Langbaurgh (UK Parliament constituency)

Langbaurgh
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
County 1983-1996 Cleveland
1996-1997 Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland
Major settlements Guisborough
1983–1997
Number of members One
Replaced by Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland, Redcar
Created from Cleveland & Whitby and Middlesbrough

Langbaurgh was a parliamentary constituency in the Langbaurgh area of North East England to the east of Middlesbrough. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system, and existed from 1983 to 1997.

History

The constituency was a mixture of heavy manufacturing areas (41.7% of the workforce), with seaside resort and rural agricultural parts. The political effect was to make the constituency marginal between the Labour and Conservative candidates. However, it was held by the Conservative party at each of the general elections which it existed. A 1991 by-election was the only time at which Labour won this seat.

Boundaries

The Borough of Langbaurgh wards of Belmont, Brotton, Guisborough, Hutton, Lockwood, Loftus, Longbeck, Saltburn, Skelton, Skinningrove, and St Germain's; and the Borough of Middlesbrough wards of Easterside, Hemlington, Marton, Newham, Nunthorpe, Park End, and Stainton and Thornton.

At the time of its creation the constituency was part of the then shire county of Cleveland and the Borough of Langbaurgh, for local government purposes. Before the reforms of local government in the 1960s and 1970s the area that became Cleveland had been partly located in the north of the North Riding of Yorkshire and partially in the south of the historic county of Durham. The constituency itself was located in the North Riding part of Cleveland.

The redistribution of constituencies, which took effect in 1983, was the first which used the reformed local authorities as the building blocks for Parliamentary constituencies. Langbaurgh was a new constituency; 65.1% of it had formerly been part of Cleveland and Whitby constituency, 34.6% came from Middlesbrough and 0.3% from Richmond (Yorks).

In 1996 the county of Cleveland and its associated districts like the borough of Langbaurgh were abolished. The area was divided into unitary council areas, one of which was Middlesbrough and another was Redcar and Cleveland (the former borough of Langbaurgh). In the circumstances it was inevitable that the majority successor constituency to Langbaurgh from 1997 (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) was renamed.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[1]Party
1983 James Richard Holt Conservative
1991 by-election Ashok Kumar Labour
1992 Michael Walton Bates Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
and Redcar

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

The 1992 result is compared to the 1987 general election vote, which was a Conservative win.

General Election 1992: Langbaurgh[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Walton Bates 30,018 45.4 +3.7
Labour Ashok Kumar 28,454 43.1 +4.7
Liberal Democrat Peter John Allen 7,615 11.5 −8.4
Majority 1,564 2.4 −1.0
Turnout 66,087 83.1 +4.3
Conservative hold Swing −0.5
By-election 1991: Langbaurgh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ashok Kumar 22,442 42.9 +4.5
Conservative Michael Walton Bates 20,467 39.1 −2.6
Liberal Democrat Peter John Allen 8,421 16.1 −3.7
Green Gerald Frances Parr 456 0.9 N/A
Yorkshire Party Roland Colin Holt 216 0.4 N/A
Corrective Party Lindi St Clair 198 0.4 N/A
Football Supporters Nigel Downing 163 0.3 N/A
Majority 1,975 3.8
Turnout 52,363
Labour gain from Conservative Swing 9.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Langbaurgh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Richard Holt 26,047 41.7 +0.0
Labour Paul Harford 23,959 38.4 +7.0
Liberal Robin Arthur John Ashby 12,405 19.9 −7.0
Majority 2,088 3.4
Turnout 62,411 78.8 +3.8
Conservative hold Swing −3.5
General Election 1983: Langbaurgh
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative James Richard Holt 24,239 41.7 N/A
Labour G. Johnson 18,215 31.4 N/A
Liberal Robin Arthur John Ashby 15,615 26.9 N/A
Majority 6,024 10.4 N/A
Turnout 58,069 75.0 N/A
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
  2. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

Sources