Barnard Castle (UK Parliament constituency)

Barnard Castle
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
18851950
Number of members one
Replaced by Bishop Auckland and North West Durham
Created from South Durham

Barnard Castle was a county constituency centred on the town of Barnard Castle in County Durham, which returned one Member of Parliament 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

The constituency was located in the west of County Durham, in North East England.

1885-1918: 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, absorbing the western part of the former North West Durham seat. The 1918 local government units in the constituency were the Barnard Castle Urban District, the Stanhope Urban District, the Barnard Castle Rural District, the Weardale Rural District and parts of Auckland Rural District and Lanchester Rural District.

In 1950 the Barnard Castle urban and rural districts were included in the Bishop Auckland constituency. Other parts of the former constituency formed part of a new North West Durham seat.

Members of Parliament

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

Election results

Elections in the 1900s

Electorate 11,226

[1]
Barnard Castle by-election, 1903
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Henderson 3,370 35.4
Conservative William Lyonel Vane 3,323 35.0
Liberal Hubert Beaumont 2,809 29.6
Majority 47 0.4
Turnout 84.6
Labour gain from Liberal Swing

References

  1. The Liberal Year Book, 1908

Sources