Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)

Sedgefield
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Sedgefield in County Durham
Location of County Durham within England
County	County Durham
Electorate	67,386 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Sedgefield, Newton Aycliffe, Ferryhill
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Paul Howell (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Durham, Durham North West, Easington and Bishop Auckland [2]
1918–1974
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	South East Durham, The Hartlepools and Mid Durham
Replaced by	Bishop Auckland, Durham, Easington

Sedgefield is a constituency in County Durham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Paul Howell of the Conservative Party. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to major boundary changes. Although the town of Sedgefield is retained, the constituency will be renamed Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor to reflect the two largest communities in the revised seat. It will be first contested at the next general election. ^[3]

History

1918–1974

Sedgefield was first created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election, comprising primarily southern parts of the abolished South Eastern Division of Durham, including the communities of Segefield and Billingham. It also included parts of the former Mid Durham seat (Ferryhill) and a small area transferred from Bishop Auckland (Chilton).

It was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when its contents were distributed to the neighbouring seats of Bishop Auckland (Darlington RD), Durham (Sedgefield RD), Easington (Stockton RD) and Teesside, Stockton (Billingham UD).

1983–present

The constituency was recreated at the next redistribution, which came into effect at the 1983 general election, with similar boundaries, but excluding Billingham and Newton Aycliffe and including Spennymoor.

Boundaries

1918–1950

• The Rural Districts of Darlington, Hartlepool, Sedgefield, and Stockton ^[4]

1950-1974

• The Urban District of Billingham; and
• the Rural Districts of Darlington, Sedgefield and Stockton. ^[5]

Minor changes - the Rural District of Stockton had been altered, absorbing the Rural District of Hartlepool, but losing Billingham to a new urban district.

From 1955, the boundaries of the Rural Districts of Darlington, Sedgefield and Stockton were altered in line with changes to local authority boundaries. ^{[5] [6]}

1983–1997

• The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Low Spennymoor and Tudhoe Grange, Middlestone, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Spennymoor, and Tudhoe;
• the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate; and
• the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe. ^[7]

Spennymoor and Tudhoe transferred from North West Durham; remainder of District of Sedgefield wards from Durham; District of Easington wards from Easington; and Borough of Darlington wards from Bishop Auckland.

1997–2010

• The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Middridge, Neville, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Shafto, Simpasture, West, and Woodham;
• the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate; and
• the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe. ^[8]

Newton Aycliffe transferred in from Bishop Auckland in exchange for Spennymoor and Tudhoe.

2010–present

Map of current boundaries

• The Borough of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham and Cornforth, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn and Old Trimdon, Greenfield Middridge, Neville and Simpasture, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Sedgefield, Shafto St Mary's, West, and Woodham;
• the District of Easington wards of Thornley and Wheatley Hill, and Wingate; and
• the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe. ^[9]

Minor changes only to reflect redrawing of local authority ward boundaries.

In the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, the local authority districts in Durham were abolished and replaced with a single unitary authority; however, this has not affected the boundaries of the constituency.

Proposed constituency changes

The 2023 Boundary Review Initial Proposals have recommended that all the wards in the borough of Darlington should be removed from the seat, with Shildon moving in from Bishop Auckland and Coxhoe from City of Durham. The reconfigured seat would be renamed ‘Newton Aycliffe and Sedgefield’.

Political history

From its recreation in 1983 until 27 June 2007, the Member of Parliament was Tony Blair, who led a successful campaign for his party to win the 1997 general election in a landslide and thereafter served for ten years as prime minister, leading the campaigns at two subsequent general elections. Blair was the first Prime Minister to lead the Labour Party to three consecutive victories. He resigned as the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield on the same day as he resigned as prime minister, which triggered a by-election. ^[10]

At the by-election on 19 July 2007, the official Labour Party candidate Phil Wilson was elected on a reduced majority which in national terms is safe instead of marginal. While Wilson had never came close to the enormous majorities held by Blair during his tenure as MP and only secured an absolute majority of the vote for the first time at the 2017 general election, he consistently had majorities of over 6,000 votes in every election at which he had stood.

At the 2019 election, the Conservatives' candidate Paul Howell defeated Wilson with a majority of 4,513 and a swing of 12.8%. Sedgefield was one of the net gain of 48 seats in England by the Conservatives, as well as being considered part of the so-called "Red Wall".

Constituency profile

Sedgefield has a long mining history (extracting coal, fluorspar and iron ore) and once had a very strong affiliation to the Labour Party, with nearly monolithic support in parts of the constituency.^{[ citation needed ]} The area contains a mixture of former coal country in the area around Trimdon and more industrial areas around the new town of Newton Aycliffe. The construction of a new Hitachi factory created 730 jobs in the town. ^[11] There are also more prosperous parts of the constituency that form the bulk of the Conservative vote – for example, the ancient market town of Sedgefield itself, with a charter dating back to 1312. The outer suburbs of Darlington are also relatively wealthy, as well as Hurworth-on-Tees, where unemployment stands at just 1.0%. ^[12]

In statistics

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of two local government districts with similar characteristics: a working population whose average income is lower than the national average and close-to-average reliance upon social housing. ^[13] At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 5.0% of the population claiming Jobseekers' Allowance, compared to the regional average of 5.5%. ^[14]

The local authority contributing to the bulk of the seat has a middling 27.2% of its population without a car, a high 27.5% of the population without qualifications and a medium 21.5% with level 4 qualifications or above. Darlington has 28% of its population without a car, 24.8% of the population without qualifications and a medium 23.7% with level 4 qualifications or above.

In terms of tenure 65.8% of County Durham homes and 64.9% of Darlington homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census. ^[15]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1974

Election	Member [16]	Party
1918	Rowland Burdon		Coalition Conservative
1922	John Herriotts		Labour
1923	Leonard Ropner		Conservative
1929	John Herriotts		Labour
1931	Roland Jennings		Conservative
1935	John Leslie		Labour
1950	Joe Slater		Labour
1970	David Reed		Labour
February 1974	constituency abolished

MPs since 1983

Election	Member [16]	Party
1983	Tony Blair		Labour
2007 by-election	Phil Wilson		Labour
2019	Paul Howell		Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Election results in constituency

General election 2019: Sedgefield ^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Howell	19,609	47.2	+8.4
	Labour	Phil Wilson	15,096	36.3	−17.1
	Brexit Party	David Bull	3,518	8.5	New
	Liberal Democrats	Dawn Welsh	1,955	4.7	+2.8
	Green	John Furness	994	2.4	+0.8
	Independent	Michael Joyce	394	0.9	New
Majority			4,513	10.9	N/A
Turnout			41,566	64.6	−0.5
Registered electors			64,325
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+12.8

General election 2017: Sedgefield ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil Wilson	22,202	53.4	+6.2
	Conservative	Dehenna Davison	16,143	38.8	+9.3
	UKIP	John Grant	1,763	4.2	−12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Psallidas	797	1.9	−1.6
	Green	Melissa Wilson	686	1.6	−1.5
Majority			6,059	14.6	−3.1
Turnout			41,591	65.1	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.6

General election 2015: Sedgefield ^{[19] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil Wilson	18,275	47.2	+2.1
	Conservative	Scott Wood	11,432	29.5	+6.0
	UKIP	John Leathley	6,426	16.6	+12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Glenn	1,370	3.5	−16.5
	Green	Greg Robinson	1,213	3.1	New
Majority			6,843	17.7	−3.9
Turnout			38,716	61.6	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.0

General election 2010: Sedgefield ^{[21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil Wilson	18,141	45.1	−13.9
	Conservative	Neil Mahapatra	9,445	23.5	+9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Thompson	8,033	20.0	+8.2
	BNP	Mark Walker	2,075	5.2	N/A
	UKIP	Brian Gregory	1,479	3.7	+2.1
	Independent	Paul Gittins	1,049	2.6	N/A
Majority			8,696	21.6	−3.3
Turnout			40,222	62.1	−0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−11.6

Elections in the 2000s

By-election 2007: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil Wilson	12,528	44.8	−14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gregory Stone	5,572	19.9	+8.0
	Conservative	Graham Robb	4,082	14.6	+0.2
	BNP	Andrew Spence	2,494	8.9	New
	Independent	Paul Gittins	1,885	6.7	New
	UKIP	Gavin Horton	536	1.9	+0.3
	Green	Christopher Haine	348	1.2	New
	English Democrat	Stephen Gash	177	0.6	New
	Christian Vote	Tim Grainger	177	0.6	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan Hope	129	0.5	+0.1
	Anti Crime	Norman Scarth	34	0.1	New
Majority			6,956	24.9	−19.6
Turnout			27,962	43.0	−19.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−11.0

General election 2005: Sedgefield ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	24,421	58.9	−6.0
	Conservative	Al Lockwood	5,972	14.4	−6.5
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Woodthorpe Browne	4,935	11.9	+2.9
	Independent	Reg Keys	4,252	10.3	New
	UKIP	William Brown	646	1.6	−0.8
	National Front	Mark Farrell	253	0.6	New
	Veritas	Fiona Luckhurst-Matthews	218	0.5	New
	Independent	Berony Abraham	205	0.5	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Melodie Staniforth	157	0.4	New
	Blair Must Go Party	Jonathan Cockburn	103	0.2	New
	Senior Citizens	Terence Pattinson	97	0.2	New
	Pensioners	Cherri Gilham	82	0.2	New
	Independent	Helen John	68	0.2	−0.4
	Independent	John Barker	45	0.1	New
	Independent	Julian Brennan	17	0.0	New
Majority			18,449	44.5	+0.5
Turnout			41,475	62.2	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.25

General election 2001: Sedgefield ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	26,110	64.9	−6.3
	Conservative	Douglas Carswell	8,397	20.9	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Duffield	3,624	9.0	+2.5
	UKIP	Andrew Spence	974	2.4	New
	Socialist Labour	Brian Gibson	518	1.3	+0.3
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Christopher Driver	375	0.9	New
	Independent	Helen John	260	0.6	New
Majority			17,713	44.0	-9.4
Turnout			40,258	62.0	−10.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.7

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Sedgefield ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	33,526	71.2	+10.7
	Conservative	Elizabeth Pitman	8,383	17.8	−11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald Beadle	3,050	6.5	−4.1
	Referendum	Miriam Hall	1,683	3.6	New
	Socialist Labour	Brian Gibson	474	1.0	New
Majority			25,143	53.4	+21.8
Turnout			47,116	72.6	−4.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.3

General election 1992: Sedgefield ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	28,453	60.5	+4.5
	Conservative	Nicholas Jopling	13,594	28.9	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Gary Huntington	4,982	10.6	−5.5
Majority			14,859	31.6	+3.5
Turnout			47,029	77.1	+0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Sedgefield ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	25,965	56.0	+8.4
	Conservative	Nigel Hawkins	12,907	27.9	−1.3
	SDP	Ralph Andrew	7,477	16.1	−6.5
Majority			13,058	28.1	+9.7
Turnout			46,349	76.2	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.9

General election 1983: Sedgefield ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	21,401	47.6
	Conservative	Toby Horton	13,120	29.2
	SDP	David Shand	10,183	22.6
	Independent	Maurice Logan-Salton	298	0.7
Majority			8,281	18.4
Turnout			45,002	72.9
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Reed	36,867	60.5	-4.2
	Conservative	Arthur Albert Beck	24,036	39.5	+4.1
Majority			12,831	21.0	-8.3
Turnout			60,903	72.7	-3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.2

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	34,058	64.7	+4.0
	Conservative	Cyril Frank Thring	18,620	35.4	-4.1
Majority			15,438	29.3	+7.9
Turnout			52,678	76.0	-3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.1

General election 1964: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	32,273	60.7	+2.2
	Conservative	Cyril Frank Thring	20,931	39.3	-2.2
Majority			11,342	21.4	+4.4
Turnout			53,204	79.5	-3.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.2

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	30,642	58.5	-1.2
	Conservative	Dudley Fitz Mowbray Appleby	21,771	41.5	+1.2
Majority			8,871	17.0	-2.6
Turnout			52,413	82.5	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.2

General election 1955: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	27,221	59.7	-2.6
	Conservative	Dudley Fitz Mowbray Appleby	18,368	40.3	+2.6
Majority			8,853	19.4	-5.2
Turnout			45,589	79.9	-6.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.6

General election 1951: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	28,219	62.3	-0.2
	Conservative	Eric H Harrison	17,095	37.7	+0.2
Majority			11,124	24.6	-0.4
Turnout			45,314	86.4	-0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.2

General election 1950: Sedgefield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	27,946	62.5	-1.3
	Conservative	John Walford	16,782	37.5	+1.3
Majority			11,164	25.0	-2.6
Turnout			44,728	87.0	+9.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.3

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Leslie	27,051	63.8	+11.5
	Conservative	John Walford	15,360	36.2	-11.5
Majority			11,691	27.6	+23.0
Turnout			42,411	77.5	-3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.5

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Leslie	20,375	52.3	+11.1
	Conservative	Roland Jennings	18,604	47.7	-11.1
Majority			1,771	4.6	N/A
Turnout			38,979	81.4	-3.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+11.1

General election 1931: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roland Jennings	21,956	58.8	+19.3
	Labour	John Herriotts	15,404	41.2	-6.5
Majority			6,552	17.6	N/A
Turnout			37,360	84.4	+1.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+12.9

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Herriotts	15,749	47.7	+0.4
	Unionist	Leonard Ropner	13,043	39.5	-13.2
	Liberal	William Leeson	4,236	12.8	New
Majority			2,706	8.2	N/A
Turnout			33,028	83.0	-2.4
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+6.8

General election 1924: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leonard Ropner	13,968	52.7	+2.7
	Labour	John Herriotts	12,552	47.3	-2.7
Majority			1,416	5.4	+5.4
Turnout			26,520	85.4	+10.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.7

General election 1923: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leonard Ropner	11,093	50.0	+9.5
	Labour	John Herriotts	11,087	50.0	+6.4
Majority			6	0.0	N/A
Turnout			22,180	74.5	-1.6
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+1.6

General election 1922: Sedgefield ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Herriotts	9,756	43.6	+6.8
	Unionist	Eli Waddington	9,067	40.5	-1.6
	Liberal	Charles Henry Brown	3,561	15.9	-5.2
Majority			689	3.1	N/A
Turnout			22,384	76.1	+12.7
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 1910s

Starmer

General election 1918: Sedgefield ^{[30] [31]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Rowland Burdon	6,627	42.1
	Labour	John Herriotts	5,801	36.8
	Liberal	Charles Starmer	3,333	21.1
Majority			826	5.3
Turnout			15,761	63.4
	Unionist win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in County Durham
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham

References

1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "'Sedgefield', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
3. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – North East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
4. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885–1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 11. ISBN   0-900178-09-4. OCLC   539011.
5. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885–1972;. Chichester, UK: Political Reference Publications. p. 59. ISBN   0-900178-09-4. OCLC   539011.
6. Statutory Instrument 1970 No. 1674 The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (Coming into force 25 November 1970) pp 10-11
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983" (PDF). p. 23.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". In the County of Durham.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". In Durham and Darlington.
10. Blair resigns as prime minister, BBC News, 27 June 2007
11. "Hitachi's £82m train factory opens". BBC News. 3 September 2015.
12. "Tees Valley Ward Statistics".
13. "Local statistics – Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
14. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
15. "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
16. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)
17. "Sedgefield parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
18. "Sedgefield constituency General Election 2017 – parties, candidates and the history of the seat". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
19. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
20. "Sedgefield". BBC News. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
21. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. "Election 2010 – Sedgefield". BBC News.
23. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
28. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
30. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig (1983). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
31. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Derby South	Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition 1994–1997	Succeeded by Huntingdon
Preceded by Huntingdon	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1997–2007	Succeeded by Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath