Seaham | |
---|---|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
1918–1950 | |
Seats | one |
Created from | South East Durham and part of Houghton-le-Spring |
Replaced by | Easington and Houghton-le-Spring |
Seaham was a parliamentary constituency, in existence between 1918 and 1950, of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History
Seaham was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election, comprising northern parts of the abolished South Eastern Division of Durham. The town of Seaham itself was transferred from Houghton-le-Spring.
It was abolished for the 1950 general election under the Representation of the People Act 1948, with the bulk of its area moved into the new constituency of Easington. The expanded Urban District of Seaham Harbour (now incorporating Seaham) was transferred back to Houghton-le-Spring.[1]
Boundaries
- The Urban District of Seaham Harbour; and
- the Rural District of Easington.[2]
Political history
The history of this constituency, which incorporated a lot of the mining area of the eastern part of County Durham around Seaham, is of strong Labour Party support.
In the so-called "coupon election" of 1918, Major Evan Hayward was issued a Coalition 'coupon'. However, he repudiated the 'coupon' and stood as a Liberal and was elected. At the following general election, in 1922, Sidney Webb, an early socialist and author of the Labour Party's then-new constitution, was returned. Webb was easily re-elected in 1923 and 1924. He was subsequently raised to the peerage; his successor as parliamentary candidate was Ramsay MacDonald, the leader of the Labour Party at the time. At the 1929 general election MacDonald won, and for the second time became Prime Minister presiding over a minority Labour administration.
The economic crisis after 1929 led to a political crisis in mid-1931, and MacDonald failed to secure agreement in cabinet for his proposed cuts in outdoor relief for the unemployed. MacDonald went to see King George V, who persuaded him to form a National Government. In the general election that followed, MacDonald stood in Seaham as National Labour and was comfortably elected, and continued to serve as a Prime Minister of a National Government that was predominantly Conservative-supported.
MacDonald retired as Prime Minister in 1935 but remained in the Cabinet. In the general election of 1935 he was resoundingly defeated at Seaham by Emanuel Shinwell, the Labour Party candidate. Shinwell was re-elected in the Labour landslide at the 1945 election and subsequently served as MP for the successor constituency of Easington until 1970.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1918 | Evan Hayward | Liberal | |
1922 | Sidney Webb | Labour | |
1929 | Rt Hon Ramsay MacDonald | Labour | |
1931 | National Labour | ||
1935 | Manny Shinwell | Labour | |
1950 | constituency abolished |
Elections
Elections in the 1910s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Evan Hayward | 12,754 | 58.7 | ||
Labour | Jack Lawson | 8,988 | 41.3 | ||
Majority | 3,766 | 17.4 | |||
Turnout | 21,742 | 59.2 | |||
Liberal win (new seat) |
- Hayward had been issued with the "coalition coupon", but repudiated it.
Elections in the 1920s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Sidney Webb | 20,203 | 59.9 | +18.6 | |
Unionist | Thomas Andrews Bradford | 8,315 | 24.6 | New | |
Liberal | Evan Hayward | 5,247 | 15.5 | -43.2 | |
Majority | 11,888 | 35.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 33,765 | 81.9 | +22.7 | ||
Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Sidney Webb | 21,281 | 71.3 | +11.4 | |
Unionist | Ronald Ross | 8,546 | 28.7 | +4.1 | |
Majority | 12,735 | 42.6 | +7.3 | ||
Turnout | 29,827 | 71.3 | -10.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Sidney Webb | 22,399 | 65.5 | -5.8 | |
Unionist | Ronald Ross | 11,775 | 34.5 | +5.8 | |
Majority | 10,624 | 31.0 | -11.6 | ||
Turnout | 34,174 | 78.8 | +7.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -5.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | 35,615 | 72.5 | +7.0 | |
Unionist | William Arthur Fearnley-Whittingstall | 6,821 | 13.9 | -20.6 | |
Liberal | Henry Augustus Haslam | 5,266 | 10.7 | New | |
Communist | Harry Pollitt | 1,451 | 2.9 | New | |
Majority | 28,794 | 58.6 | +27.6 | ||
Turnout | 49,153 | 84.2 | +5.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +13.8 | |||
Elections in the 1930s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | 28,978 | 55.0 | New | |
Labour | William Coxon | 23,027 | 43.7 | -28.8 | |
Communist | George Lumley | 677 | 1.3 | -1.6 | |
Majority | 5,951 | 11.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 52,682 | 86.7 | +2.5 | ||
National Labour gain from Labour | Swing | N/A | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Manny Shinwell | 38,380 | 68.2 | +24.5 | |
National Labour | Ramsay MacDonald | 17,882 | 31.8 | -23.2 | |
Majority | 20,498 | 36.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 56,262 | 86.3 | -0.4 | ||
Labour gain from National Labour | Swing | +23.8 | |||
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
- Labour: Manny Shinwell[4]
- Conservative:
Elections in the 1940s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Manny Shinwell | 42,942 | 80.1 | +11.9 | |
Conservative | Maurice Macmillan | 10,685 | 19.9 | New | |
Majority | 32,257 | 60.2 | +23.8 | ||
Turnout | 53,627 | 79.8 | -6.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |||
See also
References
- ↑ Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester, UK: Political Reference Publications. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
- ↑ "Representation of the People Act 1918". p. 496.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig (1983). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- ↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939