Sedgefield (UK Parliament constituency)
Sedgefield is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. From 1983 to 2007, the constituency was represented by Tony Blair, who became Leader of the Labour Party in 1994, and later as Prime Minister in 1997. Blair resigned as Prime Minister, Leader of the Labour Party, and as the MP for Sedgefield in 2007, triggering a by-election which was retained for the Labour Party by Phil Wilson. In the 2019 general election, the Conservatives took the seat from Labour, ending Labour's continuous hold on the seat since 1983. Paul Howell became the new MP with a majority of 4,513. The seat's previous incarnation had elected Labour MPs since 1935.
Boundaries
Upon its abolition for the February 1974 general election, the constituency included: The urban district of Billingham, the rural districts of Darlington and Sedgefield, and the rural district of Stockton.1983–1997: The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Low Spennymoor and Tudhoe Grange, Middlestone, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Spennymoor, and Tudhoe, the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.
1997–2010: The District of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham, Broom, Chilton, Cornforth, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Middridge, Neville, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Old Trimdon, Sedgefield, Shafto, Simpasture, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Deaf Hill, Hutton Henry, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.
2010–2015: The Borough of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham and Cornforth, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn and Old Trimdon, Greenfield Middridge, Neville and Simpasture, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Sedgefield, Shafto St Mary's, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Thornley and Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George, Sadberge, and Whessoe.
2015–present: The Borough of Sedgefield wards of Bishop Middleham and Cornforth, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn and Old Trimdon, Greenfield Middridge, Neville and Simpasture, New Trimdon and Trimdon Grange, Sedgefield, Shafto St Mary's, West, and Woodham, the District of Easington wards of Thornley and Wheatley Hill, and Wingate, and the Borough of Darlington wards of Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, and Sadberge and Middleton St George.
Proposed constituency changes
Under proposed constituency changes announced as part of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies in September 2016, the constituency would have been abolished. The majority of the area of the current constituency is proposed to be included in a new "East Durham" constituency, including Newton Aycliffe, Chilton, Sedgefield, Trimdon and Wheatley Hill. The major differences between the current Sedgefield constituency and the proposed East Durham are: the loss of most of the south of the constituency around Darlington to an extended Darlington constituency covering the entire Borough of Darlington the loss of Ferryhill in the west of the constituency to an altered Bishop Auckland constituency the gain of the area around Coxhoe from the current City of Durham constituency the gain of an area containing Haswell, Shotton Colliery, Castle Eden and Blackhall Colliery from the current Easington constituency the gain of an area around Hart village from the current Hartlepool constituency.History
;1918–1974This constituency was first created in time for the 1918 general election, and then abolished for the February 1974 election.
;1983–present
Sedgefield was recreated in 1983. From 1983 until 27 June 2007, the Member of Parliament was Tony Blair; who led a successful campaign for his party to win the 1997 general election in a landslide and thereafter served for ten years as the Prime Minister, leading the campaigns at two subsequent general elections. Blair was the first Prime Minister to lead the Labour Party to three consecutive victories. He resigned as the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield on the same day as he resigned as Prime Minister, which triggered a by-election.
At the by-election on 19 July 2007, the official Labour Party candidate Phil Wilson was elected on a reduced majority which in national terms is safe instead of marginal. While Wilson has never came close to the enormous majorities held by Blair during his tenure as MP and only secured an absolute majority of the vote for the first time at the 2017 general election, he has consistently held majorities of over 6,000 votes at every election he has stood at.
At the 2019 election, the Conservatives' candidate Paul Howell defeated Wilson with a majority of 4,513 and a swing of 12.8%. Sedgefield was one of the 48 seats net won in England by the Conservatives as well as being considered part of the so-called red wall.
Constituency profile
Sedgefield has a long mining history and very strong affiliation to the Labour Party, with nearly monolithic support in parts of the constituency. The area contains a mixture of former coal country in the area around Trimdon and more industrial areas around the new town of Newton Aycliffe. The construction of a new Hitachi factory created 730 jobs in the town. There are also more prosperous parts of the constituency that form the bulk of the Conservative vote - for example, the ancient market town of Sedgefield itself, with a charter dating back to 1312. The outer suburbs of Darlington are also relatively wealthy, such as Hurworth-on-Tees, where unemployment stands at just 1.0%.;In statistics
The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of two local government districts with similar characteristics: a working population whose average income is lower than the national average and close to average reliance upon social housing. At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 5.0% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 5.5%.
The local authority contributing to the bulk of the seat has a middling 27.2% of its population without a car, a high 27.5% of the population without qualifications and a medium 21.5% with level 4 qualifications or above. Darlington has 28% of its population without a car, 24.8% of the population without qualifications and a medium 23.7% with level 4 qualifications or above
In terms of tenure 65.8% of County Durham homes and 64.9% of Darlington homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census.