Mid Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

Mid Durham was a county constituency represented in 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 from 1885 to 1918.

Mid Durham
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
18851918
Seatsone
Created fromNorth Durham and South Durham
Replaced byChester-le-Street, Durham, Spennymoor and Sedgefield

History edit

Creation edit

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when the North Durham and South Durham county divisions were replaced by eight new single-member county constituencies. These were Barnard Castle, Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow, Mid Durham, North West Durham and South East Durham. In addition there were seven County Durham borough constituencies.

Boundaries edit

The Sessional Division of Durham and Willington (including all the parish of Shadforth and excluding all the parish of Moorhouse) and the Municipal Borough of Durham.[1][2]

See map on Vision of Britain website.[3]

NB: 1) Boundary Commission proposed name was "Brancepeth"

2) Included only non-resident freeholders in the parliamentary borough of Durham

Abolition edit

The seat was abolished for the 1918 general election, when its contents were distributed as follows:

Members of Parliament edit

Year Member Whip
1885 William Crawford Liberal
1890 John Wilson Liberal
1915 Samuel Galbraith Liberal
1918 constituency abolished

Elections edit

Elections in the 1880s edit

General election 1885: Mid Durham[4][5][1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab William Crawford 5,799 64.1
Conservative Francis Vane-Tempest[6] 3,245 35.9
Majority 2,554 28.2
Turnout 9,044 81.1
Registered electors 11,145
Lib-Lab win (new seat)
General election 1886: Mid Durham[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab William Crawford Unopposed
Lib-Lab hold

Elections in the 1890s edit

 
Wilson
1890 Mid Durham by-election[4][5][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson 5,469 61.8 N/A
Conservative Francis Vane-Tempest[6] 3,375 38.2 New
Majority 2,094 23.6 N/A
Turnout 8,844 77.8 N/A
Registered electors 11,362
Lib-Lab hold
General election 1892: Mid Durham[4][5][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson 5,661 60.7 N/A
Conservative Charles Edward Hunter 3,669 39.3 N/A
Majority 1,992 21.4 N/A
Turnout 9,330 79.1 N/A
Registered electors 11,789
Lib-Lab hold Swing N/A
General election 1895: Mid Durham[4][5][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson 5,937 58.0 -2.7
Conservative Anthony Wilkinson 4,295 42.0 +2.7
Majority 1,642 16.0 -5.4
Turnout 10,232 81.7 +2.6
Registered electors 12,519
Lib-Lab hold Swing -2.7

Elections in the 1900s edit

General election 1900: Mid Durham[5][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson 5,565 57.5 -0.5
Conservative Charles Edward Hunter 4,105 42.5 +0.5
Majority 1,460 15.0 -1.0
Turnout 9,670 75.5 −6.2
Registered electors 12,816
Lib-Lab hold Swing -0.5
General election 1906: Mid Durham[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson Unopposed
Lib-Lab hold

Elections in the 1910s edit

 
Wilson
General election January 1910: Mid Durham[4][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson Unopposed
Lib-Lab hold
General election December 1910: Mid Durham[4][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Wilson Unopposed
Lib-Lab hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

1915 Mid Durham by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab Samuel Galbraith Unopposed
Lib-Lab hold

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
  2. ^ "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885". pp. 155–156.
  3. ^ "HMSO Boundary Commission Report 1885, Durham".
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  5. ^ a b c d e f g The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  6. ^ a b "The General Election". London Evening Standard. 16 June 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 143 (167 in web page), Durham
  8. ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1896
  9. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  10. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916