Why Maggie's 1974 election visit lost its sparkle
Margaret Thatcher came to Shropshire for the 1974 general election campaign - and was robbed.
Mrs Thatcher, who was at the time the Education Secretary, held a walkabout in Newport on February 21 in support of the Tory candidate, Dr Tony Trafford, who had taken The Wrekin seat in 1970, and in the evening she spoke at a public meeting at the Town House, in Wellington.
But at some time during that afternoon, with Mrs T away in Shropshire, somebody broke into her home back in Chelsea and took £5,000 worth of jewellery.
The news was relayed to the Conservative party office in Wellington, and was broken to Mrs Thatcher by Dr Trafford.
She had built up her jewellery collection over 22 years and the only jewellery she had left was that which she was wearing for her Shropshire election visit.
However, she insisted on carrying on with her programme despite the bad news.
"You must not let your possessions dominate you," she said at the time.
"But what I am upset about is the few things which I have collected over the years rather lovingly. These cannot be replaced."
Her public meeting in Wellington was packed, and her two main themes were pensions and education.
Despite protesting students who before the meeting handed out leaflets criticising her for "reactionary views" and staged a walkout half way through her speech, and some early heckling, she spoke uninterrupted.
The Wrekin was the only real battleground in Shropshire, with the other three county seats all having Conservative majorities of over 9,000.
The Wrekin was a marginal in which Dr Trafford was defending a majority of just 518.
Mrs Thatcher's visit did not help Dr Trafford secure the seat, which was retaken by Labour, with Gerry Fowler winning with a comfortable 6,521 majority.
Incidentally Dr Trafford and Mrs Thatcher were to meet again, in unhappy circumstances, years later. He was on hospital duty at the time of the IRA's Brighton hotel bombing at the time of the Conservative party conference in 1984, and as consultant in charge had a leading role in treating the casualties at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. He was knighted in 1985 and made a life peer in 1987.
Elsewhere, the three sitting Tory MPs were all re-elected with reduced majorities - Sir John Langford Holt in Shrewsbury, John Biffen in Oswestry, and Jasper More in Ludlow.
The second general election of 1974, held on October 10, saw no changes on the county political scene, with Sir John, John Biffen, and Jasper More all holding their seats for the Tories, while Gerry Fowler in The Wrekin actually increased his majority slightly, to 6,838.
