Spennymoor
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Seatsone
Created fromMid Durham and Bishop Auckland
Replaced byDurham and North West Durham

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 from 1918 to 1950.

History

Spennymoor was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election, comprising southern parts of the abolished Mid Division of Durham, including the communities of Brandon, Brancepeth, Tudhoe and Willington. Spennymoor was added from Bishop Auckland and Crook and Tow Law from Barnard Castle.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election under the Representation of the People Act 1948, with the bulk of the constituency being included in the re-established constituency of North West Durham, with the exception of the town of Spennymoor itself, which was transferred to Durham.[1]

Boundaries

  • The Urban Districts of Brandon and Byshottles, Crook, Spennymoor, Tow Law, and Willington;
  • in the Rural District of Auckland the parishes of Helmington Row, Hunwick and Helmington, and North Bedburn;
  • the parish of Brancepeth in the Rural District of Durham; and
  • the parish of Hedleyhope in the Rural District of Lanchester.[2]

Members of Parliament

YearMemberParty
1918 Samuel Galbraith Liberal
1922 Joseph Batey Labour
1942 James Murray Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Spennymoor[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal *Samuel Galbraith 9,443 53.5
Labour Joseph Batey 8,196 46.5
Majority 1,247 7.0
Turnout 17,639 55.8
Registered electors 31,617
Liberal win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Spennymoor[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Batey 13,766 50.3 +3.8
Unionist Robert Anthony Eden 7,567 27.6 New
Liberal Thomas Edward Wing 6,046 22.1 −31.4
Majority 6,199 22.7 N/A
Turnout 27,379 81.2 +25.4
Registered electors 33,710
Labour gain from Liberal Swing +17.6
General election 1923: Spennymoor [5]
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 23,683 69.7 −11.5
Registered electors 33,962
Labour hold Swing +4.3
General election 1924: Spennymoor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Batey 17,211 63.0 −2.7
Unionist Herbert Conyers Surtees 10,101 37.0 +2.7
Majority 7,110 26.0 −5.4
Turnout 27,312 78.3 +8.6
Registered electors 34,865
Labour hold Swing −2.7
General election 1929: Spennymoor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Joseph Batey 20,858 71.8 +8.8
Unionist Francis Page Gourlay 8,202 28.2 −8.8
Majority 12,656 43.6 +17.6
Turnout 29,060 72.7 −5.6
Registered electors 39,961
Labour hold Swing +8.8

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 42.36
Turnout 30,169 74.37
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;

1942 Spennymoor by-election
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
Conservative Frank Douglas Nicholson 7,510 23.24
Independent Charles Joseph French Savill 2,222 6.88 New
Majority 15,077 46.65
Turnout 32,319 79.76 N/A
Labour hold Swing

See also

References

  1. ↑ Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
  2. ↑ "Representation of the People Act 1918". p. 496.
  3. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  4. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  5. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
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