Barnard Castle (UK Parliament constituency)

Barnard Castle
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1950
Seatsone
Created fromSouth Durham
Replaced byBishop Auckland and North West Durham

Barnard Castle was a county constituency centred on the town of Barnard Castle in County Durham, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1885 general election and abolished for the 1950 general election.

Boundaries

1885–1918

  • The Sessional Divisions of Barnard Castle and Staindrop, Stanhope (except the parishes of Hunstanworth and Edmondbyers) and Wolsingham, and part of the Sessional Division of Bishop Auckland.[1]

The constituency was 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. See map on Vision of Britain website.[2]

The seat was located in the west of County Durham, in North East England. To the north of the constituency (moving from west to east) were the Northumberland division of Hexham and then North West Durham. To the east (moving from north to south) were Mid Durham, Bishop Auckland and South East Durham. To the south was Richmond (Yorks). To the west of the constituency (moving from south to north) were the Westmorland divisions of Appleby and Kendal.

1918–1950

The constituency was expanded northwards, absorbing the western part of the abolished North West Durham seat (Lanchester). Crook and Tow Law were added to the new constituency of Spennymoor and a small area in the east was transferred to Bishop Auckland.

Abolition

In 1950 the Barnard Castle urban and rural districts were included in the Bishop Auckland constituency. Other parts of the former constituency returned to the re-established North West Durham seat.

Members of Parliament

Sir Joseph Pease
Election Member Party
1885 Sir Joseph Pease Liberal
1903 Arthur Henderson Labour
1918 John Swan Labour
1922 John Rogerson Conservative
1923 Moss Turner-Samuels Labour
1924 Cuthbert Headlam Conservative
1929 William Lawther Labour
1931 Cuthbert Headlam Conservative
1935 Thomas Sexton Labour
1945 Sydney Lavers Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Pease 5,962 70.82
Conservative Patrick Bowes-Lyon 2,457 29.18
Majority 3,505 41.64
Turnout 8,419 84.27
Registered electors 9,991
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Pease Unopposed
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Pease 5,337 64.60 N/A
Conservative William M Rolley[5] 2,924 35.40 New
Majority 2,413 29.20 N/A
Turnout 8,261 75.37 N/A
Registered electors 10,960
Liberal hold
General election 1895: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Pease 4,924 56.13 −8.47
Conservative WL Vane 3,848 43.87 +8.47
Majority 1,076 12.26 −16.94
Turnout 8,772 78.36 +2.99
Registered electors 11,194
Liberal hold Swing −8.47

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joseph Pease 5,036 58.69 +2.56
Conservative WL Vane 3,545 41.31 −2.56
Majority 1,491 17.38 +5.11
Turnout 8,581 77.69 −0.67
Registered electors 11,045
Liberal hold Swing +2.56
By-election, 1903: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Repr. Cmte. Arthur Henderson 3,370 35.47 New
Conservative WL Vane 3,323 34.97 −6.34
Liberal Hubert Beaumont 2,809 29.56 −29.13
Majority 47 0.50 N/A
Turnout 9,502 84.64 +6.95
Registered electors 11,226
Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Liberal Swing
General election 1906: Barnard Castle [4][note 1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Henderson 5,540 58.76 N/A
Conservative EW Morrison-Bell 3,888 41.23 −0.08
Majority 1,652 17.53 N/A
Turnout 9,428 81.16 +3.47
Registered electors 11,617
Labour gain from Liberal Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Henderson 6,096 56.75 −2.01
Liberal Unionist HG Stobart 4,646 43.25 +2.02
Majority 1,450 13.50 −4.02
Turnout 10,742 87.96 +6.80
Registered electors 12,212
Labour hold Swing −2.02
General election December 1910: Barnard Castle [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Henderson 5,868 57.02 +0.27
Liberal Unionist HG Stobart 4,423 42.98 −0.27
Majority 1,445 14.04 +0.54
Turnout 10,291 84.27 −3.69
Registered electors 12,212
Labour hold Swing −2.02
General election 1918: Barnard Castle [6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Swan 5,468 42.86 −14.16
C Unionist John Rogerson 3,837 30.07 −12.91
Liberal Albert Ernest Hillary 2,180 17.09 New
National Farmers' Union Octavius Monkhouse 1,274 9.99 New
Majority 1,631 12.79 −1.25
Turnout 12,759 63.96 −20.29
Registered electors 19,949
Labour hold Swing −0.63
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Rogerson 8,271 50.67 +20.60
Labour John Swan 8,052 49.33 +6.47
Majority 219 1.34 N/A
Turnout 16,323 78.51 +14.55
Registered electors 20,791
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +7.07
General election 1923: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Moss Turner-Samuels 9,171 55.07 +5.74
Unionist John Rogerson 7,482 44.93 −5.74
Majority 1,689 10.14 N/A
Turnout 16,653 78.79 +0.28
Registered electors 21,135
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +5.74
General election 1924: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Cuthbert Headlam 9,465 50.84 +5.91
Labour Moss Turner-Samuels 9,152 49.16 −5.91
Majority 313 1.68 N/A
Turnout 18,617 84.89 +6.10
Registered electors 21,931
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +5.91
General election 1929: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Will Lawther 9,281 42.01 −7.15
Unionist Cuthbert Headlam 8,406 38.06 −12.78
Liberal E Spence 4,402 19.93 New
Majority 875 3.95 N/A
Turnout 22,089 83.39 −1.50
Registered electors 26,488
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +2.82

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Cuthbert Headlam 12,721 55.29 +17.23
Labour Will Lawther 10,287 44.71 +2.70
Majority 2,434 10.58 N/A
Turnout 23,008 85.20 +1.81
Registered electors 27,006
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +7.27
General election 1935: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Sexton 11,458 49.80 +5.09
Conservative Cuthbert Headlam 10,138 44.06 −11.23
Liberal Alfred Graham 1,393 6.05 New
Majority 1,320 5.74 N/A
Turnout 23,008 84.25 −0.95
Registered electors 27,309
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +8.16

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Barnard Castle [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sydney Lavers 12,024 58.30 +8.50
Conservative Giffard Le Quesne Martel 8,600 41.70 −2.36
Majority 3,424 16.60 +10.86
Turnout 20,624 75.31 −8.94
Registered electors 27,387
Labour hold Swing +5.43

See also

References

  1. ^ "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885". Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports. pp. 155–156.
  2. ^ "HMSO Boundary Commission Report 1885, Durham".
  3. ^ Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 10. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. p. 267. ISBN 9781349022984.
  5. ^ "Barnard Castle Division". The Northern Echo. 7 July 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 338. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
  7. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922
  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)

Notes

  1. ^ Results compared to the 1900 general election, not the 1903 by-election

Sources