North West Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

North West Durham
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North West Durham in County Durham
Location of County Durham within England
County	County Durham
Electorate	72,760 (December 2010) [1]
Major settlements	Consett, Crook, Lanchester and Willington
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	Richard Holden (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Barnard Castle, Consett, and Spennymoor
1885–1918
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	South Durham North Durham
Replaced by	Consett and Barnard Castle

North West Durham is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 12 December 2019 by Richard Holden of the Conservative Party.

The seat is due to be abolished for the next general election. ^[2]

Constituency profile

The constituency is in the northwest of County Durham, in the North East England region. It currently consists of the western part of the former Derwentside district (including Consett and Lanchester) and the northern part of the former Wear Valley district (including Weardale, Crook, and Willington).

The majority of the electorate live in former mining or steel towns, where Labour traditionally have polled higher than other parties, with the remainder being in rural farms and villages throughout valleys cleft from the eastern, rocky part of the Pennines.

History

1885–1918

The constituency was first created for the 1885 general election by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as one of eight new single-member divisions of the county of Durham, replacing the two 2-member seats of North Durham and South Durham. ^[3] It was centred on two main communities, Consett and Lanchester.

It was abolished in 1918 with the creation of Consett as a separate constituency. Lanchester was transferred to an enlarged Barnard Castle seat and Tanfield was added to the new constituency of Blaydon.

1950–present

On its recreation under the Representation of the People Act 1948, North-West Durham absorbed the abolished Spennymoor seat, with the exception of the town of Spennymoor itself (which was added in 1974). It also regained Lanchester, together with Weardale, from the now abolished Barnard Castle.

As a result of the periodic review of parliamentary constituencies following the re-organisation of local government under the Local Government Act 1972, the seat underwent a major redistribution for the 1983 general election: the town of Consett was regained from the abolished constituency thereof, and Brandon and Spennymoor were transferred to City of Durham and Sedgefield respectively. The boundaries were now similar to the first version of the constituency.

Boundaries

1885–1918

• The Sessional Division of Lanchester and Consett; and
• the Parishes of Edmondbyers and Hunstanworth ^[4]

See map on Vision of Britain website. ^[5] (NB Boundary Commission proposed name was "Lanchester")

1950–1974

• The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook and Willington, and Tow Law; and
• the Rural Districts of Lanchester and Weardale. ^[6]

1974–1983

• The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook and Willington, Spennymoor, and Tow Law;
• the Rural Districts of Lanchester and Weardale; and
• the parish of Brancepeth in the Rural District of Durham. ^[7]

Spennymoor transferred from Durham with the parish of Brancepeth.

1983–1997

• The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Castleside, Consett North, Consett South, Cornsay, Crookhall, Delves Lane, Ebchester and Medomsley, Esh, Lanchester, and Leadgate; and
• the District of Wear Valley wards of Crook North, Crook South, Howden, Hunwick, St John's Chapel, Stanhope, Stanley, Tow Law, Wheatbottom and Helmington Row, Willington East, Willington West, and Wolsingham. ^[8]

Gained area comprising former urban district of Consett (incorporating Benfieldside, Consett and Leadgate). Brandon and Byshottles, and Brancepeth transferred to City of Durham, and Spennymoor to Sedgefield.

1997–2010

• The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Burnopfield, Castleside, Consett North, Consett South, Cornsay, Crookhall, Delves Lane, Dipton, Ebchester and Medomsley, Esh, Lanchester, and Leadgate; and
• the District of Wear Valley wards of Crook North, Crook South, Howden, Hunwick, St John's Chapel, Stanhope, Stanley, Tow Law, Wheatbottom and Helmington Row, Willington East, Willington West, and Wolsingham. ^[9]

The Derwentside District wards of Burnopfield and Dipton transferred from North Durham.

2010–present

Map of current boundaries

• The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Burnopfield, Castleside, Consett East, Consett North, Consett South, Cornsay, Delves Lane, Dipton, Ebchester and Medomsley, Esh, Lanchester, and Leadgate; and
• the District of Wear Valley wards of Crook North, Crook South, Howden, Hunwick, St John's Chapel, Stanhope, Tow Law and Stanley, Wheatbottom and Helmington Row, Willington Central, Willington West End, Wolsingham, and Witton-le-Wear. ^[10]

The 1997 boundaries were retained despite the official description of the constituency changing slightly in terms of the names of the local authority wards.

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.

Pending abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be abolished for the next general election, with its contents distributed four ways: ^[2]

• Northern-most parts, including Consett and Leadgate, comprising just under half the electorate, to the new constituency of Blaydon and Consett
• Crook, Tow Law and Weardale to Bishop Auckland
• Esh, Willington and Hunwick to City of Durham
• Lanchester to North Durham

Political history

1885–1918

During the first creation, Liberals represented the area and the first member until 1914 was the son of a prominent Chartist, Ernest Jones, who helped to promote New Liberalism, encouraging the Liberal Party to take on instead the politics of "mass working-class" appeal. This politics was epitomised by David Lloyd George whose People's Budget in 1909 led to the supremacy of the House of Commons over the House of Lords in 1911, national pensions under a basic welfare state (but without a National Health Service).

1950–present

From its recreation in 1950 until December 2019, the seat had been represented in Westminster by members of the Labour Party. For many years the area gave large majorities suggesting a safe seat for Labour.

Both the future Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the future Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, were candidates for their respective parties at this seat for the 1992 general election, which both of them lost to incumbent Labour MP Hilary Armstrong.

In 2016 the incumbent MP, Pat Glass, announced her intention to step down at the 2017 general election in the wake of the Brexit referendum. Her successor Laura Pidcock, a close supporter of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, lost the seat in the 2019 general election to the current MP, Richard Holden, as part of the Conservative Party's strategy to target seats in the so-called red wall.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1918

Atherley-Jones

Election		Member [11]	Party
	1885	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	Liberal
	1914	Aneurin Williams	Liberal
	1918	Constituency abolished

MPs since 1950

Election		Member [11]	Party
1950		Constituency recreated
	1950	James Murray	Labour
	1955	William Ainsley	Labour
	1964	Ernest Armstrong	Labour
	1987	Hilary Armstrong	Labour
	2010	Pat Glass	Labour
	2017	Laura Pidcock	Labour
	2019	Richard Holden	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

#

General election 2019: North West Durham ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Holden	19,990	41.9	7.4
	Labour	Laura Pidcock	18,846	39.5	13.3
	Brexit Party	John Wolstenholme	3,193	6.7	New
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Peacock	2,831	5.9	1.2
	Independent	Watts Stelling	1,216	2.6	New
	Green	David Sewell	1,173	2.5	1.4
	Independent	David Lindsay	414	0.9	New
Majority			1,144	2.4	N/A
Turnout			47,663	66.0	0.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	10.4

General election 2017: North West Durham ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Laura Pidcock	25,308	52.8	5.9
	Conservative	Sally-Ann Hart	16,516	34.5	11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Owen Temple	3,398	7.1	2.0
	UKIP	Alan Breeze	2,150	4.5	12.5
	Green	Dominic Horsman	530	1.1	2.6
Majority			8,792	18.3	5.2
Turnout			47,902	66.5	5.2
	Labour hold		Swing	2.6

General election 2015: North West Durham ^{[14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Glass	20,074	46.9	+4.6
	Conservative	Charlotte Haitham-Taylor	10,018	23.4	+3.4
	UKIP	Bruce Reid	7,265	17.0	+14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Owen Temple	3,894	9.1	-15.8
	Green	Mark Shilcock	1,567	3.7	New
Majority			10,056	23.5	+6.1
Turnout			42,818	61.3	-0.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 2010: North West Durham ^{[16] [17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Glass	18,539	42.3	-11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Owen Temple	10,927	24.9	+5.0
	Conservative	Michelle Tempest	8,766	20.0	+3.6
	Independent	Watts Stelling	2,472	5.6	-4.2
	BNP	Michael Stewart	1,852	4.2	New
	UKIP	Andrew McDonald	1,259	2.9	New
Majority			7,612	17.4	-16.6
Turnout			43,815	62.0	+4.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: North West Durham ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hilary Armstrong	21,312	53.9	-8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Ord	7,869	19.9	+5.0
	Conservative	Jamie Devlin	6,463	16.4	-4.5
	Independent	Watts Stelling	3,865	9.8	New
Majority			13,443	34.0	-7.6
Turnout			39,509	58.0	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.8

General election 2001: North West Durham ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hilary Armstrong	24,526	62.5	-6.3
	Conservative	William Clouston	8,193	20.9	+5.6
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Ord	5,846	14.9	+4.1
	Socialist Labour	Joan Hartnell	661	1.7	New
Majority			16,333	41.6	-11.9
Turnout			39,226	58.5	-10.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: North West Durham ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hilary Armstrong	31,855	68.8	+10.7
	Conservative	Louise St John-Howe	7,101	15.3	-12.0
	Liberal Democrats	Anthony Gillings	4,991	10.8	-3.9
	Referendum	Rodney Atkinson	2,372	5.1	New
Majority			24,754	53.5	+23.3
Turnout			46,319	68.7	-6.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.4

General election 1992: North West Durham ^{[22] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hilary Armstrong	26,734	57.8	+6.9
	Conservative	Theresa May	12,747	27.6	−0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Farron	6,728	14.6	-6.1
Majority			13,987	30.2	+7.7
Turnout			46,209	75.5	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: North West Durham ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hilary Armstrong	22,947	50.9	+6.3
	Conservative	Derek Iceton	12,785	28.4	-1.4
	Liberal	Chris Foote Wood	9,349	20.7	-4.9
Majority			10,162	22.5	+7.7
Turnout			45,081	73.5	-2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.9

General election 1983: North West Durham ^{[25] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	19,135	44.6
	Conservative	Terence Middleton	12,779	29.8
	Liberal	Chris Foote Wood	11,008	25.7
Majority			6,356	14.8
Turnout			42,923	70.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: North West Durham ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	29,525	61.30
	Conservative	T Fenwick	14,245	29.58
	Liberal	J Hannibell	4,394	9.12
Majority			15,280	31.72
Turnout			48,161	75.98
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: North West Durham ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	27,953	64.16
	Conservative	MJB Cookson	9,197	21.11
	Liberal	JK Forster	6,418	14.73
Majority			18,756	43.05
Turnout			43,566	71.09
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: North West Durham ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	28,326	59.01
	Conservative	J Riddell	10,865	22.64
	Liberal	JK Forster	8,809	18.35
Majority			17,461	36.37
Turnout			47,999	79.09
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1970: North West Durham ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	24,245	69.6	-4.0
	Conservative	Alan E Page	10,590	30.4	+4.0
Majority			13,655	39.2	-8.0
Turnout			34,834	72.8	-0.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966:

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	25,260	73.58
	Conservative	Colin MacAndrew	9,070	26.42
Majority			16,190	47.16
Turnout			34,330	73.37
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1964: North West Durham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernest Armstrong	26,006	69.75
	Conservative	Kenneth L Ellis	11,280	30.25
Majority			14,726	39.50
Turnout			37,286	77.98
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: North West Durham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Ainsley	28,064	68.06
	Conservative	Olive Sinclair	13,172	31.94
Majority			14,892	36.12
Turnout			41,236	81.45
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: North West Durham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Ainsley	27,116	67.41
	Conservative	Thomas T Hubble	13,110	32.59
Majority			14,006	34.82
Turnout			40,226	79.05
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: North West Durham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Murray	30,417	68.66
	Conservative	James Quigley	13,885	31.34
Majority			16,532	37.32
Turnout			44,302	85.06
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1950: North West Durham

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Murray	31,084	69.67
	Conservative	James Quigley	13,530	30.33
Majority			17,554	39.34
Turnout			44,614	86.52
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Aneurin Williams

1914 North West Durham by-election ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Aneurin Williams	7,241	40.6	−14.5
	Unionist	James Ogden Hardicker	5,564	31.2	−3.7
	Labour	G. H. Stuart-Bunning	5,026	28.2	New
Majority			1,677	9.4	−20.8
Turnout			17,831	88.1	+12.8
Registered electors			20,233
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.4

Atherley-Jones

General election December 1910: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	8,998	65.1	−1.7
	Conservative	James Ogden Hardicker	4,827	34.9	+1.7
Majority			4,171	30.2	−3.4
Turnout			13,825	75.3	−10.3
Registered electors			18,361
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.7

General election January 1910: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	10,497	66.8	−2.8
	Conservative	J.L. Knott	5,227	33.2	+2.8
Majority			5,270	33.6	−5.6
Turnout			15,724	85.6	+5.4
Registered electors			18,361
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.8

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	9,146	69.6	+19.5
	Conservative	Robert Filmer	3,999	30.4	−19.5
Majority			5,147	39.2	+39.0
Turnout			13,145	80.2	+5.2
Registered electors			16,384
	Liberal hold		Swing	+19.5

General election 1900: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	5,158	50.1	−8.3
	Conservative	J. Joicey	5,137	49.9	+8.3
Majority			21	0.2	−16.6
Turnout			10,295	75.0	−6.9
Registered electors			13,725
	Liberal hold		Swing	−8.3

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	5,428	58.4	−5.5
	Conservative	J. Joicey	3,869	41.6	+5.5
Majority			1,559	16.8	−11.0
Turnout			9,297	81.9	+4.3
Registered electors			11,346
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.5

General election 1892: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	5,121	63.9	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	John D Dunville [32]	2,891	36.1	New
Majority			2,230	27.8	N/A
Turnout			8,012	77.6	N/A
Registered electors			10,330
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1885: North West Durham ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Llewellyn Atherley-Jones	5,081	62.2
	Conservative	Arthur Bootle-Wilbraham	3,085	37.8
Majority			1,996	24.4
Turnout			8,166	85.6
Registered electors			9,543
	Liberal win (new seat)

See also

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

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

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. "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.
3. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885". pp. 155–156.
4. "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885". pp. 155–156.
5. "HMSO Boundary Commission Report 1885, Durham".
6. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 59. ISBN   0-900178-09-4. OCLC   539011.
7. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 129. ISBN   0-900178-09-4. OCLC   539011.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983" (PDF). p. 23.
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32. "Mr. John Dunville in North-West Durham". Belfast News Letter . 14 November 1890. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.