Mid Durham was a county constituency represented in 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 from 1885 to 1918.

History

Creation

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, when the

North Durham North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

and South Durham county divisions were replaced by eight new single-member county constituencies. These were Barnard Castle,

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

, Chester-le-Street,

Houghton-le-Spring Houghton-le-Spring ( ) is a town in the City of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, North East England which has its recorded origins in Norman times. Historically in County Durham, it is now administered as part of the Tyne and Wear county. It is s ...

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

, Mid Durham,

North West Durham North West Durham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 12 December 2019 by Richard Holden of the Conservative Party. Constituency profile The constituency is in the north west of County Durham ...

and South East Durham. In addition there were seven County Durham borough constituencies.

Boundaries

The Sessional Division of Durham and Willington (including all the parish of

Shadforth Shadforth is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the east of Durham. The historic centre of the village is designated a conservation area. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2118. Sha ...

and excluding all the parish of Moorhouse) and the

Municipal Borough of Durham Durham and Framwelgate was a municipal borough with the status of City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Durham, England. The corporation of the ancient borough of Durham, England, Durham and Framwelgate was reformed by the Municipal ...

.Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886 ''See map on Vision of Britain website.'' NB: 1) Boundary Commission proposed name was "Brancepeth" 2) Included only non-resident freeholders in the parliamentary borough of Durham

Abolition

The seat was abolished for the 1918 general election, when its contents were distributed as follows: * Parish of Witton Gilbert to Chester-le-Street; * Remaining northern areas, including Brandon and Willington, to the newly created county division of Durham, which also absorbed the abolished parliamentary borough; * South-western areas, including Brandon and Willington, to the new constituency of Spennymoor; and * South-eastern areas, including Ferryhill, to the new constituency of Sedgefield.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; *Liberal:

Samuel Galbraith Samuel Galbraith JP OBE (4 July 1853 – 10 April 1936) was a Liberal Party politician and Trade Unionist in the United Kingdom. Background Galbraith was born in Ballydrain, Comber, Ulster, a son of Samuel Galbraith. He was self educated. In 18 ...

*Unionist: *Labour:

Joseph Batey Joseph Batey (4 March 1867 – 21 February 1949) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Batey became a coal miner, before winning election as a checkweighman, and then becoming a full-time official for the Durham Miners' Associat ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durham Mid Parliamentary constituencies in County Durham (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918