Idris Wyn Owen (18 February 1912 – 21 December 2003) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician, and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Stockport North 1970–74.

Biography

Owen was educated at

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

School and College, and Manchester School of Commerce (forerunner of

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

). He became a director of a building and civil engineering company. He was a fellow of the Institute of Builders and vice-president of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, 1965. He served as a councillor on

Stockport Borough Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The council is currently run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. At the 2022 local elections, the ...

from 1946 and chaired the housing committee. Owen contested Manchester Exchange in 1951, came close in Stalybridge and Hyde in 1955 and first stood in Stockport North in 1966. He was elected in Stockport North in the 1970 general election but was defeated by just 203 votes by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Andrew Bennett in the February 1974 general election. He stood again in the October 1974 general election but lost by a larger margin. Owen lived in The Old Rectory,

Gawsworth Gawsworth is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,705. It is one of the eigh ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

for much of his life, later moving to Prestbury, where he died in 2002 aged 91. He and his wife Eileen had two children.

Election results

Manchester Exchange, 1951

18,475

William Griffiths William, Will, Bill or Billy Griffiths may refer to: Sports * William Griffiths (boxer) (born 1932), Australian Olympic boxer * William Griffiths (field hockey) (1922–2010), British Olympic hockey player * Will Griffiths (rugby union) (born 19 ...

(Labour)
14,881 Idris Owen (Conservative) Majority: 3,594

Stalybridge and Hyde, 1955

23,617

Fred Blackburn Fred Blackburn (29 July 1902 – 1 May 1990) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stalybridge and Hyde from the 1951 general election until 1970. Early life Blackburn was educated at Queen Elizabe ...

(Labour)
23,462 Idris Owen (Conservative) Majority: 155

Stockport North, 1966

21,598

Arnold Gregory Arnold Gregory (14 November 1924 – 30 July 1976) was a British textile company worker, lecturer and politician who was a Labour Party Member of Parliament for six years. Gregory came from a lower-middle-class background and was born in Salf ...

(Labour)
18,262 Idris Owen (Conservative) Majority: 3,336

Stockport North, 1970

Idris Owen (Conservative)

(Labour)

Stockport North, February 1974

16,948 Andrew Bennett (Labour)
16,745 Idris Owen (Conservative)
9,283 Peter Arnold (Liberal) Majority: 203

Stockport North, October 1974

17,979 Andrew Bennett (Labour)
16,155 Idris Owen (Conservative)
7,085 Peter Arnold (Liberal) Majority: 1,824

References

*''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'',

Times Newspapers Ltd News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...

, 1951, 1955, 1966, 1974 *

External links

* 1912 births 2003 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1970–1974 People from Prestbury, Cheshire Councillors in Stockport {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1910s-stub