Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)

Sedgefield
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Sedgefield in County Durham.
Location of County Durham within England.
County	County Durham
Electorate	67,386 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Phil Wilson (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Durham, Durham North West, Easington and Bishop Auckland[2]
1918–1974
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Replaced by	Bishop Auckland, Durham, Easington
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North East England

Sedgefield is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since a by-election in 2007 by Phil Wilson, a member of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Labour have held Sedgefield since 1935. From 1983 to 2007, the constituency was represented by Tony Blair, who became the party's leader in 1994 and Prime Minister in 1997.

Boundaries

Upon its abolishment for the February 1974 General Election, the constituency included: The urban district of Billingham, the rural districts of Darlington and Sedgefield, and the rural district of Stockton (excluding Norton, Elton, Preston-on-Tees, Dalton Piercy, Greatham and Seaton).^[3]

1983-1997: The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Low Spennymoor and Tudhoe Grange, Middlestone, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Spennymoor, and Tudhoe, the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.

1997-2010: The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Middridge, Neville, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Shafto, Simpasture, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.

2010-present: The Borough of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham and Cornforth, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn and Old Trimdon, Greenfield Middridge, Neville and Simpasture, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Sedgefield, Shafto St Mary's, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Thornley and Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.

History

1918-1974

This constituency was first created in time for the 1918 general election, and then abolished for the February 1974 election.

1983-date

Sedgefield was recreated in 1983. Its member from 1983 until 27 June 2007 was Tony Blair, who led a successful campaign for his party to win in a landslide in 1997 and thereafter served for ten years as the Prime Minister, leading the campaigns in two subsequent elections. This was the first triple term for the Labour Party. Blair resigned as a Member of Parliament on the same day as he resigned as Prime Minister, which triggered a by-election.^[4]

At the by-election on 19 July 2007, the Labour candidate Phil Wilson was elected on a reduced majority which in national terms is safe instead of marginal.

Constituency profile

Sedgefield has a long mining history (extracting coal, fluorspar and iron ore) and very strong affiliation to the Labour Party.

In statistics

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of two local government districts with similar characteristics: a working population whose average income is lower than the national average and close to average reliance upon social housing.^[5] At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 5.0% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 5.5%.^[6]

The local authority contributing to the bulk of the seat has a middling 27.2% of its population without a car, a high 27.5% of the population without qualifications and a medium 21.5% with level 4 qualifications or above. Darlington has 28% of its population without a car, 24.8% of the population without qualifications and a medium 23.7% with level 4 qualifications or above

In terms of tenure 65.8% of County Durham homes and 64.9% of Darlington homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census.^[7]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–present

Election		Member[8]	Party	Notes
	1918	Rowland Burdon	Conservative
	1922	John Herriotts	Labour
	1923	Leonard Ropner	Conservative
	1929	John Herriotts	Labour
	1931	Roland Jennings	Conservative
	1935	John Leslie	Labour
	1950	Joe Slater	Labour
	1970	David Reed	Labour
Feb 1974		constituency abolished
1983		constituency recreated
	1983	Tony Blair	Labour	Leader of the Labour Party 1994-2007, Prime Minister 1997-2007
	2007 by-election	Philip Wilson	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Sedgefield[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Wilson	18,275	47.2	+2.1
	Conservative	Scott Wood	11,432	29.5	+6.0
	UKIP	John Leathley	6,426	16.6	+12.9
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Glenn	1,370	3.5	−16.4
	Green	Greg Robinson	1,213	3.1	N/A
Majority			6,843	17.7
Turnout			38,716	61.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.0

General Election 2010: Sedgefield[10][11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Wilson	18,141	45.1	−13.9
	Conservative	Neil Mahapatra	9,445	23.5	+9.3
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Thompson	8,033	20.0	+8.2
	BNP	Mark Walker	2,075	5.2	−3.7
	UKIP	Brian Gregory	1,479	3.7	+2.1
	Independent	Paul Gittins	1,049	2.6	−4.1
Majority			8,696	21.6
Turnout			40,222	62.1	−0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−11.6

Elections in the 2000s

Sedgefield by-election, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Wilson	12,528	44.8	−14.1
	Liberal Democrat	Gregory Martin Stone	5,572	19.9	+8.0
	Conservative	Graham Michael Robb	4,082	14.6	+0.2
	BNP	Andrew Spence	2,494	8.9	N/A
	Independent	Paul Gittins	1,885	6.7	N/A
	UKIP	Gavin Tobias Alexander Winterbottom Horton	536	1.9	+0.3
	Green	Christopher Michael Haine	348	1.2	N/A
	English Democrats	Stephen Paul Gash	177	0.6	N/A
	Christian Vote	Tim Grainger	177	0.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan Hope	129	0.5	+0.1
	Anti Crime	Norman Scarth	34	0.1	N/A
Majority			6,956	24.9	−19.6
Turnout			27,962	43.05	−19.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−11.0

General Election 2005: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	24,421	58.9	−6.0
	Conservative	Al Lockwood	5,972	14.4	−6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Woodthorpe Browne	4,935	11.9	+2.9
	Independent	Reg Keys	4,252	10.3	N/A
	UKIP	William John Brown	646	1.6	−0.8
	National Front	Mark Neville Farrell	253	0.6	N/A
	Veritas	Fiona Christina Luckhurst-Matthews	218	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Berony Anne Abraham	205	0.5	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Melodie Elizabeth Staniforth	157	0.4	N/A
	Blair Must Go Party	Jonathan McQueen Cockburn	103	0.2	N/A
	Senior Citizens Party	Terence William Pattinson	97	0.2	N/A
	UK Pensioners Party	Cherri Gilham	82	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Helen John	68	0.2	−0.4
	Independent	John Barker	45	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Julian Fraser Brennan	17	0.0	N/A
Majority			18,449	44.5
Turnout			41,475	62.2	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	0.2

General Election 2001: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	26,110	64.9	−6.3
	Conservative	Douglas Carswell	8,397	20.9	+3.1
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew Duffield	3,624	9.0	+2.5
	UKIP	Andrew Spence	974	2.4	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Brian Gibson	518	1.3	+0.3
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Christopher Anthony Peter Driver	375	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Miss Helen John	260	0.6	N/A
Majority			17,713	44.0
Turnout			40,258	62.0	−10.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	33,526	71.2	+10.8
	Conservative	Elizabeth Mary Alice Pitman	8,383	17.8	−11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ronald Walter Alexander Leslie Beadle	3,050	6.5	−4.1
	Referendum	Miriam Hall	1,683	3.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Brian Gibson	474	1.0	N/A
Majority			25,143	53.4	+21.8
Turnout			47,116	72.6	−4.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.0

General Election 1992: Sedgefield[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	28,453	60.5	+4.5
	Conservative	Nicholas Mark Fletcher Jopling	13,594	28.9	+1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Gary Garry Huntington	4,982	10.6	−5.5
Majority			14,859	31.6	+3.4
Turnout			47,029	77.1	+0.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	25,965	56.0	+8.4
	Conservative	Nigel Bligh Spencer Hawkins	12,907	27.9	−1.3
	Social Democratic	Ralph Irving Andrew	7,477	16.1	−6.5
Majority			13,058	28.2	+9.8
Turnout				76.2	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.9

General Election 1983: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	21,401	47.6	N/A
	Conservative	Gavin Tobias Alexander Winterbottom Horton	13,120	29.2	N/A
	Social Democratic	David Louden Shand	10,183	22.6	N/A
	Independent	Maurice Ekegren Logan-Salton	298	0.7	N/A
Majority			8,281	18.4	N/A
Turnout				72.9	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Reed	36,867	60.5	-4.2
	Conservative	A. A. Beck	24,036	39.5	+4.1
Majority			12,831	21.1	-8.2
Turnout				72.7	-3.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	34,058	64.7	+4.0
	Conservative	C. F. Thring	18,620	35.4	-4.1
Majority			15,438	29.3	+8.0
Turnout				76.0	-3.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	32,273	60.7	+2.2
	Conservative	C. F. Thring	20,931	39.3	-2.2
Majority			11,342	21.3	+4.4
Turnout				79.5	-3.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	30,642	58.5	-1.2
	Conservative	D. Appleby	21,771	41.5	+1.2
Majority			8,871	16.9	-2.5
Turnout				82.5	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	27,221	59.7	-2.6
	Conservative	D. Appleby	18,368	40.3	+2.6
Majority			8,853	19.4	-5.2
Turnout				79.9	-6.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	28,219	62.3	-0.2
	Conservative	E. H. Harrison	17,095	37.7	+0.2
Majority			11,124	24.6	-0.4
Turnout				86.4	-0.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Slater	27,946	62.5	- 1.3
	Conservative	John E S Walford	16,782	37.5	+ 1.3
Majority			11,164	25.0	- 2.6
Turnout				87.0	+ 9.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Leslie	27,051	63.8	+ 11.5
	Conservative	J. E. S. Walford	15,360	36.2	- 11.5
Majority			11,691	27.6	+ 23.0
Turnout			42,411	77.5	- 3.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Leslie	20,375	52.3	+ 11.1
	Conservative	Roland Jennings	18,604	47.7	- 11.1
Majority			1,771	4.6	- 13.0
Turnout				81.4	- 3.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1931: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roland Jennings	21,956	58.8	+ 19.3
	Labour	John Herriotts	15,404	41.2	- 6.5
Majority			6,552	17.6	+ 9.6
Turnout				84.4	+ 1.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Herriotts	15,749	47.7	+ 0.4
	Unionist	Leonard Ropner	13,043	39.5	- 13.2
	Liberal	William Leeson	4,236	12.8	N/A
Majority			2,706	8.2	+ 2.8
Turnout				83.0	- 2.4
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

General Election 1924: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leonard Ropner	13,968	52.7	+ 2.7
	Labour	John Herriotts	12,552	47.3	- 2.7
Majority			1,416	5.4	+ 5.4
Turnout				85.4	+ 10.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Leonard Ropner	11,093	50.0	+ 9.5
	Labour	John Herriotts	11,087	50.0	+ 6.4
Majority			6	0.0	-3.1
Turnout				74.5	- 1.6
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+1.6

General Election 1922: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Herriotts	9,756	43.6	+ 6.8
	Unionist	Eli Waddington	9,067	40.5	- 1.6
	Liberal	C. H. Brown	3,561	15.9	- 5.2
Majority			689	3.1	- 2.2
Turnout				76.1	+ 12.7
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Charles Starmer

General Election 1918: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Conservative	Col. Rowland Burdon	6,627	42.1	N/A
	Labour	John Herriotts	5,801	36.8	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Walter Starmer	3,333	21.1	N/A
Majority			826	5.3	N/A
Turnout				63.4	N/A
	Coalition Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in County Durham

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. 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.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "'Sedgefield', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
3. Statutory Instrument 1970 No. 1674 The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 (Coming into force 25 November 1970)
4. Blair resigns as prime minister, BBC News, 27 June 2007
5. 2001 Census
6. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
7. 2011 census interactive maps
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)
9. "Sedgefield". BBC News. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
10. http://www.durham.gov.uk/PDFApproved/ParliamentaryElection2010_SoPN_SEDGE.pdf
11. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Sedgefield". BBC News.
12. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.