Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)

Seaham
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Seats	one
Created from	South East Durham and part of Houghton-le-Spring
Replaced by	Easington and Houghton-le-Spring

Seaham was a parliamentary constituency, in existence between 1918 and 1950, of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

Seaham was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election, comprising northern parts of the abolished South Eastern Division of Durham. The town of Seaham itself was transferred from Houghton-le-Spring.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election under the Representation of the People Act 1948, with the bulk of its area moved into the new constituency of Easington. The expanded Urban District of Seaham Harbour (now incorporating Seaham) was transferred back to Houghton-le-Spring. ^[1]

Boundaries

• The Urban District of Seaham Harbour; and
• the Rural District of Easington. ^[2]

Political history

The history of this constituency, which incorporated a lot of the mining area of the eastern part of County Durham around Seaham, is of strong Labour Party support.

In the so-called "coupon election" of 1918, Major Evan Hayward was issued a Coalition 'coupon'. However, he repudiated the 'coupon' and stood as a Liberal and was elected. At the following general election, in 1922, Sidney Webb, an early socialist and author of the Labour Party's then-new constitution, was returned. Webb was easily re-elected in 1923 and 1924. He was subsequently raised to the peerage; his successor as parliamentary candidate was Ramsay MacDonald, the leader of the Labour Party at the time. At the 1929 general election MacDonald won, and for the second time became Prime Minister presiding over a minority Labour administration.

The economic crisis after 1929 led to a political crisis in mid-1931, and MacDonald failed to secure agreement in cabinet for his proposed cuts in outdoor relief for the unemployed. MacDonald went to see King George V, who persuaded him to form a National Government. In the general election that followed, MacDonald stood in Seaham as National Labour and was comfortably elected, and continued to serve as a Prime Minister of a National Government that was predominantly Conservative-supported.

MacDonald retired as Prime Minister in 1935 but remained in the Cabinet. In the general election of 1935 he was resoundingly defeated at Seaham by Emanuel Shinwell, the Labour Party candidate. Shinwell was re-elected in the Labour landslide at the 1945 election and subsequently served as MP for the successor constituency of Easington until 1970.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Evan Hayward	Liberal
	1922	Sidney Webb	Labour
	1929	Rt Hon Ramsay MacDonald	Labour
	1931		National Labour
	1935	Manny Shinwell	Labour
1950		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Evan Hayward	12,754	58.7
	Labour	Jack Lawson	8,988	41.3
Majority			3,766	17.4
Turnout			21,742	59.2
	Liberal win (new seat)

• Hayward had been issued with the "coalition coupon", but repudiated it.

Elections in the 1920s

Webb

General election 1922: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sidney Webb	20,203	59.9	+18.6
	Unionist	Thomas Andrews Bradford	8,315	24.6	New
	Liberal	Evan Hayward	5,247	15.5	-43.2
Majority			11,888	35.3	N/A
Turnout			33,765	81.9	+22.7
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sidney Webb	21,281	71.3	+11.4
	Unionist	Ronald Ross	8,546	28.7	+4.1
Majority			12,735	42.6	+7.3
Turnout			29,827	71.3	-10.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.6

General election 1924: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sidney Webb	22,399	65.5	-5.8
	Unionist	Ronald Ross	11,775	34.5	+5.8
Majority			10,624	31.0	-11.6
Turnout			34,174	78.8	+7.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.8

MacDonald

General election 1929: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	35,615	72.5	+7.0
	Unionist	William Arthur Fearnley-Whittingstall	6,821	13.9	-20.6
	Liberal	Henry Augustus Haslam	5,266	10.7	New
	Communist	Harry Pollitt	1,451	2.9	New
Majority			28,794	58.6	+27.6
Turnout			49,153	84.2	+5.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+13.8

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	28,978	55.0	New
	Labour	William Coxon	23,027	43.7	-28.8
	Communist	George Lumley	677	1.3	-1.6
Majority			5,951	11.3	N/A
Turnout			52,682	86.7	+2.5
	National Labour gain from Labour		Swing	N/A

General election 1935: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Manny Shinwell	38,380	68.2	+24.5
	National Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	17,882	31.8	-23.2
Majority			20,498	36.4	N/A
Turnout			56,262	86.3	-0.4
	Labour gain from National Labour		Swing	+23.8

General Election 1939–40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Labour: Manny Shinwell ^[4]
• Conservative:

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Seaham ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Manny Shinwell	42,942	80.1	+11.9
	Conservative	Maurice Macmillan	10,685	19.9	New
Majority			32,257	60.2	+23.8
Turnout			53,627	79.8	-6.5
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham

References

1. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester, UK: Political Reference Publications. pp. 58–59. ISBN   0-900178-09-4. OCLC   539011.
2. "Representation of the People Act 1918". p. 496.
3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig (1983). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
4. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bewdley	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1929–1935	Succeeded by Bewdley