Spennymoor (UK Parliament constituency)

Spennymoor
Spennymoor
Former county constituency; for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Seats	one

Spennymoor was a county constituency centred on the town of Spennymoor in County Durham. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook, Spennymoor, Tow Law, and Wellington, in the Rural District of Auckland the civil parishes of Helmington Row, Hunwick and Helmington, and North Bedburn, in the Rural District of Durham the civil parish of Brancepeth, and in the Rural District of Lanchester the civil parish of Hedleyhope.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	1918	Samuel Galbraith	Liberal
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	1922	Joseph Batey	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" \|	1942	James Murray	Labour
1950		constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Spennymoor^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Galbraith	9,443	53.5	n/a
	Labour	Joseph Batey	8,196	46.5	n/a
Majority			1,247	7.0	n/a
Turnout			17,639		n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

Galbraith was sponsored by the Durham Miners' Association

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Spennymoor^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Batey	13,766	50.3
	Unionist	Robert Anthony Eden	7,567	27.6	n/a
	Liberal	Thomas Edward Wing	6,046	22.1
Majority			6,199	22.7
Turnout				81.2
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Spennymoor ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joseph Batey	15,567	65.7	+15.4
	Unionist	William Appleby	8,116	34.3	+6.7
Majority			7,451	31.4	+8.7
Turnout				69.7	−11.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

General Election 1924: Spennymoor
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Joseph Batey	17,211
	Unionist	Herbert Conyers Surtees	10,101
Majority			7,110
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1929: Spennymoor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joseph Batey	20,858	71.8
	Unionist	Francis Page Gourlay	8,202	28.2
Majority			12,656	43.6
Turnout			29,060
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Spennymoor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joseph Batey	18,072	56.22
	Conservative	Michael Dodds McCarthy	14,072	43.78
Majority			4,000	12.44
Turnout			32,144	79.42
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1935: Spennymoor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Joseph Batey	21,473	71.18
	Conservative	Michael Dodds McCarthy	8,696	28.82
Majority			12,777	42.35
Turnout			30,169	74.337
	Labour hold		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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

Labour: Joseph Batey
Conservative:

Spennymoor by-election, 1942
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Dixon Murray	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Labour hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1945: Spennymoor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Dixon Murray	22,587	69.89	n/a
	Conservative	Frank Douglas Nicholson	7,510	23.24	n/a
	Independent	Charles Joseph French Savill	2,222	6.88	n/a
Majority			15,077	46.65	n/a
Turnout				79.76	n/a
	Labour hold		Swing	n/a

References

^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[1] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[2] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

[3] British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig

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