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Chester-le-Street was a county constituency centred on the town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983.

Chester-le-Street
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Chester-le-Street in County Durham, boundaries 1974-83
1885–1983
Number of members	one
Replaced by	North Durham, Houghton & Washington and Blaydon[1]
Created from	North Durham

History

Creation

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.[2] The seat covered a large area of north Durham, including areas which are now part of the Borough of Gateshead (Ryton, Blaydon and Whickham) and the City of Sunderland (Washington) in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.

Boundaries

1885–1918

• The Sessional Divisions of Chester-le-Street and Gateshead (part); and
• The Municipal Borough of Gateshead[2]

NB included only non-resident freeholders in the parliamentary borough of Gateshead.

See map on Vision of Britain website.[3]

1918–1950

• The Urban District of Chester-le-Street; and
• the Rural District of Chester-le-Street.[4]

The constituency was divided in two, with the areas comprising the urban districts of Ryton, Blaydon and Whickham forming the bulk of the new constituency of Blaydon. Gained Witton Gilbert from the abolished constituency of Mid Durham.

1950–1983

• The Urban Districts of Chester-le-Street and Washington; and
• the Rural District of Chester-le-Street.[5]

Minor changes to reflect changes in local authority boundaries; the urban district of Washington had been created in 1922 from the rural district of Chester-le-Street.

Abolition

The seat was abolished for the 1983 general election as a result of the periodic review of parliamentary constituencies following the re-organisation of local government under the Local Government Act 1972. On abolition, the area which had comprised the new town of Washington was included in the new constituency of Houghton and Washington; the parishes of Birtley and Lamesley were transferred to Blaydon; and the remainder, comprising about half the electorate, becoming part of the re-established seat of North Durham.[6]

Political history

Chester-le-Street and its successor constituency (North Durham) have over 100 years of continuous Labour representation.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party	Notes
	1885	James Joicey	Liberal
	1906	John Taylor	Labour	Resigned October 1919
	1919 by-election	Jack Lawson	Labour
	1950	Patrick Bartley	Labour	Died June 1956
	1956 by-election	Norman Pentland	Labour	Died October 1972
	1973 by-election	Giles Radice	Labour
1983		constituency abolished: see North Durham

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Chester-le-Street [7][8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Joicey	4,409	44.0
	Independent Liberal	R Lloyd Jones	3,606	36.9
	Conservative	Walter Ashworth	2,018	20.1
Majority			803	7.1
Turnout			10,033	84.8
Registered electors			11,830
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Joicey	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Chester-le-Street [7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Joicey	6,453	61.3	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Edward Sullivan, 2nd Baronet	4,066	38.7	New
Majority			2,387	22.6	N/A
Turnout			10,519	79.9	N/A
Registered electors			13,169
	Liberal hold

General election 1895: Chester-le-Street [7][8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Joicey	7,370	64.2	+2.9
	Liberal Unionist	Viscount Morpeth	4,113	35.8	-2.9
Majority			3,257	28.4	+5.8
Turnout			11,483	78.6	−1.3
Registered electors			14,618
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.9

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Chester-le-Street [7][8][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Joicey	5,830	52.0	−12.2
	Conservative	John Nicholson	5,391	48.0	+12.2
Majority			439	4.0	−24.4
Turnout			11,221	68.6	−10.0
Registered electors			16,358
	Liberal hold		Swing	−12.2

General election 1906: Chester-le-Street [7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	John Wilkinson Taylor	8,085	45.6	New
	Conservative	Slingsby Duncombe Shafto	4,985	28.1	−19.9
	Liberal	Alfred Barrett Tebb	4,660	26.3	−25.7
Majority			3,100	17.5	N/A
Turnout			17,730	84.8	+16.2
Registered electors			20,910
	Independent Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Chester-le-Street [7][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Wilkinson Taylor	12,684	64.8	+19.2
	Conservative	Slingsby Duncombe Shafto	6,891	35.2	+7.1
Majority			5,793	29.6	+12.1
Turnout			19,575
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.0

General election December 1910: Chester-le-Street [7][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Wilkinson Taylor	Unopposed
	Labour hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Labour: John Gilliland

General election 1918: Chester-le-Street[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Wilkinson Taylor	Unopposed
	Labour hold

1919 Chester-le-Street by-election[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	17,838	77.1	N/A
	National Democratic	David Gilmour	5,313	22.9	New
Majority			12,525	54.2	N/A
Turnout			23,151	63.7	N/A
Registered electors			36,321
	Labour hold

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Chester-le-Street[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	20,296	68.5	N/A
	Unionist	David Fee Todd	9,335	31.5	New
Majority			10,961	37.0	N/A
Turnout			29,631	76.6	N/A
Registered electors			38,672
	Labour hold

General election 1923: Chester-le-Street [12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	20,712	74.7	+6.2
	Unionist	Charles Reginald Schiller Harris	7,015	25.3	−6.2
Majority			13,697	49.4	+12.4
Turnout			27,727	70.1	−6.5
Registered electors			39,532
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.2

General election 1924: Chester-le-Street[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	22,700	71.0	−3.7
	Unionist	Michael Dodds McCarthy	9,250	29.0	+3.7
Majority			13,450	42.0	−7.4
Turnout			31,950	78.7	+8.6
Registered electors			40,578
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.7

General election 1929: Chester-le-Street[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	26,975	69.8	−1.2
	Unionist	E.G. Payne	6,334	16.4	−12.6
	Liberal	Joseph William Wright	5,340	13.8	New
Majority			20,641	53.4	+11.4
Turnout			38,649	78.5	−0.2
Registered electors			49,243
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	24,373	60.62
	Conservative	Ronald Kellett	15,834	39.38
Majority			8,539	21.24
Turnout			40,207	79.35
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1935: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	29,111	70.98
	Conservative	Charles Robert Ingram Besley	11,901	29.02
Majority			17,210	41.96
Turnout			41,012	78.24
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Lawson	33,788	76.76
	Conservative	Antony Lambton	10,228	23.24
Majority			23,560	53.53
Turnout			44,016	79.79
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Bartley	35,348	77.30
	Conservative	Harry John Martin Millican	10,379	22.70
Majority			24,969	54.60
Turnout			45,727	87.28
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Bartley	35,511	76.96
	Conservative	Harry John Martin Millican	10,632	23.04
Majority			24,879	53.92
Turnout			46,143	86.64
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Patrick Bartley	32,323	76.29
	Conservative	David A Wright	10,047	23.71
Majority			22,276	52.58
Turnout			42,370	79.57
	Labour hold		Swing

1956 Chester-le-Street by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Pentland	27,912	80.8	+4.5
	Conservative	William Rees-Mogg	6,625	19.2	-4.5
Majority			21,287	61.6	+9.0
Turnout			34,537	65.0	-14.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Pentland	33,901	75.78
	Conservative	William Rees-Mogg	10,838	24.22
Majority			23,063	51.56
Turnout			44,739	83.03
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Pentland	32,895	75.20
	Conservative	John Gorst	10,851	24.80
Majority			22,044	50.40
Turnout			43,746	79.43
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Pentland	32,467	76.96
	Conservative	Charles Maxwell Kirwan Taylor	9,720	23.04
Majority			22,747	53.92
Turnout			42,187	74.87
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Pentland	33,694	71.60
	Conservative	Dennis Ramshaw	13,363	28.40
Majority			20,331	43.20
Turnout			47,057	73.67
	Labour hold		Swing

1973 Chester-le-Street by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Giles Radice	25,874	53.06	-18.54
	Liberal	George Booth Suggett	18,808	38.57	New
	Conservative	Neil Balfour	4,092	8.39	-20.01
Majority			7,066	14.49	-28.71
Turnout			48,768	71.4	-2.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Giles Radice	33,534	59.21	+6.15
	Liberal	David James Herd	14,808	26.15	-12.42
	Conservative	Neil Balfour	8,291	14.64	+6.25
Majority			18,726	33.06
Turnout			56,633	83.48
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Giles Radice	33,511	65.69	+6.48
	Liberal	Douglas McCourt	9,233	18.10	-8.05
	Conservative	R Ditchburn	8,268	16.21	+1.57
Majority			24,278	47.59	+14.53
Turnout			51,012	74.63
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Chester-le-Street

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Giles Radice	38,672	60.40	-5.29
	Conservative	James Couchman	16,112	25.16	+8.95
	Liberal	Douglas McCourt	9,247	14.44	-3.66
Majority			22,560	35.24	-12.35
Turnout			64,031	76.76	+2.13
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)

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