Sunderland (UK Parliament constituency)

Sunderland
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1950
Number of members	Two

Sunderland was a borough constituency of the House of Commons, created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. It elected two Members of Parliament (MP) by the bloc vote system of election until it was split into single-member seats of Sunderland North and Sunderland South for the 1950 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Sir William Chaytor, Bt.	Whig		George Barrington
1833 by-election					William Thompson
1835		David Barclay
1837		Andrew White
June 1841		David Barclay
September 1841 by-election					Viscount Howick	Whig
1845 by-election					George Hudson	Conservative
December 1847 by-election		Sir Hedworth Williamson, Bt.
1852		William Seymour	Liberal
1855 by-election		Henry Fenwick	Liberal
1859					William Schaw Lindsay	Liberal
1865					James Hartley	Conservative
1866 by-election		John Candlish	Liberal
1868					Edward Temperley Gourley	Liberal
1874		Sir Henry Havelock-Allan, Bt.	Liberal
1881 by-election		Samuel Storey	Liberal
1895		Theodore Doxford	Unionist
1900					John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	Conservative
1906		James Stuart	Liberal		Thomas Summerbell	Labour
January 1910		Samuel Storey	Independent Conservative		James Knott	Conservative
December 1910		Sir Hamar Greenwood, Bt.	Liberal		Frank Walter Goldstone	Labour
1918			Coalition Liberal		Ralph Milbanke Hudson	Conservative
1922		Luke Thompson	Conservative		Walter Raine	Conservative
1929		Marion Phillips	Labour		Alfred Smith	Labour
May 1931 by-election					Luke Thompson	Conservative
October 1931		Samuel Storey junior	Conservative
1935					Stephen Noel Furness	National Liberal
1945		Richard Ewart	Labour		Frederick Thomas Willey	Labour
1950	constituency abolished: see Sunderland North and Sunderland South

Election results

Elections in the 1900s

W.T. Doxford

Alexander Wilkie

General Election 1900: Sunderland[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Theodore Doxford	9,617	25.7
	Conservative	John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	9,566	25.6
	Liberal	George Burton Hunter	9,370	25.1
	Labour	Alexander Wilkie	8,842	23.6
Majority			196	0.5
Turnout				78.3
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

• some records describe Wilkie as Liberal-Labour

James Stuart

General Election 1906: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Stuart	13,620	32.2
	Labour	Thomas Summerbell	13,430	31.9
	Conservative	DH Haggle	7,879	18.7
	Conservative	John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	7,244	17.2
Majority			5,551	13.2
Turnout				85.5
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election January 1910: Sunderland[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Conservative	*Samuel Storey	12,334	26.2
	Conservative	James Knott	12,270	26.0
	Liberal	Rt Hon. James Stuart	11,529	24.4
	Labour	Thomas Summerbell	11,058	23.4
Majority			805	1.8
Turnout				87.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Independent Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

• Storey stood as "Independent Tariff Reform" but was fully supported by local Conservative Association

Greenwood

General Election December 1910: Sunderland[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hamar Greenwood	11,997
	Labour	Frank Walter Goldstone	11,291
	Conservative	William Joynson-Hicks	10,300
	Conservative	Samuel Samuel	10,132
Majority
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Hamar Greenwood
• Labour: Frank Walter Goldstone
• Unionist:

General Election 1918: [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Hamar Greenwood	27,646	43.9
	Unionist	Ralph Milbanke Hudson	25,698	40.8
	Labour	Frank Walter Goldstone	9,603	15.3
Turnout				56.4
Majority			18,043	28.6
	Liberal hold		Swing
Majority			16,095	25.5
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

• endorsed by Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

Sunderland by-election, 1920[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	Sir Hamar Greenwood	22,813	54.0	+10.1
	Labour	Vickerman Henzell Rutherford	14,379	34.0	+18.7
	Liberal	E.M. Howe	5,065	12.0	n/a
Majority			8,434	20.0	-8.6
Turnout				55.4	-1.0
	Coalition Liberal hold		Swing	-4.3

General Election 1922[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Raine	28,001	25.0	n/a
	Unionist	Luke Thompson	24,591	22.0	n/a
	National Liberal	Rt Hon. Sir Hamar Greenwood	19,058	17.0	n/a
	Labour	David Baxter Lawley	13,683	12.2	n/a
	Labour	Vickerman Henzell Rutherford	13,490	12.1	n/a
	Liberal	Lawrence Andrew Common	13,036	11.7	n/a
Turnout				81.6	+26.2
Majority			5,533	5.0	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a
Majority					n/a
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

General Election 1923: Sunderland [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Raine	23,497	19.9
	Unionist	Luke Thompson	23,379	19.8
	Liberal	Lawrence Andrew Common	22,438	19.0	+7.3
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Sir Hamar Greenwood	22,034	18.6
	Labour	David Baxter Lawley	13,707	11.6	-0.6
	Labour	Thomas William Gillinder	13,184	11.1	-1.0
Majority			1,905	1.1
Turnout				77.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1924[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Luke Thompson	28,612	25.4	+5.6
	Unionist	Walter Raine	28,608	25.3	+5.4
	Labour	J. MacVeagh	21,823	19.3	+7.7
	Liberal	Lawrence Andrew Common	20,139	17.8	-1.2
	Liberal	Ian Campbell Hannah	13,731	12.2	-6.4
Turnout				84.6	+6.7
Majority			6,785	6.0	+5.2
	Unionist hold		Swing
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1929: Sunderland [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marion Phillips	31,794	19.5	+0.2
	Labour	Alfred Smith	31,085	19.0	-0.3
	Unionist	Sir Walter Raine	29,180	17.9	-7.4
	Unionist	Luke Thompson	28,937	17.7	-7.7
	Liberal	Elizabeth Trebelle Morgan	21,300	13.0	-4.8
	Liberal	Sir John William Pratt	21,142	12.9	+0.7
Majority			1,905	1.1	7.1
Turnout				81.1	-3.5
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

Sunderland by-election, 1931 [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Luke Thompson	30,497	40.3
	Labour	James Thomas Brownlie	30,074	39.8
	Liberal	Elizabeth Trebelle Morgan	15,020	19.9
Majority			423	0.5
Turnout				73.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1931: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Luke Thompson	53,386	32.3
	Conservative	Samuel Storey, jr.	52,589	31.80
	Labour	Marion Phillips	29,707	18.0
	Labour	Denis Nowell Pritt	29,680	17.9
Majority			22,882	13.8
Turnout				81.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1935: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Stephen Noel Furness	49,001	30.2
	Conservative	Samuel Storey, jr.	48,760	30.0
	Labour	George Edward Gordon Catlin	32,483	20.0
	Labour	Elizabeth Leah Manning	32,059	19.8
Majority			16,277	10.0
Turnout				79.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal National gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Samuel Storey, jr.
• Liberal National: Stephen Noel Furness
• Labour: Thomas Frederick Peart, Frederick Thomas Willey ^[11]

General Election 1945: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Thomas Willey	38,769	28.1
	Labour	Richard Ewart	36,711	26.6
	Liberal National	Stephen Noel Furness	29,366	21.3
	Conservative	Samuel Storey, jr.	28,579	20.7
	Communist	T.A. Richardson	4,501	3.3
Majority			7,345	5.90
Turnout				77.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal National		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

Sunderland by-election, 1931 [12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Luke Thompson	30,497	40.3
	Labour	James Thomas Brownlie	30,074	39.8
	Liberal	Elizabeth Trebelle Morgan	15,020	19.9
Majority			423	0.5
Turnout				73.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1931: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Luke Thompson	53,386	32.28
	Conservative	Samuel Storey, jr.	52,589	31.80
	Labour	Marion Phillips	29,707	17.96
	Labour	Denis Nowell Pritt	29,680	17.95
Majority			22,882	13.84
Turnout				79.84
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1935: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Stephen Noel Furness	49,001	30.19
	Conservative	Samuel Storey, jr.	48,760	30.04
	Labour	George Edward Gordon Catlin	32,483	20.01
	Labour	Elizabeth Leah Manning	32,059	19.75
Majority			16,277	10.03
Turnout				78.08
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Liberal National gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Samuel Storey, jr.
• Liberal National: Stephen Noel Furness
• Labour: Thomas Frederick Peart, Frederick Thomas Willey ^[13]

General Election 1945: Sunderland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frederick Thomas Willey	38,769	28.11
	Labour	Richard Ewart	36,711	26.62
	Liberal National	Stephen Noel Furness	29,366	21.29
	Conservative	Samuel Storey, jr.	28,579	20.72
	Communist	T.A. Richardson	4,501	3.26
Majority			7,345	5.90
Turnout				76.23
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal National		Swing

References

1. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
2. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
3. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
4. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949 FWS Craig
5. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949 FWS Craig
6. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949 FWS Craig
7. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
8. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949 FWS Craig
9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
11. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
13. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)