The placeConstituency · West Midlands · Electorate 77,573 · 2023 boundaries

North Shropshire.

Liberal Democrats MP Helen Morgan holds the seat on 52.9% of the vote.

Member of ParliamentHelen Morgan · Liberal Democrats
CouncilShropshire
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001398
Electorate · 2024
77.6k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
52.9%
Liberal Democrats · +30.9pp over Con
Settlements
21
Largest: Rural & dispersed
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
13.3
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
3 Jun 2026

Vocal opposition to the government's planning reforms and a rebel vote against her own party on immigration set Helen Morgan apart from the typical Liberal Democrat backbencher. In May 2025 she was the only Lib Dem to back a Conservative amendment that would have curtailed the Human Rights Act's application to immigration cases -- a significant break from a party that strongly opposed the move. More recently, she has been prominent in local news for challenging what she calls a government "power grab" on planning, leading campaigns on rural road safety, and raising the cost of heating oil for off-grid households directly with the Chancellor.

Morgan votes with the Lib Dems on roughly 99.7% of divisions, making her single rebel vote all the more conspicuous. Her participation rate -- 75% of votes cast -- sits somewhat below the Commons average, though that figure is typical for MPs with heavy constituency workloads. Her stance profile shows consistent support for Lords scrutiny (97%) and parliamentary accountability (95%), and she backed the motion to refer Keir Starmer to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson affair. She has opposed the government's pension fund investment powers and sided with the Lords repeatedly on the English Devolution Bill. Her immigration-control score sits 15 points above her party's average, underlining a pattern of harder-line positioning on that issue than most Lib Dem colleagues.

Morgan chairs the Digital Communities All-Party Parliamentary Group and has led debates on rural mobile connectivity -- reflecting the practical concerns of a dispersed, rural constituency that returned her in a landmark 2021 by-election. Her speech record tilts heavily toward health, local government, and social care. No committee membership is recorded. News coverage over the past 90 days is broadly neutral in tone, with health and transport generating the most positive sentiment.

52.9%
LD vote · 2024 GE
1
Council overlapping the seat
18
Wards · 23 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.18 wards · 23 councillors

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Ellesmere Urban Geoff Elner517Shropshire ConMay 2021
Llanymynech Vince Hunt601Shropshire ConMay 2021
Market Drayton East Roy Aldcroft772Shropshire ConMay 2021
Market Drayton West(2 seats)Minnery · Nellins1,452Shropshire ConMay 2021
Oswestry East(2 seats)Schofield · Price1,556Shropshire ConMay 2021
Oswestry South Duncan Kerr760Shropshire ConMay 2021
Oswestry West Mike Isherwood548Shropshire ConMay 2021
Prees Paul Wynn991Shropshire ConMay 2021
Ruyton Baschurch Nick Bardsley652Shropshire ConMay 2021
Selattyn Gobowen(2 seats)Macey · Jones1,604Shropshire ConMay 2021
Shawbury Simon Jones783Shropshire ConMay 2021
St Martins Steve Davenport688Shropshire ConMay 2021
St Oswald Joyce Barrow755Shropshire ConMay 2021
The Meres Brian Williams868Shropshire ConMay 2021
Wem(2 seats)Towers · Broomhall2,074Shropshire ConMay 2021
Whitchurch North(2 seats)Mullock · Biggins1,976Shropshire ConMay 2021
Whitchurch South Gerald Dakin588Shropshire ConMay 2021
Whittington Steve Charmley638Shropshire ConMay 2021

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.21 named places

The seat’s population is concentrated in Rural & dispersed (21,091), with Oswestry (17,511) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 100,945.

town 67,614village 33,331

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
Rural & dispersed21,091town
Oswestry17,511town
Market Drayton12,588town
Whitchurch (Shropshire)10,142town
Wem6,282town
Ellesmere4,975village
Showing 6 of 21·All 21 settlements
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate56.3%57.1%-1%
Owner-occupied70.1%63.1%+11%
Private rented16.9%20.0%-15%
Social rented12.9%16.8%-23%

Ethnicity.

White97.5%
Asian0.9%
Black0.3%
Mixed1.0%
Other0.3%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 49.0% Female 51.0% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£26,900
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£34,100
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
4,630
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
57
39 primary · 6 secondary
GCSE pass
58.8%
Attainment 8: 42.9

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£247m
Taxpayers52,000
Median per taxpayer£2,490
Mean per taxpayer£4,710

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

This constituency is served by Shropshire. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
13.3
-36% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
4.4
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
48% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences6.4
Anti-social behaviour1.9
Criminal damage & arson1.0
Other theft0.9
Public order0.8
Shoplifting0.7
Drugs0.5

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.6 contests · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Helen MorganWONLD26,21452.9
Simon BaynesCon10,90322.0
Mark WhittleRef7,68715.5
Natalie RowleyLab3,4236.9
Craig EmeryGrn1,2342.5
Samuel CladingbowlInd1330.3

Turnout 49,594

Prior contests.

YearWinner%
2021Helen Margaret Lilian MorganLD47.2
2019Owen PatersonCon62.7
2017Owen PatersonCon60.5
2015Owen PatersonCon51.4
2010Paterson, OwenCon51.5
Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission