Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)

Seaham was a parliamentary constituency, in existence between 1918 and 1950, of 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.

Seaham
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Seatsone
Created fromSouth East Durham and part of Houghton-le-Spring
Replaced byEasington and Houghton-le-Spring

History

Seaham was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election, comprising northern parts of the abolished South Eastern Division of Durham. The town of Seaham itself was transferred from Houghton-le-Spring.

It was abolished for the 1950 general election under the Representation of the People Act 1948, with the bulk of its area moved into the new constituency of Easington. The expanded Urban District of Seaham Harbour (now incorporating Seaham) was transferred back to Houghton-le-Spring.[1]

Boundaries
  • The Urban District of Seaham Harbour; and
  • the Rural District of Easington.[2]

Political history

The history of this constituency, which incorporated a lot of the mining area of the eastern part of County Durham around Seaham, is of strong Labour Party support.

In the so-called "coupon election" of 1918, Major Evan Hayward was issued a Coalition 'coupon'. However, he repudiated the 'coupon' and stood as a Liberal and was elected. At the following general election, in 1922, Sidney Webb, an early socialist and author of the Labour Party's then-new constitution, was returned. Webb was easily re-elected in 1923 and 1924. He was subsequently raised to the peerage; his successor as parliamentary candidate was Ramsay MacDonald, the leader of the Labour Party at the time. At the 1929 general election MacDonald won, and for the second time became Prime Minister presiding over a minority Labour administration.

The economic crisis after 1929 led to a political crisis in mid-1931, and MacDonald failed to secure agreement in cabinet for his proposed cuts in outdoor relief for the unemployed. MacDonald went to see King George V, who persuaded him to form a National Government. In the general election that followed, MacDonald stood in Seaham as National Labour and was comfortably elected, and continued to serve as a Prime Minister of a National Government that was predominantly Conservative-supported.

MacDonald retired as Prime Minister in 1935 but remained in the Cabinet. In the general election of 1935 he was resoundingly defeated at Seaham by Emanuel Shinwell, the Labour Party candidate. Shinwell was re-elected in the Labour landslide at the 1945 election and subsequently served as MP for the successor constituency of Easington until 1970.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1918 Evan Hayward Liberal
1922 Sidney Webb Labour
1929 Rt Hon Ramsay MacDonald Labour
1931 National Labour
1935 Manny Shinwell Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1910s
General election 1918: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Evan Hayward 12,754 58.7
Labour Jack Lawson 8,988 41.3
Majority 3,766 17.4
Turnout 21,742 59.2
Liberal win (new seat)
  • Hayward had been issued with the "coalition coupon", but repudiated it.

Elections in the 1920s
Webb
General election 1922: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sidney Webb 20,203 59.9 +18.6
Unionist Thomas Andrews Bradford 8,315 24.6 New
Liberal Evan Hayward 5,247 15.5 -43.2
Majority 11,888 35.3 N/A
Turnout 33,765 81.9 +22.7
Labour gain from Liberal Swing N/A
General election 1923: Seaham [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sidney Webb 21,281 71.3 +11.4
Unionist Ronald Ross 8,546 28.7 +4.1
Majority 12,735 42.6 +7.3
Turnout 29,827 71.3 -10.6
Labour hold Swing +3.6
General election 1924: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sidney Webb 22,399 65.5 -5.8
Unionist Ronald Ross 11,775 34.5 +5.8
Majority 10,624 31.0 -11.6
Turnout 34,174 78.8 +7.5
Labour hold Swing -5.8
MacDonald
General election 1929: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ramsay MacDonald 35,615 72.5 +7.0
Unionist William Arthur Fearnley-Whittingstall 6,821 13.9 -20.6
Liberal Henry Augustus Haslam 5,266 10.7 New
Communist Harry Pollitt 1,451 2.9 New
Majority 28,794 58.6 +27.6
Turnout 49,153 84.2 +5.6
Labour hold Swing +13.8

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Labour Ramsay MacDonald 28,978 55.0 New
Labour William Coxon 23,027 43.7 -28.8
Communist George Lumley 677 1.3 -1.6
Majority 5,951 11.3 N/A
Turnout 52,682 86.7 +2.5
National Labour gain from Labour Swing N/A
General election 1935: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Manny Shinwell 38,380 68.2 +24.5
National Labour Ramsay MacDonald 17,882 31.8 -23.2
Majority 20,498 36.4 N/A
Turnout 56,262 86.3 -0.4
Labour gain from National Labour Swing +23.8

General Election 1939–40

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1940s
General election 1945: Seaham[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Manny Shinwell 42,942 80.1 +11.9
Conservative Maurice Macmillan 10,685 19.9 New
Majority 32,257 60.2 +23.8
Turnout 53,627 79.8 -6.5
Labour hold Swing N/A

See also

References
  1. Craig, Fred W. S. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester, UK: Political Reference Publications. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-900178-09-4. OCLC 539011.
  2. "Representation of the People Act 1918". p. 496.
  3. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig (1983). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  4. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
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