Hexham (UK Parliament constituency)

Hexham
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Hexham in Northumberland.
Location of Northumberland within England.
County	Northumberland
Electorate	60,499 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Hexham, Corbridge, Stocksfield, Ponteland, Prudhoe, Wylam, Haydon Bridge, Haltwhistle
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Guy Opperman (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Northumberland and South Northumberland
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North East England

Hexham is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Northumberland represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Guy Opperman, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

This large seat reaches to the Pennines and traverses Hadrians Wall which runs almost due east-west through England, includes substantial agricultural holdings, forestry, wood processing, food, minerals, and manufactured hardware industries and has been held by the Conservative Party and rarely with only marginal majorities since 1924. In the midst of the northwest of the area is Kielder Water and running between this area and the middle of the seat is the southern portion of Kielder Forest, and in the west, the attractions of the precipitous Haltwhistle Burn, Viaduct and Castle. SSE of Hexham is the Derwent Reservoir.^[2] Aside from the geographical highlights as set out above this area also houses a portion of Newcastle's commuting middle-class; Hexham was the only Conservative seat in the North East between 1997–2010, and the only one in Northumberland from 1973 until the Conservatives won Berwick-upon-Tweed in 2015.

Demonstrated by latest published old age dependency ratios, a slightly larger than national average proportion of the electorate is retired.^[3] Whilst the result in 1997 saw the Labour Party within touching distance of winning the seat generally, results suggest the seat is a safe seat for candidates of the Conservative party.^[4]

History

The seat was created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Colonel Douglas Clifton Brown, who was Speaker of the House of Commons during the latter years of the World War II, represented the seat for two separate tenures (from 1918–23, and from 1924–51).

Boundaries

The constituency is named after the town of Hexham in Northumberland. It includes the former Tynedale district and part of the former Castle Morpeth district.^{[n 3]}

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Northumberland, the Boundary Commission for England has made only minor changes to the existing boundaries of the Hexham constituency. The electoral wards used in its formation are:

The entire former district of Tynedale
The former Castle Morpeth wards of Heddon-on-the-Wall, Ponteland East, Ponteland North, Ponteland South, Ponteland West, Stamfordham and Stannington

Members of Parliament

	Member^[5]	Party
1885	Miles MacInnes	Liberal
1892	Nathaniel George Clayton	Conservative
1893	Miles MacInnes	Liberal
1895	Wentworth Beaumont, later Viscount Allendale	Liberal
1907 by-election	Richard Durning Holt	Liberal
1918	Douglas Clifton Brown	Coalition Conservative
1923	Victor Harold Finney	Liberal
1924	Douglas Clifton Brown	Conservative
1943	Douglas Clifton Brown	Speaker
1951	Rupert Speir	Conservative
1966	Geoffrey Rippon	Conservative
1987	Alan Amos	Conservative
1992	Peter Atkinson	Conservative
2010	Guy Opperman	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Guy Opperman^[6]	22,834	52.7	+9.5
	Labour	Liam Carr^[7]	10,803	24.9	+5.9
	UKIP	David Nicholson^[8]	4,302	9.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Jeff Reid^[9]	2,961	6.8	-23.1
	Green	Lee Williscroft-Ferris^[10]	2,445	5.6	N/A
Majority			12,031	27.8	+9.5
Turnout			43,345	71.5	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Hexham^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Guy Opperman	18,795	43.2	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Duffield	13,007	29.9	+4.2
	Labour	Antoine Tinnion	8,253	19.0	−11.4
	Independent	Steven Ford	1,974	4.5	N/A
	BNP	Quentin Hawkins	1,205	2.8	N/A
	Independent	Colin Moss	249	0.6	N/A
Majority			5,788	13.3
Turnout			43,483	70.8	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Atkinson	17,605	42.4	−2.2
	Labour	Kevin Graham	12,585	30.3	−8.3
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Duffield	10,673	25.7	+10.7
	English Democrats	Ian Riddell	521	1.3	+1.3
	Imperial	Thomas Davison	129	0.3	+0.3
Majority			5,020	12.1
Turnout			41,513	68.8	−2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

General Election 2001: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Atkinson	18,917	44.6	+5.8
	Labour	Paul Brannen	16,388	38.6	+0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Philip Latham	6,380	15.0	−2.4
	UKIP	Alan Patterson	728	1.7	−0.8
Majority			2,529	6.0
Turnout			42,413	70.9	−6.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Atkinson	17,701	38.8
	Labour	Ian McMinn	17,479	38.2
	Liberal Democrat	Philip Carr	7,959	17.4
	Referendum	Robert Waddell	1,362	3.0
	UKIP	David Lott	1,170	2.6
Majority			222	0.5
Turnout			45,671	77.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Hexham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Atkinson	24,967	52.4	+2.8
	Labour	Ian Carr Fry Swithenbank	11,529	24.2	+6.2
	Liberal Democrat	Jonathan C. Wallace	10,344	21.7	−10.0
	Green	John P. Hartshorne	781	1.6	+0.9
Majority			13,438	28.2	+10.3
Turnout			47,621	82.4	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alan Amos	22,370	49.6
	Liberal	Evan MacFarlane Robson	14,304	31.7
	Labour	Mike Wood	8,103	18.0
	Green	Sheila Marjorie Wood	336	0.7
Majority			8,066	17.9
Turnout				80.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon	21,374	51.5
	Liberal	E.M. Robson	13,066	31.5
	Labour	Stephen Byers	7,056	17.0
Majority			8,308	20.0
Turnout				73.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon	25,483	48.0
	Labour	Stuart Bell	16,935	31.9
	Liberal	John Warren Shipley	10,697	20.1
Majority			8,548	16.1
Turnout				79.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon	21,352	43.53
	Labour	E Wade	16,711	34.07
	Liberal	Roy Cairncross	10,991	22.41
Majority			4,641	9.46
Turnout				75.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon	24,059	45.46
	Labour	E Wade	16,129	30.48
	Liberal	Roy Cairncross	12,730	24.06
Majority			7,930	14.99
Turnout				82.62
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon	24,516	51.96
	Labour	John E Miller	16,645	35.28
	Liberal	David Cogan	6,021	12.76
Majority			7,871	16.68
Turnout				75.31
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Aubrey Geoffrey Frederick Rippon	20,889	48.10
	Labour	James B. Lamb	16,105	37.08
	Liberal	Douglas A. Robson	6,434	14.82
Majority			4,784	11.02
Turnout				78.05
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert Malise Speir	22,468	50.70
	Labour	John Alderson	14,127	31.88
	Liberal	Douglas A. Robson	7,722	17.42
Majority			8,341	18.82
Turnout				81.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert Malise Speir	25,500	62.99
	Labour	Wilfrid Hubert Wace Roberts	14,980	37.01
Majority			10,520	25.99
Turnout				81.11
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert Malise Speir	23,462	64.00
	Labour	William Edward Garrett	13,198	36.00
Majority			10,264	28.00
Turnout				77.28
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rupert Malise Speir	23,267	59.61
	Labour	Thomas L. MacDonald	15,768	40.39
Majority			7,499	19.21
Turnout				82.42
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	Douglas Clifton Brown	24,703	85.06
	Independent Liberal	Alexander Hancock	4,154	14.40
Majority			20,549	71.21
Turnout				61.88
	Speaker hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Speaker	Douglas Clifton Brown	16,431	58.23
	Labour	Ernest Kavanagh	11,786	41.77
Majority			4,645	16.46
Turnout				73.80
	Speaker hold		Swing

1943: Douglas Clifton-Brown becomes Speaker of the House of Commons.

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Col. Douglas Clifton Brown	17,241	62.55
	Labour	Ernest Kinghorn	10,324	37.45
Majority			6,917	25.09
Turnout				75.92
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Col. Douglas Clifton Brown	20,578	73.14
	Labour	E. O. Dunnico	7,557	26.86
Majority			13,021	46.28
Turnout				79.21
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Clifton Brown	11,069	39.1	-8.9
	Liberal	Rt Hon Sir Francis Dyke Acland	9,103	32.2	+2.9
	Labour	Ernest Owen Dunnico	8,135	28.7	+6.0
Majority			1,966	6.9	-11.8
Turnout				80.2	-2.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	-5.9

General Election 1924: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Clifton Brown	10,741	48.0	+4.0
	Liberal	Victor Harold Finney	6,551	29.3	-26.7
	Labour	C R Flynn	5,089	22.7	n/a
Majority			4,190	18.7	30.7
Turnout				82.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+10.3

General Election 1923: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Victor Harold Finney	11,293	56.0	+25.0
	Unionist	Douglas Clifton Brown	8,887	44.0	-0.8
Majority			2,406	12.0	25.8
Turnout				75.6	-3.7
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+12.9

General Election 1922: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Clifton Brown	9,369	44.8	-4.1
	Liberal	Victor Harold Finney	6,486	31.0	+6.1
	Labour	George William Shield	5,050	24.2
Majority			2,883	13.8	-10.2
Turnout				79.3	+16.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	-5.1

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Hexham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Col. Douglas Clifton Brown	7,763	48.9
	Labour	William Weir	4,168	26.2	n/a
	Liberal	Maj. Hon. Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont	3,948	24.9
Majority			3,595	22.7
Turnout				62.4
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

endorsed by the Coalition Government

General Election December 1910
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Durning Holt	5,124	54.2
	Conservative	Alfred Henry Chaytor	4,334	45.8
Majority				8.4
Turnout				83.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election January 1910
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Durning Holt	5,478	55.4
	Conservative	C. Loftus Bates	4,417	44.6
Majority			1,061	10.8
Turnout				87.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

Hexham by-election, 1907
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Durning Holt	5,401
	Conservative	C. Loftus Bates	4,241
Majority			1,160
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Wentworth Beaumont

General Election 1906
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Wentworth Beaumont	5,632
	Conservative	C. Clayton	3,547
Majority			2,085
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Notes and references

Notes

↑ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
↑ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
↑ Tynedale and Castle Morpeth district councils were abolished in April 2009 in favour of a unitary Northumberland County Council.

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ Ordnance survey website
↑ 2011 census interactive maps
↑ 2001 Census
↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/hexham-2015.html
↑ http://www.labour.org.uk/hexham-liam-carr
↑ http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk/news/ukip-name-hexham-s-election-candidate-1.1150203
↑ http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/lib-dem-jeff-reid-battle-6938355
↑ https://www.facebook.com/tynedalegreenparty
↑ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Hexham". BBC News.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Daventry	Constituency represented by the Speaker 1943–1951	Succeeded by Cirencester and Tewkesbury

Constituencies in North East England (29)

Labour (26)	Bishop Auckland Blaydon Blyth Valley City of Durham Darlington Easington Gateshead Hartlepool Houghton and Sunderland South Jarrow Middlesbrough Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Newcastle upon Tyne Central Newcastle upon Tyne East Newcastle upon Tyne North North Durham North Tyneside North West Durham Redcar Sedgefield South Shields Stockton North Sunderland Central Tynemouth Wansbeck Washington and Sunderland West

Conservative (3)	Berwick-upon-Tweed Hexham Stockton South

North East England European constituency: Labour (2) UKIP (1)

54°58′16″N 2°06′04″W / 54.971°N 2.101°W / 54.971; -2.101

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