Darlington (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°31′44″N 1°33′11″W / 54.529°N 1.553°W

Darlington
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Darlington in County Durham.
Location of County Durham within England.
County	County Durham
Electorate	67,476 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Darlington
Current constituency
Created	1868
Member of parliament	Jenny Chapman (Labour)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North East England

Darlington is a market town in County Durham in the North East of England and regarded as a semi-marginal Labour seat currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Jenny Chapman of the Labour Party.^{[n 1]}

History

The constituency was created for the 1868 election^{[n 2]} and covers the market town of Darlington in County Durham. 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 have held the seat since 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.

Boundaries

The seat has electoral wards:

• Bank Top & Lascelles, Brinkburn & Faverdale, Cockerton, College, Eastbourne, Harrowgate Hill, Haughton & Springfield, Hummersknott, Mowden, Northgate, North Road, Park East, Park West, Pierremont, Red Hall & Lingfield, Stephenson and Whinfield in the Borough of Darlington

These boundaries show only a minor change from those used from 1983 to 2010.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1868	Edmund Backhouse	Liberal
	1880	Theodore Fry	Liberal
	1895	Arthur Pease	Liberal Unionist
	1898 by-election	Herbert Pike Pease	Liberal Unionist, then Unionist
	1910	Ignatius Timothy Tribich Lincoln[3]	Liberal
	1910	Herbert Pike Pease	Conservative
	1923 by-election	William Edwin Pease	Conservative
	1926 by-election	Arthur Lewis Shepherd	Labour
	1931	Charles Urie Peat	Conservative
	1945	David Hardman	Labour
	1951	Fergus Graham	Conservative
	1959	Anthony Bourne-Arton	Conservative
	1964	Ted Fletcher	Labour
	1983 by-election	Oswald O'Brien	Labour
	1983	Michael Fallon	Conservative
	1992	Alan Milburn	Labour
	2010	Jenny Chapman	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Darlington^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jenny Chapman	17,637	42.9	+3.5
	Conservative	Peter Cuthbertson[5]	14,479	35.2	+3.7
	UKIP	David Hodgson[6]	5,392	13.1	+10.3
	Liberal Democrat	Anne-Marie Curry[7]	1,966	4.8	-18.6
	Green	Michael Cherrington[8]	1,444	3.5	N/A
	TUSC	Alan Docherty [9]	223	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,158	7.7	-0.2
Turnout			41,141	62.5	+0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.1

In the 2015 election, 89 ballot papers were issued omitting the UKIP candidate before the error was corrected.^[10]

General Election 2010: Darlington^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jenny Chapman	16,891	39.4	−13.0
	Conservative	Edward Legard	13,503	31.5	+5.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Barker	10,046	23.4	+4.9
	BNP	Amanda Foster	1,262	2.9	N/A
	UKIP	Charlotte Bull	1,194	2.8	+0.9
Majority			3,388	7.9
Turnout			42,896	61.9	+1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−9.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Darlington^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alan Milburn	20,643	52.4	−3.9
	Conservative	Anthony Frieze	10,239	26.0	−4.3
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Adamson	7,269	18.5	+7.6
	UKIP	John Hoodless	730	1.9	N/A
	Veritas	David Davies	507	1.3	N/A
Majority			10,404	26.4
Turnout			39,388	60.3	−1.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

General Election 2001: Darlington^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alan Milburn	22,479	56.3	−5.2
	Conservative	Tony Richmond	12,095	30.3	+2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Robert Adamson	4,358	10.9	+3.7
	Socialist Alliance	Alan Docherty	469	1.2	N/A
	Independent	Craig Platt	269	0.7	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Amanda Rose	229	0.6	N/A
Majority			10,384	26.0
Turnout			39,899	62.0	−11.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Darlington^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alan Milburn	29,658	61.6	+13.5
	Conservative	Peter Scrope	13,633	28.3	−14.7
	Liberal Democrat	Leslie Boxell	3,483	7.2	−1.1
	Referendum	Michael Blakey	1,399	2.9	N/A
Majority			16,025	33.3
Turnout			48,172	73.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Darlington^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Alan Milburn	26,556	48.1	+6.5
	Conservative	Michael Cathel Fallon	23,758	43.0	−3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Peter John Bergg	4,586	8.3	−3.5
	BNP	Dr. Donald Clarke	355	0.6	N/A
Majority			2,798	5.1	+0.1
Turnout			55,255	83.6	+2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Darlington^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Cathel Fallon	24,831	46.6	+2.0
	Labour	Oswald O'Brien	22,170	41.6	+3.8
	Liberal	Andrew Collinge	6,289	11.8
Majority			2,661	5.0
Turnout			53,290	80.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Darlington^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Michael Cathel Fallon	22,434	44.6
	Labour	Oswald O'Brien	18,996	37.8
	Social Democratic	Ray Dutton	8,737	17.4
	Christian Democratic Party	A.H. Clark	108	0.2
Majority			3,438	6.8
Turnout			50,275	80.8
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Darlington by-election, 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Oswald O'Brien	20,544	39.5	−6.0
	Conservative	Michael Fallon	18,132	34.9	−8.5
	Social Democratic	Anthony Cook	12,735	24.5	+14.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	374	0.7	N/A
	Independent	Arthur Clark	164	0.3	N/A
	Tactical Voting Annihilates Bennite Tatchellites	Thomas Keen	27	0.1	N/A
	Yoga and Meditation	Jitendra Bardwaj	15	0.0	N/A
	Republican	Peter Smith	10	0.0	N/A
Majority			2,412	4.6	+2.5
Turnout			52,001
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.25

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Joseph Fletcher	22,565	45.52	+0.0
	Conservative	Timothy Kirkhope	21,513	43.39	+5.8
	Liberal	K. Walker	5,054	10.19	−6.4
	National Front	H. Outhwaite	444	0.90	N/A
Majority			1,052	2.12	−5.8
Turnout			49,576	78.4	+13.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.82

General Election October 1974: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Joseph Fletcher	21,334	45.55
	Conservative	Brian Hord	17,620	37.62
	Liberal	Philip Frietag	7,882	16.83
Majority			3,714	7.93
Turnout			46,836	74.40
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Joseph Fletcher	20,546	40.75
	Conservative	Brian Hord	18,477	36.65
	Liberal	Philip Frietag	11,398	22.61
Majority			2,069	4.10
Turnout			50,421	80.78
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Joseph Fletcher	23,208	48.47
	Conservative	Anthony Temple Bourne-Arton	19,447	40.62
	Liberal	Stuart S. Newton	5,222	10.91
Majority			3,761	7.86
Turnout			47,877	76.44
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Joseph Fletcher	23,909	50.50
	Conservative	Anthony Temple Bourne-Arton	19,546	41.28
	Liberal	Robert Oakeshott	3,891	8.22
Majority			4,363	9.22
Turnout			47,346	82.26
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Joseph Fletcher	21,751	45.15
	Conservative	Anthony Temple Bourne-Arton	19,841	41.19
	Liberal	Joseph Gurney Pease	6,578	13.66
Majority			1,910	3.97
Turnout			48,170	82.98
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Anthony Temple Bourne-Arton	24,318	48.56
	Labour	Ronald Howard Lewis	19,901	39.74
	Liberal	John Patrick McQuade	5,863	11.71
Majority			4,417	8.82
Turnout				84.40
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Frederick Fergus Graham	25,765	52.64
	Labour	Arnold John Parkinson	23,184	47.36
Majority			2,581	5.27
Turnout				82.34
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Frederick Fergus Graham	26,858	50.77
	Labour	David Rennie Hardman	26,045	49.23
Majority			813	1.54
Turnout				87.11
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1950: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Rennie Hardman	23,528	44.78
	Conservative	Geraldyne Edith Mary Walford	17,421	33.16
	Liberal	Gordon Victor Rogers	11,588	22.06
Majority			6,107	11.62
Turnout				88.48
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Rennie Hardman	21,442	48.91
	Conservative	Charles Urie Peat	13,153	30.02
	Liberal	Gordon Victor Rogers	9,215	21.03
Majority			8,289	18.92
Turnout				80.09
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Urie Peat	22,320	55.21
	Labour	Arthur Lewis Shepherd	18,105	44.79
Majority			4,215	10.43
Turnout				84.79
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Charles Urie Peat	24,416	60.72
	Labour	Arthur Lewis Shepherd	15,798	39.28
Majority			8,618	21.43
Turnout				89.47
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Arthur Lewis Shepherd	17,061	44.0	-0.5
	Unionist	Viscount Castlereagh	15,596	40.2	-3.1
	Liberal	John Joseph Richardson	6,149	15.8	+3.6
Majority			1,465	3.8	+2.6
Turnout				89.6	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.3

Darlington by-election, 1926

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Arthur Lewis Shepherd	12,965	44.5	−1.7
	Unionist	E. H. Pease	12,636	43.3	−10.5
	Liberal	John Purcell Dickie	3,573	12.2	N/A
Majority			329	1.2	N/A
Turnout			29,174	87.6	+1.5
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+4.4

General Election 1924: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	William Edwin Pease	15,174	53.8	+11.6
	Labour	Arthur Lewis Shepherd	13,008	46.2	+12.6
Majority			2,166	7.6	−1.0
Turnout			28,182	86.1	−0.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.5

General Election 1923: Darlington ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	William Edwin Pease	11,638	42.2	-14.4
	Labour	William John Sherwood	9,284	33.6	-9.8
	Liberal	Robert Alderson Wright	6,697	24.2	n/a
Majority			2,354	8.6	-4.6
Turnout				86.8	+1.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	-2.3

Darlington by-election, 1923

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	William Edwin Pease	14,684	56.6	+6.9
	Labour	William John Sherwood	11,271	43.4	+9.6
Majority			3,413	13.2	−2.7
Turnout			25,955	85.3	−2.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	−1.4

General Election 1922: Darlington

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Herbert Pike Pease	13,286	49.7	−11.8
	Labour	William John Sherwood	9,048	33.8	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Crooks	4,419	16.5	−22.0
Majority			4,238	15.9	−7.1
Turnout			26,753	88.0	+20.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Darlington^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Rt Hon. Herbert Pike Pease	11,951	61.5
	Liberal	Alfred Henry Scott	7,494	38.5
Majority			4,457	23.0
Turnout				67.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

• denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in County Durham
• Darlington by-election, 1923
• Darlington by-election, 1926
• Darlington by-election, 1983

Notes and references

Notes

1. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
2. 17 years before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which created many more

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 1)
3. also known as Trebitsch Lincoln, later a spy
4. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11415111.Conservatives_announce_Parliamentary_candidate_for_Darlington/
6. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11755191.Darlington_UKIP_candidate_pledges_to_stop__appalling_waste__of_UK_resources/
7. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/election2015/11758539.Liberal_Democrats_announce_their_Darlington_candidate_for_the_General_Election/
8. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/business_all/11728362.Greens_name_election_candidates/?ref=rss
9. http://www.tusc.org.uk/txt/320.pdf
10. Election 2015, BBC, 8 May 2015
11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Darlington". BBC News.
13. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/129.htm
17. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
19. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig