Election Year | Candidate Name | Votes | % | ±% | Comments |
| 1918 | Charles Wye Kendall | 8,522 | 40.1 | New | Not Elected |
| 1922 | Samuel E Walters | 5,081 | 17.6 | −22.5 | Not Elected |
| 1923 | No Candidate | | | | |
| 1924 | Edith Picton-Turbervill | 7,418 | 25.2 | New | Not Elected Later MP for Wrekin |
| 1929 | F. E. White | 10,384 | 26.1 | +0.9 | Not Elected |
| 1931 | John Maynard | 10,688 | 30.0 | +3.9 | Not Elected |
| 1935 | Constance Borrett | 14,133 | 36.8 | +8.2 | Not Elected |
| 1945 | Ben Parkin | 22,495 | 40.8 | +4.0 | First Labour MP Elected |

### 1950–1951

Labour Candidate Stroud and Thornbury Constituency 1950 and 1951 :
| Election Year | Candidate Name | Votes | % | ±% | Comments |
| 1950 | Ben Parkin | 24,846 | 43.4 | | Lost seat |
| 1951 | Ben Parkin | 28,558 | 48.7 | +5.3 | Not Elected |

### 1955–2019

Labour Candidates Stroud Constituency 1955 to 2019 :
| Election Year | Candidate Name | Votes | % | ±% | Comments |
| 1955 | Richard W. Evely | 19,375 | 41.1 | | Not Elected |
| 1959 | Alfred Evans | 18,336 | 37.6 | -3.5 | Not Elected Later MP for Caerphilly |
| 1964 | Dennis V. Hunt | 18,889 | 38.2 | +0.6 | Not Elected |
| 1966 | Tom Cox | 20,259 | 40.1 | +1.9 | Not Elected Later MP for Tooting |
| 1970 | R. Derek Wheatley | 19,158 | 36.1 | -4 | Not Elected |
| Feb 1974 | William (Bill) H Maddocks | 17,148 | 29.2 | -6.9 | Not Elected |
| Oct 1974 | William (Bill) H Maddocks | 17,352 | 31.1 | +1.9 | Not Elected |
| 1979 | B.J. Marshall | 17,037 | 27.5 | -3.6 | Not Elected |
| 1983 | D.R. Parsons | 10.141 | 16.8 | -3.0 | Not Elected |
| 1987 | Tom Levitt | 12,145 | 18.5 | +1.7 | Not Elected Later MP for High Peak |
| 1992 | David Drew | 18,706 | 26.9 | +8.4 | Not Elected |
| 1997 | David Drew | 26,170 | 42.7 | +13.3 | Elected |
| 2001 | David Drew | 25,685 | 46.6 | +3.9 | Elected |
| 2005 | David Drew | 22,527 | 39.6 | -7.0 | Elected |
| 2010 | David Drew | 22,380 | 38.6 | -1.5 | Not Elected |
| 2015 | David Drew | 22,947 | 37.7 | -0.9 | Not Elected |
| 2017 | David Drew | 29,994 | 47 | +9.3 | Elected |
| 2019 | David Drew | 27,742 | 42.1 | -4.9 | Not Elected |

## Prominent activists

Prominent activists :
| Name | Area Associated with | Year born | Year Died | Years Active | Obituary and Comments |
| Joseph Alpass | Berkeley | 1873 | 1969 | 1895–1950 | Originally an ILP activist in 1895, Later MP for Thornbury See Wikipedia entry Joseph Alpass |
| Frederick William Harper | Rodborough | 1868 | 1961 | 1907–1961 | Birmingham Daily Post 11 May 1961 p. 18 Rodborough Parish from 1907 Stroud RDC from 1917, originally a Liberal. Said to be one of the Labour Party founders more than 50 years ago "remaining a leader for many years". |
| William (Bill) H Maddocks | Leonard Stanley | | | | |
| Pat Parker | Cainscross | | | | Councillor from 1960s to 1983 |
| Walter K Preston | Trinity then Cainscross | 1915 | NK | 1948–1993 | A leading member of Stroud UDC from 1940s and joined SDC when it formed in 1973 and retired in 1983. Walter Preston Court, Cashes Green was named in his honour, while he was still living. He was also Constituency Chair for some time. |
| Mary Maureen Rutter | Cainscross | 1925 | 2015 | 1981–2009 | Stroud News and Journal 21 October 2015 A member of the County Council for 28 years, she was the First Woman Chair of the Council and her service included Labour Group Leader, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care. |
| Mary Sollars | Hinton(Sharpness) | 1938? | | | Served on SDC from 1973 to 1983, she and her husband were stalwarts in the Berkeley area for many years. |