Darlington is the parliamentary constituency for the eponymous market town in County Durham in the North East of England. It is currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Lola McEvoy of the Labour Party, who was first elected in 2024.

The constituency was created for the 1868 election.

Constituency profile The Darlington constituency is located in County Durham and covers most of the Borough of Darlington. It contains the large town of Darlington and some villages and rural areas to its north and west, including Heighington. Historically a small market town, Darlington grew in population during the late 19th century as a centre for railway manufacturing. The town has high levels of deprivation, with much of it falling within the 10% most-deprived areas in England, although the south-western suburbs of Hummersknott and Blackwell are affluent.

On average, residents of Darlington have lower levels of income, education and professional employment compared to nationwide figures, and house prices are low. At the 2021 census, White people made up 94% of the population.Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Darlington At the local borough council, most of the town is represented by Labour Party councillors, whilst Conservatives and Greens were elected in the rural areas and the wealthy south-west of the town. An estimated 57% of voters in Darlington favoured leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, above the nationwide figure of 52%.

Boundaries

Historic

1868–1885 Under the Reform Act 1867, the proposed contents of the new parliamentary borough were defined as the townships of Darlington, Haughton-le-Skerne, and Cockerton. However, this was amended under the Boundary Act 1868, with the boundary defined as being coterminous with the Municipal Borough of Darlington.

See map on Vision of Britain website.

1885–1918 As defined in 1868 with minor amendments.

1918–1983 The County Borough of Darlington.

The boundaries were adjusted in 1918, 1950 and 1973 to reflect changes to the boundaries of the county borough.

1983–2010 The Borough of Darlington wards of Bank Top, Central, Cockerton East, Cockerton West, College, Eastbourne North, Eastbourne South, Harrowgate Hill, Haughton East, Haughton West, Hummersknott, Lascelles, Lingfield, Mowden, Northgate North, Northgate South, North Road, Park East, Park West, and Pierremont.

No change to boundaries.

2010–2024 The Borough of Darlington wards of Bank Top, Central, Cockerton East, Cockerton West, College, Eastbourne, Faverdale, Harrowgate Hill, Haughton East, Haughton North, Haughton West, Hummersknott, Lascelles, Lingfield, Mowden, Northgate, North Road, Park East, Park West, and Pierremont.

Minor change to reflect new ward boundaries.

Current Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following electoral divisions of the Borough of Darlington (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

Bank Top & Lascelles; Brinkburn & Faverdale; Cockerton; College; Eastbourne; Harrowgate Hill; Haughton & Springfield; Heighington & Coniscliffe; Hummersknott; Mowden; North Road; Northgate; Park East; Park West; Pierremont; Red Hall & Lingfield; Stephenson; Whinfield.

The constituency was expanded slightly to bring the electorate within the permitted range, by adding the rural ward of Heighington & Coniscliffe from the abolished constituency of Sedgefield.

Political history The seat has been held by all three major parties in its long existence, but has been a marginal constituency between the Labour and Conservative parties in the years since the Second World War. Labour held the seat for 27 years from 1992 with their candidate Jenny Chapman winning the seat in 2010 with a 3,388 majority down from 10,404 in the previous election. In 2015, her majority over the Conservatives fell to 3,158. In the 2019 general election Conservative Peter Gibson defeated Chapman with a 3,294 majority before being defeated himself in 2024 by Lola McEvoy of Labour by a margin of 2,298

Members of Parliament ElectionMemberParty 1868 Edmund Backhouse Liberal 1880 Theodore Fry Liberal 1895 Arthur Pease Liberal Unionist 1898 by-election Herbert Pease Liberal Unionist 1910 Trebitsch Lincoln Liberal 1910 Herbert Pease Unionist 1923 by-election William Edwin Pease Unionist 1926 by-election Arthur Shepherd Labour 1931 Charles Peat Conservative 1945 David Hardman Labour 1951 Fergus Graham Conservative 1959 Anthony Bourne-Arton Conservative 1964 Ted Fletcher Labour 1983 by-election Ossie O'Brien Labour 1983 Michael Fallon Conservative 1992 Alan Milburn Labour 2010 Jenny Chapman Labour 2019 Peter Gibson Conservative 2024 Lola McEvoy Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

In the 2015 election, 89 ballot papers were issued omitting the UKIP candidate before the error was corrected.Election 2015, BBC, 8 May 2015

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Election in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Election results 1868–1918 Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Pease's death causes a by-election.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Unionist: Herbert Pease Liberal: Alfred ScottDaily Gazette for Middlesbrough 24 June 1914 Labour: T. Russell Williams

See also Parliamentary constituencies in County Durham History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham List of parliamentary constituencies in North East England (region) 1923 Darlington by-election 1926 Darlington by-election 1983 Darlington by-election

Notes

References

External links Darlington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Darlington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK Darlington UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK