Chester-le-Street (UK Parliament constituency)


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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
Outline map

Boundary of Chester-le-Street in County Durham, boundaries 1974-83

1885–1983
Seatsone
Created fromNorth Durham
Replaced byNorth Durham, Houghton & Washington and Blaydon[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.[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.

  • 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]

  • 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.

  • 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.

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]

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

Members of Parliament

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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

Elections in the 1880s

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Joicey

Elections in the 1890s

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Morpeth

Elections in the 1900s

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Elections in the 1910s

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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

Elections in the 1920s

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Elections in the 1930s

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Election in the 1940s

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Elections in the 1950s

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Elections in the 1960s

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Elections in the 1970s

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  1. ^ "'Chester-le-Street', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Redistribution of Seats Act 1885". Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports. pp. 155–156.
  3. ^ "HMSO Boundary Commission Report 1885, Durham".
  4. ^ Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. p. 10. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
  5. ^ Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. pp. 58, 129. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
  6. ^ "Chester-le-Street". 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
  8. ^ a b c d e The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  9. ^ Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
  10. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  11. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  12. ^ a b c d e f British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  13. ^ "Chester-le-Street Election". Tamworth Herald. 6 December 1919. Retrieved 5 October 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.