Elections and politicians

Background

Council Councils were created in 1889. The first elections for councillors took place in that year, and every 3 years after that. After the 1974 Local Government reorganisation, local elections were held every 4 years. We also hold records relating to local MPs. There are a variety of official and non-official records which contain information about elections and local politics.

What records are there and what information will they contain?

Council Records

Election Results for recent local elections can be found on the County Council’s website.

The County Council archive includes records listing the results of the County Council Elections. You can find these listed on our online catalogue by searching for “County Council Election*”.

Other useful papers relating to Councillors in the County Council Collection include:

• Roll of Members 1889-1967 (C/CC/M1A)
• Minute Books 1889-1974 (C/CC/M)
• Year Books 1909-1972 (with gaps), including diaries, lists of members and standing orders. (C/CC/V/3/5/1 plus year)

Gloucestershire Archives also holds records of District Councils (See the District Councils Research Mini Guide) and Parish Councils.

Published Sources

A number of books and pamphlets have been produced which contain lists of election results and the names of MPs and Councillors. Useful books available onsite include:

Newspapers

Local newspapers usually reported the results of local and national elections. A good newspaper to start with is the Gloucester Journal or the Gloucester Citizen, which are held at Gloucestershire Archives on microfilm.  (Some local newspapers are available on sites such as Find My Past and the British Newspaper Archive).  The Journal included a full report on the activities of Gloucester City Council and the County Council. For more localised newspapers see the Newspaper Guide (Handlist) on our website for details of their location.  .

Remember that election results may have taken a couple of days to finalise, so may take a while to appear in the local press. Newspapers will also contain information on candidates campaigning in the local area and local opinions on national politics. 

Personal Papers of Politicians

Gloucestershire Archives holds the personal papers of many people who have been MPs or Councillors. These collections may include diaries, correspondence, accounts, memoirs, pamphlets and parliamentary papers of their time in office. These collections include:

• Members of the Hyett and Dickinson Families, including Sebastian Dickinson MP 1820-1878 and W H Dickinson MP, 1878-1943 (Ref: D6)
• Thomas Estcourt MP, 1748-1818 and T G B Estcourt MP, 1775-1853 (Ref: D1571/X)
• Morgan Philips Price, MP, 1885-1973 (Ref: D2176/3)
• Members of the Hicks-Beach Family, including Sir Michael Edward Hicks Beach MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1895-1902 (Ref: D2455/X)
• Francis Henry Fitzhardinge Berkeley MP 1854-1864 (Ref: D3752)
• Nicholas Ridley of Naunton, MP for Cirencester & Tewkesbury, 1970-1978 (Ref: D3836)
• Paul Marland, MP for West Gloucestershire, c.1974-1994 (Ref: D7075)
• Sir Charles Irving, MP (Ref: D7264)

Other collections might include correspondence with members of parliament or councils and papers commenting about elections and politics.

Pamphlets and Leaflets

There are lots of pamphlets and documents produced by candidates and political parties in the Local Studies collection. You can find these by searching the online catalogue using relevant keywords.

How to find the records

To search for these records please use our online catalogue, which can be found on our website.   Type the references above into the “Quick Search” box as your search terms.records”. Or you can try searching with keywords and phrases such as: “election”, “parliament”, “constituency”, “MP”, “councillor”. 

To view the items you will need to visit Gloucestershire Archives in person.  Please make sure to pre-order your items, as explained on our website

For more guidance on using our online catalogue please see the Help page and FAQS. Or you can watch a short YouTube tutorial.