Mid Durham was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It elected one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

system of election from 1885 to 1918.

History

Creation

The constituency was created by the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

, 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 South Durham, formally the Southern Division of Durham and often referred to as Durham Southern, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two M ...

county divisions were replaced by eight new single-member county constituencies. These were

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

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 Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

, Houghton-le-Spring,

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. S ...

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 in County Durham, England. The corporation of the ancient borough of Durham and Framwelgate was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The borough was abolished ...

.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 Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

Abolition

The seat was abolished for the 1918 general election, when its contents were distributed as follows: * Parish of

Witton Gilbert Witton Gilbert is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Geography Witton Gilbert is situated about to the north-west of Durham. River Browney passes to the south of the village, while Dene Burn, one of its tributaries, runs thr ...

; * Remaining northern areas, including

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

and Willington, to the newly created county division of

, which also absorbed the abolished parliamentary borough; * South-western areas, including

and Willington, to the new constituency of

Spennymoor Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham, England, Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers ...

; and * South-eastern areas, including

Ferryhill Ferryhill is a town in County Durham, England, with an estimated population in 2018 of 9,362. The town grew in the 1900s around the coal mining industry. The last mine officially closed in 1968. It is located between the towns of Bishop Auckland ...

, to the new constituency of

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

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