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)
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Phil Wilson (Labour)
Number of members	One
1918 (1918)–1974 (1974)
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North East England

Sedgefield is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Sedgefield is situated in County Durham, an area renowned for its mining history and very strong affiliation to the Labour Party.

From its recreation in 1983 until 27 June 2007, the seat had been held by the Labour Party's Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister. He resigned as a Member of Parliament on the same day as he resigned as Prime Minister, which triggered a by-election.

At the by-election on 19 July 2007, the Labour candidate Phil Wilson was elected on a reduced majority.

Boundaries

Following the review of parliamentary representation in County Durham, the Boundary Commission for England made only minor changes to the Sedgefield constituency for the 2010 general election. The seat, in County Durham in the North East region of England, comprises:

The electoral wards used in the modified seat are;

• Bishop Middleham and Cornforth, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn and Old Trimdon, Greenfield Middridge, Neville and Simpasture, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Sedgefield, Shafto St Marys, West and Woodham from the former Borough of Sedgefield.
• Thornley and Wheatley Hill, and Wingate from the former Easington district.
• Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George, and Sadberge and Whessoe from Darlington.

From 1997 to 2010, the boundaries were:

• most of the former Borough of Sedgefield, including Sedgefield town, Newton Aycliffe, Ferryhill and parts of Trimdon.
• most of the area (but not the electorate) of the Borough of Darlington, surrounding the actual town of Darlington on 3 sides.
• in the south of the former Easington district, Wingate, Thornley, Wheatley Hill and the rest of Trimdon.

History

The constituency has been in use for two separate periods. It was first created in time for the 1918 general election, and then abolished for the February 1974 election. It was recreated in 1983 and has existed ever since.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1918–1974

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Rowland Burdon	Coalition 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

MPs since 1983

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Tony Blair	Labour
	2007 by-election	Phil Wilson	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Phil 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	Phil Wilson	12,528	44.8	-14.1
	Liberal Democrat	Greg Stone	5,572	19.9	+8.0
	Conservative	Graham 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	Toby Horton	536	1.9	+0.3
	Green	Chris Haine	348	1.2	N/A
	English Democrats	Stephen 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	-19.15
	Labour hold		Swing	-11

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 Browne	4,935	11.9	+2.9
	Independent	Reg Keys	4,252	10.3	N/A
	UKIP	William Brown	646	1.6	-0.8
	National Front	Mark Farrell	253	0.6	N/A
	Veritas	Fiona Luckhurst-Matthews	218	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Berony Abraham	205	0.5	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Melodie Staniforth	157	0.4	N/A
	Blair Must Go Party	Jonathan Cockburn	103	0.2	N/A
	Senior Citizens Party	Terry 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 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	Chris Driver	375	0.9	N/A
	Independent	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 Pitman	8,383	17.8	-11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Ronald Beadle	3,050	6.5	-4.1
	Referendum Party	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

General Election 1992: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	28,453	60.5	+4.5
	Conservative	Nicholas Jopling	13,594	28.9	+1.0
	Liberal Democrat	Gary 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	N. B. S. Hawkins	12,907	27.9	-1.3
	Social Democrat	R. I. Andrew	7,477	16.1	-6.5
Majority			13,058	28.2	+9.8
Turnout				76.2	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tony Blair	21,401	47.6	N/A
	Conservative	Toby Horton	13,120	29.2	N/A
	Social Democrat	D. Shand	10,183	22.6	N/A
	Independent	M. Logan-Salton	298	0.7	N/A
Majority			8,281	18.4	N/A
Turnout				72.9	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

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	J. 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
	Conservative	Leonard Ropner	13,043	39.5	- 13.2
	Liberal	W. Leeson	4,236	12.8	N/A
Majority			2,706	8.2	+ 2.8
Turnout				83.0	- 2.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1924: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	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
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	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
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1922: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Herriotts	9,756	43.6	+ 6.8
	Conservative	E. 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 Coalition Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Sedgefield
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Conservative	Rowland Burdon	6,627	42.1	N/A
	Labour	John Herriotts	5,801	36.8	N/A
	Liberal	C. W. 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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Derby South	Constituency represented by the Leader of the Opposition 1994–1997	Succeeded by Huntingdon
Preceded by Huntingdon	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1997–2007	Succeeded by Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath