Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom
North West Durham
was a
constituency
[n 1]
represented in the
House of Commons
of the
UK Parliament
.
The seat was abolished for the
2024 general election
and replaced by parts of four new constituencies.
[2]
Constituency profile
[
edit
]
The constituency was in the northwest of
County Durham
, in the
North East England
region. It consisted 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
[
edit
]
1885?1918
[
edit
]
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?2024
[
edit
]
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
[
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]
Map of boundaries 2010-2024
1885?1918
[
edit
]
- 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
[
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]
- The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook and Willington, and Tow Law; and
- the Rural Districts of Lanchester and Weardale.
[6]
1974?1983
[
edit
]
- 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
[
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]
- 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
[
edit
]
- 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?2024
[
edit
]
- 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.
Abolition
[
edit
]
Further to the completion of the
2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies
, the seat was abolished for the
2024 general election
, with its contents distributed four ways:
[2]
Political history
[
edit
]
1885?1918
[
edit
]
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?2024
[
edit
]
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
[
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]
MPs 1885?1918
[
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]
MPs 1950?2024
[
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]
Election results 1950-2024
[
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]
Elections in the 1950s
[
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]
Elections in the 1960s
[
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]
Elections in the 1970s
[
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]
Elections in the 1980s
[
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]
Elections in the 1990s
[
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]
Elections in the 2000s
[
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]
Elections in the 2010s
[
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]
Election results 1885-1918
[
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]
Elections in the 1880s
[
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]
Elections in the 1890s
[
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]
Elections in the 1900s
[
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]
Elections in the 1910s
[
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]
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]