North_Durham_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

North Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Not to be confused with Durham North (Ontario provincial electoral district).

North Durham is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Kevan Jones of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Quick Facts County, Electorate ...

North Durham
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Durham in Durham
Location of Durham within England
County	Durham
Electorate	68,959 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Chester-le-Street, Stanley and Sacriston
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Kevan Jones (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Chester-le-Street Consett
1832–1885
Seats	Two
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Durham
Replaced by	Jarrow Houghton-le-Spring Chester-le-Street Mid Durham North West Durham

History

A constituency formally named the Northern Division of Durham was created by the Great Reform Act for the 1832 general election, when the former Durham constituency was split into the northern and southern divisions, each electing two members using the bloc vote system.^[2]

This seat was abolished by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 when the two divisions were replaced by eight single-member divisions.^[3]These were Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow, Mid Durham, North West Durham and South East Durham.^[4] In addition there were seven County Durham borough constituencies.

The seat was re-created as a single-seat constituency for the 1983 general election as a result of the redistribution following the changes to local authority boundaries under the Local Government Act 1972. The new constituency comprised those parts of the abolished Chester-le-Street constituency retained within the reconstituted county of Durham, together with those parts of the abolished Consett constituency which had comprised the urban district of Stanley.

Boundaries

From 1832-1868 and this area was left intact until 1885. Extract from 1837 result: the shorter 'doubly' orange area which has an east coast.

1832–1885

The Wards of Chester and Easington, with a place of election at Durham.^[2]

See map on Vision of Britain website.^[5]

Included non-resident 40 shilling freeholders in the parliamentary boroughs of Durham, Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland.

1983–1997

The District of Chester-le-Street; and
the District of Derwentside wards of Annfield Plain, Burnopfield, Catchgate, Craghead, Dipton, Havannah, South Moor, South Stanley, Stanley Hall, and Tanfield.^[6]

1997–2010

The District of Chester-le-Street; and
the District of Derwentside wards of Annfield Plain, Catchgate, Craghead, Havannah, South Moor, South Stanley, Stanley Hall, and Tanfield.^[7]

Burnopfield and Dipton wards were transferred to the redrawn North West Durham.

2010–present

Map of current boundaries

The District of Chester-le-Street; and
the District of Derwentside wards of Annfield Plain, Catchgate, Craghead and South Stanley, Havannah, South Moor, Stanley Hall, and Tanfield.^[8]

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

The constituency spans the north of County Durham in North East England. It includes the whole of the former Chester-le-Street district and the eastern part of the former Derwentside district. The main population centres (large settlements) are Chester-le-Street, Stanley and Sacriston. The constituency includes the North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish.^[9]

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following electoral divisions of the County of Durham (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

Annfield Plain; Chester-le-Street East; Chester-le-Street North; Chester-le-Street South; Chester-le-Street West Central; Craghead and South Moor; Lanchester; Lumley; North Lodge; Pelton; Sacriston; Stanley; Tanfield.^[10]

The constituency will be expanded to bring the electorate within the permitted range, by adding the Lanchester ward from the (to be abolished) constituency of North West Durham. The Lanchester-based activist David Lindsay, who contested North West Durham in 2019, has therefore indicated his willingness to contest North Durham if the Workers Party of Britain did not do so.^[11]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

More information Election, 1st Member ...

Election	1st Member^[12]		1st Party		2nd Party
1832		Hedworth Lambton	Whig^[13]^[14]	Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt	Whig^[13]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]
1837		Hedworth Lambton	Whig^[13]^[14]	Hon. Henry Liddell	Conservative^[13]
1847		Robert Duncombe Shafto	Whig^[19]^[20]	George Vane-Tempest	Conservative
1854 by-election			Whig^[19]^[20]	Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest	Conservative
1859			Liberal	Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest	Conservative
1864 by-election			Liberal	Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt	Liberal
1868		George Elliot	Conservative	Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt	Liberal
1874		Sir Lowthian Bell	Liberal	Charles Palmer	Liberal
1874 by-election		Sir George Elliot, Bt	Conservative
1880		John Joicey	Liberal
1881 by-election		Sir George Elliot, Bt	Conservative
1885	Redistribution of Seats Act: constituency abolished

MPs since 1983

More information Election, Member ...

Election		Member^[12]	Party
	1983	Giles Radice	Labour
	2001	Kevan Jones	Labour