North West Durham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
The seat was abolished for the 2024 general election and became parts of four other constituencies: Blaydon and Consett, City of Durham (constituency), Bishop Auckland (constituency) and North Durham.
Constituency profile The constituency was in the northwest of County Durham, in the North East England region. It consisted of the western part of the former Derwentside district (including Consett and Lanchester) and the northern part of the former Wear Valley district (including Weardale, Crook, and Willington).
The majority of the electorate lived in former mining or steel towns, where Labour traditionally have polled higher than other parties, with the remainder being in rural farms and villages throughout valleys cleft from the eastern, rocky part of the Pennines.
History
1885–1918 The constituency was first created for the 1885 general election by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as one of eight new single-member divisions of the county of Durham, replacing the two 2-member seats of North Durham and South Durham. It was centred on two main communities, Consett and Lanchester.
It was abolished in 1918 with the creation of Consett as a separate constituency. Lanchester was transferred to an enlarged Barnard Castle seat and Tanfield was added to the new constituency of Blaydon.
1950–2024 On its recreation under the Representation of the People Act 1948, North-West Durham absorbed the abolished Spennymoor seat, with the exception of the town of Spennymoor itself (which was added in 1974). It also regained Lanchester, together with Weardale, from the now abolished Barnard Castle.
As a result of the periodic review of parliamentary constituencies following the re-organisation of local government under the Local Government Act 1972, the seat underwent a major redistribution for the 1983 general election: the town of Consett was regained from the abolished constituency thereof, and Brandon and Spennymoor were transferred to City of Durham and Sedgefield respectively. The boundaries were now similar to the first version of the constituency.
Boundaries
1885–1918
The Sessional Division of Lanchester and Consett; and the Parishes of Edmondbyers and Hunstanworth See map on Vision of Britain website. (NB Boundary Commission proposed name was "Lanchester")
1950–1974
The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook and Willington, and Tow Law; and the Rural Districts of Lanchester and Weardale.
1974–1983
The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook and Willington, Spennymoor, and Tow Law; the Rural Districts of Lanchester and Weardale; and the parish of Brancepeth in the Rural District of Durham.
Spennymoor transferred from Durham with the parish of Brancepeth.
1983–1997
The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Castleside, Consett North, Consett South, Cornsay, Crookhall, Delves Lane, Ebchester and Medomsley, Esh, Lanchester, and Leadgate; and the District of Wear Valley wards of Crook North, Crook South, Howden, Hunwick, St John's Chapel, Stanhope, Stanley, Tow Law, Wheatbottom and Helmington Row, Willington East, Willington West, and Wolsingham.
Gained area comprising former urban district of Consett (incorporating Benfieldside, Consett and Leadgate). Brandon and Byshottles, and Brancepeth transferred to City of Durham, and Spennymoor to Sedgefield.
1997–2010
The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Burnopfield, Castleside, Consett North, Consett South, Cornsay, Crookhall, Delves Lane, Dipton, Ebchester and Medomsley, Esh, Lanchester, and Leadgate; and the District of Wear Valley wards of Crook North, Crook South, Howden, Hunwick, St John's Chapel, Stanhope, Stanley, Tow Law, Wheatbottom and Helmington Row, Willington East, Willington West, and Wolsingham.
The Derwentside District wards of Burnopfield and Dipton transferred from North Durham.
2010–2024 The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Burnopfield, Castleside, Consett East, Consett North, Consett South, Cornsay, Delves Lane, Dipton, Ebchester and Medomsley, Esh, Lanchester, and Leadgate; and the District of Wear Valley wards of Crook North, Crook South, Howden, Hunwick, St John's Chapel, Stanhope, Tow Law and Stanley, Wheatbottom and Helmington Row, Willington Central, Willington West End, Wolsingham, and Witton-le-Wear. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
The 1997 boundaries were retained despite the official description of the constituency changing slightly in terms of the names of the local authority wards.
In the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, the local authority districts in Durham were abolished and replaced with a single unitary authority; however, this did not affect the boundaries of the constituency.
Abolition Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed four ways:
Northern-most parts, including Consett and Leadgate, comprising just under half the electorate, to the new constituency of Blaydon and Consett Crook, Tow Law and Weardale to Bishop Auckland Esh, Willington and Hunwick to City of Durham Lanchester to North Durham
Political history
1885–1918 During the first creation, Liberals represented the area and the first member until 1914 was the son of a prominent Chartist, Ernest Jones, who helped to promote New Liberalism, encouraging the Liberal Party to take on instead the politics of "mass working-class" appeal. This politics was epitomised by David Lloyd George whose People's Budget in 1909 led to the supremacy of the House of Commons over the House of Lords in 1911, national pensions under a basic welfare state (but without a National Health Service).
1950–2024 From its recreation in 1950 until December 2019, the seat had been represented in Westminster by members of the Labour Party. For many years the area gave large majorities suggesting a safe seat for Labour.
Both the future Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the future Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, were candidates for their respective parties at this seat for the 1992 general election, which both of them lost to incumbent Labour MP Hilary Armstrong.
In 2016 the incumbent MP, Pat Glass, announced her intention to step down at the 2017 general election in the wake of the Brexit referendum. Her successor Laura Pidcock, a close supporter of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, lost the seat in the 2019 general election to Richard Holden, as part of the Conservative Party's strategy to target seats in the so-called red wall.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1885–1918
ElectionMemberParty 1885 Llewellyn Atherley-Jones Liberal 1914 Aneurin Williams Liberal 1918 Constituency abolished
MPs 1950–2024
ElectionMemberParty 1950 Constituency recreated 1950 James Murray Labour 1955 William Ainsley Labour 1964 Ernest Armstrong Labour 1987 Hilary Armstrong Labour 2010 Pat Glass Labour 2017 Laura Pidcock Labour 2019 Richard Holden Conservative 2024 Constituency abolished
Election results 1885–1918 Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
Election results 1950–2019
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s :
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 2010s
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in County Durham History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham
Notes
References
External links North West Durham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK North West Durham UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK