County County Durham Created 1983 European Parliament constituency North East England Number of members 1 | Electorate 67,386 (December 2010) Type of constituency County constituency Member of parliament Phil Wilson | |
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Created from Durham, Durham North West, Easington and Bishop Auckland Replaced by North West Durham, Easington, Bishop Auckland | ||
Sedgefield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since a by-election in 2007 by Phil Wilson, a member of the Labour Party.
Contents
Labour have held Sedgefield since 1935. From 1983 to 2007, the constituency was represented by Tony Blair, who became the party's leader in 1994 and Prime Minister in 1997.
Boundaries
Upon its abolishment for the February 1974 General Election, the constituency included: The urban district of Billingham, the rural districts of Darlington and Sedgefield, and the rural district of Stockton (excluding Norton, Elton, Preston-on-Tees, Dalton Piercy, Greatham and Seaton).
1983-1997: The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Low Spennymoor and Tudhoe Grange, Middlestone, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Spennymoor, and Tudhoe, the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.
1997-2010: The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Middridge, Neville, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Shafto, Simpasture, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.
2010-present: The Borough of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham and Cornforth, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn and Old Trimdon, Greenfield Middridge, Neville and Simpasture, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Sedgefield, Shafto St Mary's, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Thornley and Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.
History
This constituency was first created in time for the 1918 general election, and then abolished for the February 1974 election.
Sedgefield was recreated in 1983. Its member from 1983 until 27 June 2007 was Tony Blair, who led a successful campaign for his party to win in a landslide in 1997 and thereafter served for ten years as the Prime Minister, leading the campaigns in two subsequent elections. This was the first triple term for the Labour Party. Blair 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 which in national terms is safe instead of marginal.
Constituency profile
Sedgefield has a long mining history (extracting coal, fluorspar and iron ore) and very strong affiliation to the Labour Party.
The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of two local government districts with similar characteristics: a working population whose average income is lower than the national average and close to average reliance upon social housing. At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 5.0% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 5.5%.
The local authority contributing to the bulk of the seat has a middling 27.2% of its population without a car, a high 27.5% of the population without qualifications and a medium 21.5% with level 4 qualifications or above. Darlington has 28% of its population without a car, 24.8% of the population without qualifications and a medium 23.7% with level 4 qualifications or above
In terms of tenure 65.8% of County Durham homes and 64.9% of Darlington homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census.