County County Durham Created 1950 Type of constituency County constituency Number of members 1 | Electorate 72,760 (December 2010) Created from Barnard Castle Member of parliament Pat Glass | |
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Created from South Durham
North Durham Major settlements Consett, Crook, Lanchester, Willington Replaced by Barnard Castle, South Durham, North Durham, Consett | ||
North West Durham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Pat Glass of the Labour Party. Both the current Conservative Party leader, Theresa May, and the current Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, were their party's candidate for the seat at the 1992 general election.
Contents
History
A first incarnation of the seat occurred under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 however this was abolished in 1918 to create Consett and to enlarge, using its Weardale part, Barnard Castle. During the first creation Liberals represented the area and its first member until 1914 was the son of a prominent Chartist, Ernest Jones, and 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, 1909 led to the supremacy of the House of Commons over the House of Lords, national pensions under a barebones welfare state (without a National Health Service).
On its recreation in 1950 North-West Durham became the successor to Barnard Castle save for the town of that name and its immediate vicinity which instead joined the Bishop Auckland seat. Consett was abolished in 1983 having seen a gradual decline in population in the latter half of its years, and its area was added to North West Durham that year. Throughout this second creation the seat has been represented in Westminster by members of the Labour Party.
Boundaries
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 civil parish of Brancepeth in the Rural District of Durham.
1983–1997: The District of Derwentside wards of Benfieldside, Blackhill, Burnhope, Burnopfield, 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.
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.
2010–present: 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.
The constituency is in the north west of County Durham, in the North East England region. When it was created in 1885 it centred on two main communities, Consett and Lanchester.
It currently consists 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).
Constituency profile
For many years the area gave large majorities suggesting a safe seat for the Labour Party; the majority of the electorate live in former mining or steel towns, where Labour traditionally have polled higher than other parties with the remainder in rural farms and villages throughout valleys cleft from the eastern, rocky part of the Pennines. The current MP is Pat Glass, elected at the 2010 general election.