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Data Last Updated: 13 February 2025
Application Last Amended: 20 July 2024
This website is considered to be an archive in the public interest.

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13 December 1832		768/806	95.29
William Charles Harland	Whig	440	57.29
William Richard Carter Chaytor	Whig	404	52.60
Hon Arthur Hill Trevor	Tory	383	49.87
Majority		21	2.73

14 January 1835		829/892	92.94
Hon Arthur Hill Trevor	Conservative Party	473	57.06
William Charles Harland	Whig	433	52.23
Thomas Colpitts Granger	Radical	350	42.22
Majority		83	10.01

28 July 1837		857/949	90.31
Hon Arthur Hill Trevor	Conservative Party	465	54.26
William Charles Harland	Whig	373	43.52
Thomas Colpitts Granger	Radical	371	43.29
Majority		2	0.23

1837 Petition - dismissed.

29 June 1841		1,022
Thomas Colpitts Granger	Radical	Unopposed
Robert Fitzroy	Conservative Party	Unopposed

1843 Resignation of Robert Fitzroy on appointment as Governor of New Zealand.

5 April 1843		912/1,106	82.46
Arthur Hill Trevor, Viscount Dungannon	Conservative Party	507	55.59
John Bright	Radical	405	44.41
Majority		102	11.18

26 July 1843		898/1,106	81.19
John Bright	Radical	488	54.34
Thomas Purvis	Conservative Party	410	45.66
Majority		78	8.69

1843 Petition - withdrawn.

14 July 1843 Petition - Viscount Dungannon unseated.

26 July 1847		1,007/1,161	86.74
Thomas Colpitts Granger	Radical	595	59.09
Henry John Spearman	Whig	519	51.54
David Edward Wood	Conservative Party	450	44.69
Majority		69	6.85

9 July 1852		1,047/1,157	90.49
Thomas Colpitts Granger	Radical	571	54.54
William Atherton	Radical	510	48.71
Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest	Conservative Party	506	48.33
Majority		4	0.38

1852 Petition - withdrawn.

13 August 1852 Death of Thomas Granger.

31 December 1852		1,041/1,094	95.16
Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest	Conservative Party	545	52.35
Henry Fenwick	Whig	496	47.65
Majority		49	4.71

9 June 1853 Petition - Lord Adolphus Vane-Tempest unseated.

25 June 1853		973/1,094	88.94
John Robert Mowbray	Conservative Party	529	54.37
Sir Charles Eurwicke Douglas	Whig	444	45.63
Majority		85	8.74

27 March 1857		1,184
William Atherton	Radical	Unopposed
John Robert Mowbray	Conservative Party	Unopposed

13 March 1858 Resignation of John Mowbray on appointment as Judge Advocate General.

17 March 1858
Rt Hon John Robert Mowbray	Conservative Party	Unopposed

29 April 1859		1,147
William Atherton	Liberal Party	Unopposed
Rt Hon John Robert Mowbray	Conservative Party	Unopposed

1859 Resignation of William Atherton on appointment as Solicitor-General.

9 January 1860
Sir William Atherton	Liberal Party	Unopposed

4 July 1861 Resignation of Sir William Atherton on appointment as Attorney-General.

8 July 1861
Sir William Atherton	Liberal Party	Unopposed

22 January 1864 Death of Sir William Atherton.

9 February 1864
John Henderson	Liberal Party	Unopposed

11 July 1865		1,056
Rt Hon John Robert Mowbray	Conservative Party	Unopposed
John Henderson	Liberal Party	Unopposed

July 1866 Resignation of Rt Hon John Mowbray on appointment as Judge Advocate General.

11 July 1866
Rt Hon John Robert Mowbray	Conservative Party	Unopposed

Boundary Change
18 November 1868		1,536/1,756	87.47
John Henderson	Liberal Party	823	53.58
John Robert Davison	Liberal Party	784	51.04
John Lloyd Wharton	Conservative Party	732	47.66
Majority		52	3.39

28 December 1870 Resignation of Rt Hon John Davison on appointment as Judge Advocate General.

14 January 1871		1,946
Rt Hon John Robert Davison	Liberal Party	Unopposed

15 April 1871 Death of Rt Hon John Davison.

28 April 1871		1,590/1,946	81.71
John Lloyd Wharton	Conservative Party	814	51.19
Thomas Charles Thompson	Liberal Party	776	48.81
Majority		38	2.39

3 February 1874		1,748/2,059	84.90
Thomas Charles Thompson	Liberal Party	924	52.86
John Henderson	Liberal Party	879	50.29
John Lloyd Wharton	Conservative Party	846	48.40
Majority		33	1.89

22 May 1874 Petition - election declared void.

13 June 1874		1,671/2,059	81.16
Farrer Herschell	Liberal Party	930	55.66
Sir Arthur Edward Monck, Bt	Liberal Party	918	54.94
Francis Duncan	Conservative Party	752	45.00
Francis Lyon Barrington	Conservative Party	742	44.40
Majority		166	9.93

1 April 1880		2,295/2,352	97.58
Thomas Charles Thompson	Liberal Party	1,237	53.90
Farrer Herschell	Liberal Party	1,152	50.20
John Lloyd Wharton	Conservative Party	1,058	46.10
Majority		94	4.10

1880 Resignation of Farrer Herschell on appointment as Solicitor-General.

8 May 1880		2,352
Sir Farrer Herschell	Liberal Party	Unopposed

25 November 1885		2,107/2,302	91.53
Thomas Milvain	Conservative Party	1,114	52.87
Thomas Charles Thompson	Liberal Party	993	47.13
Majority		121	5.74

6 July 1886		1,984/2,302	86.19
Thomas Milvain	Conservative Party	1,129	56.91
Rev George Brooks	Liberal Party	855	43.09
Majority		274	13.81

4 July 1892		2,075/2,322	89.36
Matthew Fowler	Liberal Party	1,075	51.81
Thomas Milvain	Conservative Party	1,000	48.19
Majority		75	3.61

15 July 1895		2,217/2,482	89.32
Matthew Fowler	Liberal Party	1,110	50.07
Hon Arthur Ralph Douglas Elliot	Liberal Unionist Party	1,107	49.93
Majority		3	0.14

21 November 1895 Petition - withdrawn after a recount resulted in an increased majority for the Liberal candidate. The original figures were Fowler 1111; Elliot 1110.

13 June 1898 Death of Matthew Fowler.

30 June 1898		2,269/2,548	89.05
Hon Arthur Ralph Douglas Elliot	Liberal Unionist Party	1,167	51.43
Hugh Fenwick Boyd	Liberal Party	1,102	48.57
Majority		65	2.86

1 October 1900		2,031/2,607	77.91
Hon Arthur Ralph Douglas Elliot	Liberal Unionist Party	1,250	61.55
Sir William Neville Montgomerie Geary, Bt	Liberal Party	781	38.45
Majority		469	23.09

16 January 1906		2,193/2,580	85.00
John Waller Hills	Liberal Unionist Party	1,313	59.87
Hon Arthur Ralph Douglas Elliot	Free Trade	880	40.13
Majority		433	19.74

Hon Arthur Elliot had resigned from the Durham Constitutional Association (the official Conservative and Liberal Unionist organisation in the constituency) in February 1905. Prior to his resignation John Hills had been adopted by a group of Unionists who were unhappy about Elliot's support of free trade and were determined to oppose his re-election. As a result of Elliot's resignation, the Constitutional Association adopted Hills as their official candidate while Elliot received the support of the local Liberal Association.

14 January 1910		2,601
John Waller Hills	Liberal Unionist Party	Unopposed

6 December 1910		2,190/2,601	84.20
John Waller Hills	Liberal Unionist Party	1,313	59.95
Cecil Algernon Cochrane	Liberal Party	877	40.05
Majority		436	19.91

14 December 1918		17,836/29,037	61.43
John Waller Hills	Conservative & Unionist Party - Coalition	9,027	50.61
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	8,809	49.39
Majority		218	1.22

15 November 1922		25,464/31,104	81.87
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	14,068	55.25
John Waller Hills	Conservative & Unionist Party	11,396	44.75
Majority		2,672	10.49

6 December 1923		24,349/31,523	77.24
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	13,819	56.75
Thomas Andrew Bradford	Conservative & Unionist Party	10,530	43.25
Majority		3,289	13.51

29 October 1924		27,393/32,163	85.17
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	15,032	54.88
Sidney Richard Streatfeild	Conservative & Unionist Party	9,614	35.10
William McKeag	Liberal Party	2,747	10.03
Majority		5,418	19.78

30 May 1929		32,600/40,676	80.15
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	18,514	56.79
William McKeag	Liberal Party	7,266	22.29
George Mervyn Anstey Hamilton-Fletcher	Conservative & Unionist Party	6,820	20.92
Majority		11,248	34.50

27 October 1931		34,542/41,282	83.67
William McKeag	Liberal Party	17,406	50.39
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	17,136	49.61
Majority		270	0.78

14 November 1935		36,427/42,753	85.20
Joshua Ritson	Labour Party	21,517	59.07
William McKeag	National Liberal Party	14,910	40.93
Majority		6,607	18.14

5 July 1945		36,466/45,684	79.82
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	24,135	66.18
John Bunyan	National Liberal Party	12,331	33.82
Majority		11,804	32.37

Boundary Change
23 February 1950		52,927/60,814	87.03
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	36,024	68.06
Henry Collier Renny Laslett	Conservative & Unionist Party	16,903	31.94
Majority		19,121	36.13

25 October 1951		53,044/61,611	86.10
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	35,597	67.11
Robert Johnston Fisher	Conservative & Unionist Party	17,447	32.89
Majority		18,150	34.22

26 May 1955		49,052/61,729	79.46
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	32,412	66.08
Charles Patrick MacCarthy	Conservative & Unionist Party	16,640	33.92
Majority		15,772	32.15

8 October 1959		50,901/62,192	81.84
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	33,795	66.39
Charles Patrick MacCarthy	Conservative & Unionist Party	17,106	33.61
Majority		16,689	32.79

15 October 1964		48,027/60,984	78.75
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	32,818	68.33
Joseph Meredith Whittaker	Conservative & Unionist Party	15,209	31.67
Majority		17,609	36.66

31 March 1966		45,583/61,021	74.70
Charles Frederick Grey	Labour Party	32,200	70.64
Richard Michael Yorke	Conservative & Unionist Party	13,383	29.36
Majority		18,817	41.28

18 June 1970		50,473/68,816	73.34
Dr William Mark Hughes	Labour Party	33,766	66.90
Ernest Greenwood	Conservative & Unionist Party	16,707	33.10
Majority		17,059	33.80

Major Boundary Change
28 February 1974		59,842/74,076	80.78
Dr William Mark Hughes	Labour Party	31,405	52.48
Timothy John Robert Kirkhope	Conservative & Unionist Party	16,202	27.07
Paul Alan John Heesom	Liberal Party	12,235	20.45
Majority		15,203	25.41

10 October 1974		53,505/74,692	71.63
Dr William Mark Hughes	Labour Party	31,305	58.51
Derek Leslie Conway	Conservative & Unionist Party	13,189	24.65
Paul Alan John Heesom	Liberal Party	9,011	16.84
Majority		18,116	33.86

3 May 1979		59,141/77,463	76.35
Dr William Mark Hughes	Labour Party	30,903	52.25
Matthew Eaton Lavis	Conservative & Unionist Party	19,666	33.25
Christopher Foote Wood	Liberal Party	8,572	14.49
Majority		11,237	19.00