The Hartlepools (UK Parliament constituency)

The Hartlepools
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	County Durham
1868–February 1974
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Hartlepool
Created from	County Durham

The Hartlepools /ˈhɑːrtˌlᵻpᵿl/ was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency became Hartlepool in 1974. The seat's name reflected the representation of both 'old' Hartlepool and West Hartlepool).

History

The Hartlepools was enfranchised as a borough constituency by the Reform Act 1867, being given one MP. It had previously been part of a two-MP electoral division in County Durham.

Since the Second World War, Hartlepool has been a Labour constituency, though it has attracted surprises at times. It was held by the Conservatives between 1959–1964.

The constituency became Hartlepool in 1974.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Political party	Offices held
	1868	Ralph Ward Jackson	Conservative
	1874	Thomas Richardson	Liberal
	1875	Lowthian Bell	Liberal
	1880	Thomas Richardson	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1891	Christopher Furness	Liberal
	1895	Sir Thomas Richardson	Liberal Unionist
	1900	Sir Christopher Furness	Liberal
	1910	Stephen Furness	Liberal
	1914	Sir Walter Runciman	Liberal
	1918	William George Howard Gritten	Unionist
	1922	William Jowitt	Liberal
	1924	Sir Wilfred Sugden	Unionist
	1929	William George Howard Gritten	Unionist
	1943	Thomas George Greenwell	Conservative
	1945	David Thomas Jones	Labour
	1959	John Simon Kerans	Conservative
	1964	Edward Leadbitter	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: The Hartlepools [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Richardson	3,669	58.3
	Conservative	Thomas Hutchinson Tristram	2,629	41.7
Majority			1,040	16.6
Turnout				74.1
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1886: The Hartlepools [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Richardson	3,381	57.8	+16.1
	Liberal	M.L. Hawkes	2,469	42.2	-16.1
Majority			912	15.6	32.2
Turnout				68.8	-5.3
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+16.1

Elections in the 1890s

Hartlepool by-election, 1891 [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Christopher Furness	4,603	51.7
	Liberal Unionist	Sir William Gray	4,305	48.3
Majority			298	3.4
Turnout				85.8
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing

General Election 1892: The Hartlepools [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Christopher Furness	4,626	50.4	-1.3
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Richardson	4,550	49.6	+1.3
Majority			76	0.8	-2.6
Turnout				87.3	+1.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.3

• son of previous candidate with same name

T. Richardson

General Election 1895: The Hartlepools [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Richardson	4,853	50.4	+0.8
	Liberal	Sir Christopher Furness	4,772	49.6	-0.8
Majority			81	0.8	1.6
Turnout				87.5	+0.2
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+0.8

Elections in the 1900s

C. Furness

General Election 1900: The Hartlepools [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Christopher Furness	6,491	58.5	+8.9
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Thomas Richardson	4,612	41.5	-8.9
Majority			1,879	17.0	17.8
Turnout				86.4	-1.1
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+8.9

General Election 1906: The Hartlepools [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Christopher Furness	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: The Hartlepools [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Christopher Furness	6,531	53.2	n/a
	Conservative	William George Howard Gritten	5,754	46.8	n/a
Majority			777	6.4	n/a
Turnout				89.6	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

S. Furness

Hartlepool by-election, 1910 [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Wilson Furness	6,159	50.7	-2.5
	Conservative	William George Howard Gritten	5,993	49.3	+2.5
Majority			166	1.4	-5.0
Turnout				88.6	-1.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.5

General Election December 1910: The Hartlepools [11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Stephen Wilson Furness	6,017	50.2	-0.5
	Conservative	William George Howard Gritten	5,969	49.8	+0.5
Majority			48	0.4	-1.0
Turnout				87.4	-1.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.5

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: Sir Stephen Wilson Furness
• Unionist: William George Howard Gritten
• Labour:

W. Runciman

The Hartlepools by-election, 1914 [12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Walter Runciman	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1918: The Hartlepools[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William George Howard Gritten	13,003	51.3
	Liberal	Charles Macfarlane	7,647	30.1
	Labour	William John Sherwood	4,733	18.6
Majority			5,356	21.2
Turnout				64.1
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: The Hartlepools[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Allen Jowitt	18,252	50.8	+20.7
	Unionist	William George Howard Gritten	17,685	49.2	-2.1
Majority			567	1.6	22.8
Turnout				87.2	+13.1
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+11.4

General Election 1923: The Hartlepools[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Allen Jowitt	17,101	46.4	-4.4
	Unionist	William George Howard Gritten	16,956	46.1	-3.1
	Labour	George Belt	2,755	7.5	n/a
Majority			145	0.3	-1.3
Turnout				87.5	+0.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.7

General Election 1924: The Hartlepools[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Wilfrid Hart Sugden	19,077	49.5	+3.4
	Liberal	William Allen Jowitt	15,724	40.8	-5.6
	Labour	Craigie Mason Aitchison	3,717	9.7	+2.2
Majority			3,353	8.7	9.0
Turnout				90.3	+2.8
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+4.5

General Election 1929: The Hartlepools[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William George Howard Gritten	17,271	38.0	-11.5
	Liberal	Stephen Noel Furness	17,133	37.7	-3.1
	Labour	Gilbert Oliver	11,052	24.3	+14.6
Majority			138	0.3	8.4
Turnout				85.9	-4.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-4.2

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: The Hartlepools[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William George Howard Gritten	30,842	68.1	+30.1
	Labour	Alasdair Alpin MacGregor	14,462	31.9	+7.6
Majority			16,380	36.2	+29.9
Turnout			45,304	84.4	-1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+15.0

General Election 1935: The Hartlepools[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William George Howard Gritten	21,828	47.8	-20.3
	Labour	Charles A. Goatcher	16,931	37.0	+5.1
	Liberal	Joseph Scott-Cowell	6,939	15.2	n/a
Majority			4,897	10.7	25.4
Turnout				83.0	-1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-12.7

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: William George Howard Gritten
• Labour: David Thomas Jones^[20]
• Liberal:

Hartlepool by-election, 1943[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas George Greenwell	13,333	64.1	+16.3
	Common Wealth	Elaine Frances Burton	3,634	17.4	n/a
	Independent Labour	Oswald Lupton	2,351	11.3	n/a
	Independent Progressive	William Reginald Hipwell	1,510	7.2	n/a
Majority			9,699	46.7	+36.0
Turnout				39.5	-43.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

• Lupton stood as a 'People's' candidate

General Election 1945: The Hartlepools[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Thomas Jones	16,502	41.2	n/a
	Conservative	Thomas George Greenwell	16,227	40.5	-23.6
	Liberal	Godfrey Russell Vick	6,903	17.3	n/a
	Independent	Harry Lane	390	1.0	n/a
Majority			275	0.7	-46.0
Turnout				76.1	+36.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Thomas Jones	25,609	50.61
	Conservative	Thomas George Greenwell	20,373	40.26
	Liberal	Francis John Long	4,623	9.14
Majority			5,236	10.35
Turnout				87.15
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Thomas Jones	27,147	52.63
	Conservative	Paul T Carter	24,437	47.37
Majority			2,710	5.25
Turnout				86.56
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Thomas Jones	25,145	51.63
	Conservative	Gerard Goodhart	23,560	48.37
Majority			1,585	3.25
Turnout				81.84
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1959: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Simon Kerans	25,463	50.2
	Labour	David Thomas Jones	25,281	49.8
Majority			182	0.4
Turnout			50,744	83.3
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Leadbitter	25,883	52.9	+3.1
	Conservative	Geoffrey Hugh Dodsworth	23,016	47.1	-3.1
Majority			2,867	5.9	6.2
Turnout			48,899	81.9	-1.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.1

General Election 1966: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Leadbitter	27,509	59.3	+6.4
	Conservative	H Ian Bransom	18,857	40.7	-6.4
Majority			8,652	18.7	+12.8
Turnout			46,366	78.5	-3.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.4

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: The Hartlepools
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Leadbitter	27,704	57.8	-1.5
	Conservative	Robert Michael Marshall	20,188	42.2	+1.5
Majority			7,516	15.7	-3.0
Turnout			47,892	74.4	-4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.5

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cleveland

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 1)
2. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
3. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
4. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
5. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
6. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
7. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
8. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
9. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
10. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
11. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
12. British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig
13. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
16. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
18. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
20. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

Coordinates: 54°39′N 1°16′W / 54.650°N 1.267°W