Constituency profile
The Easington constituency is located in County Durham on the North Sea coast. The largest towns in the constituency are Peterlee and Seaham, both of which have populations of around 20,000. [2] [3] The constituency covers many former coal mining villages, including Murton, Horden, Easington Colliery, Shotton Colliery and Blackhall Colliery. Like many former coal mining areas, the constituency experienced economic decline during the late 20th century as the industry was phased out, and high levels of deprivation are now present. [4] The average house price is close to one-third of the national average. [5]
Residents of the constituency have low levels of income, education and professional employment compared to national averages. White people made up 98% of the population at the 2021 census. [5] At the local council, most of the constituency is represented by Reform UK, although Blackhall Colliery elected Labour Party councillors. Voters in the constituency strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 64% voted in favour of Brexit compared to 52% nationwide. [5]
Boundaries
1974–1983
- The Rural District of Stockton; and
- in the Rural District of Easington the parishes of Castle Eden, Easington, Haswell, Hawthorn, Horden, Hutton Henry, Monk Hesleden, Nesbitt, Peterlee, Sheraton with Hulam, Shotton, Thornley, and Wingate. [7]
Gained the Rural District of Stockton from the abolished constituency of Sedgefield. Northern-most parts, including Murton, transferred to Houghton-le-Spring.
1983–2010
- The District of Easington wards of Acre Rigg, Blackhalls, Dawdon, Dene House, Deneside, Easington Colliery, Easington Village, Eden Hill, Haswell, High Colliery, Horden North, Horden South, Howletch, Murton East, Murton West, Park, Passfield, Seaham, Shotton, South, and South Hetton. [8] [9]
Seaham and Murton returned from the abolished constituency of Houghton-le-Spring. Area comprising the former Rural District of Stockton had been included in the new county of Cleveland, and its contents now distributed between Hartlepool, Stockton North and Stockton South. Southern parts of the District of Easington included in the re-established constituency of Sedgefield.
2010–2024
Map of boundaries 2010–2024
- The District of Easington wards of Acre Rigg, Blackhalls, Dawdon, Dene House, Deneside, Easington Colliery, Easington Village and South Hetton, Eden Hill, Haswell and Shotton, Horden North, Horden South, Howletch, Hutton Henry, Murton East, Murton West, Passfield, Seaham Harbour, and Seaham North. [10]
Following their review of parliamentary representation in County Durham for the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England made only minor changes to the boundaries of Easington (on the southern part of the boundary with Sedgefield).
In the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, the local authority districts in Durham were abolished and replaced with a single unitary authority; however, this did not affect the boundaries of the constituency.
2024–present
Following to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 general election, the constituency has the following boundaries:
- County of Durham wards of: Blackhalls, Dawdon, Deneside, Easington, Horden, Murton, Passfield, Peterlee East, Peterlee West, Seaham, Shotton and South Hetton, Trimdon and Thornley (part), and Wingate. [11]
The constituency was expanded to bring the electorate within the permitted range, by adding the communities of Thornley and Wingate from the abolished constituency of Sedgefield.
Political history
- Results of the winning party
The area has been held by the Labour Party since the 1935 election (including predecessor seat). Labour's majority in the seat has never fallen below 19% (the result in the party's 2019 landslide defeat - and in the party's 2024 landslide victory) in its history, and has only been below 40% four times (in 1979, 1983, 2019 and 2024). Labour won a majority of votes in every election from the seat's creation in 1950 until 2019, when their vote share fell below 50% for the first time.
- Results of other parties
The 2015 general election saw an above-average swing to UKIP of 18.7%; the national average was 9.5% . Prior to 2019, the Conservative Party had last come second in the seat in 2001. Labour's candidate won more than three times that of UKIP in 2015, scoring 61%, although the latter polled the strongest second-place in the seat since 1983. 2017 saw the UKIP vote collapse and the Conservative vote rise, although a slight rise in the Labour vote ensured the majority remained above 40%. In 2019, the newly formed Brexit Party (later renamed Reform UK) won 19.5% of the vote, their sixth best result in the election, contributing to a dramatic collapse in Labour's vote share and majority. The 2024 election saw Labour's vote increase slightly, but Reform UK overtook the Conservatives, increasing its vote to 29.8% (11th best result), meaning that Labour's margin of victory was unchanged at just over 19%.
- Turnout
Turnout has ranged from 87.7% in 1950 to 49.5% in 2024. It has been somewhat inconsistent with national averages, falling in 1992 and 2005 when national turnout increased.
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
