Sunderland (UK Parliament constituency)

Sunderland was a borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election.^[1] It was split into the single-member seats of Sunderland North and Sunderland South for the 1950 general election.^[2]

Sunderland
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1950
Seats	Two
Replaced by	Sunderland North and Sunderland South

Boundaries

1832-1918

Under the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, the contents of the borough were defined as the Parish of Sunderland and the several townships of Bishop Wearmouth, Bishop Wearmouth Panns, Monk Wearmouth, Monk Wearmouth Shore, and Southwick.^[3]

See map on Vision of Britain website.^[4]

Minor change in 1868 to include a small part of the Municipal Borough not in the Parliamentary Borough.^[5]

1918-1950

• The County Borough of Sunderland
• The Urban District of Southwick-on-Wear.^[6]

Minor changes to align boundaries with those of local authorities.

Members of Parliament

Year	1st Member		1st Party	2nd Member		2nd Party
1832		Sir William Chaytor	Whig[7]		George Barrington	Whig[7]
1833					William Thompson	Tory[7][8][9]
1834						Conservative[7][8][9]
1835		David Barclay	Whig[8][10][9][7]
1837		Andrew White	Whig[8][10][7][11]
1841		David Barclay	Whig[8][10][9][7]
1841					Viscount Howick	Whig[12][7]
1845					George Hudson	Conservative
1847		Sir Hedworth Williamson	Whig[13][12][14]
1852		William Seymour	Radical[15][16][17][18]
1855		Henry Fenwick	Whig[16][17][18]
1859			Liberal		William Schaw Lindsay	Liberal
1865					James Hartley	Conservative
1866		John Candlish	Liberal
1868					Edward Temperley Gourley	Liberal
1874		Sir Henry Havelock-Allan	Liberal
1881		Samuel Storey	Liberal
1895		Theodore Doxford	Unionist
1900					John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	Conservative
1906		James Stuart	Liberal		Thomas Summerbell	Labour
1910		Samuel Storey	Independent Conservative		James Knott	Conservative
1910		Sir Hamar Greenwood	Liberal		Frank Goldstone	Labour
1918			Coalition Liberal		Ralph Milbanke Hudson	Unionist
1922		Luke Thompson	Unionist		Walter Raine	Unionist
1929		Marion Phillips	Labour		Alfred Smith	Labour
1931					Luke Thompson	Conservative
1931		Samuel Storey	Conservative
1935					Stephen Furness	Liberal National
1945		Richard Ewart	Labour		Fred Willey	Labour
1950	constituency abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Sunderland^[19][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Chaytor	697	34.5
	Whig	George Barrington	525	26.0
	Whig	David Barclay	404	20.0
	Tory	William Thompson	392	19.4
Majority			121	6.0
Turnout			1,132	82.1
Registered electors			1,378
	Whig win (new seat)
	Whig win (new seat)

Barrington resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 4 April 1833: Sunderland^[19][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	William Thompson	574	50.8	+31.4
	Whig	David Barclay	556	49.2	−31.3
Majority			18	1.6	N/A
Turnout			1,130	82.0	−0.1
Registered electors			1,378
	Tory gain from Whig		Swing	+31.3

General election 1835: Sunderland^[19][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Thompson	844	43.5	+24.1
	Whig	David Barclay	709	36.5	+16.5
	Whig	William Chaytor	389	20.0	−14.5
Turnout			1,107	81.5	−0.6
Registered electors			1,359
Majority			455	23.5	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+11.6
Majority			320	16.5	+10.5
	Whig hold		Swing	+2.2

General election 1837: Sunderland^[19][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Thompson	688	36.1	−7.4
	Whig	Andrew White (MP)	628	32.9	+12.9
	Whig	David Barclay	591	31.0	−5.5
Turnout			1,176	76.8	−4.7
Registered electors			1,532
Majority			60	3.2	−20.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.4
Majority			37	1.9	−14.6
	Whig hold		Swing	+8.3

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Sunderland^[19][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Thompson	Unopposed
	Whig	David Barclay	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,691
	Conservative hold
	Whig hold

Thompson resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds in order to contest a by-election at Westmorland, causing a by-election.

By-election, 17 September 1841: Sunderland^[19][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Grey	706	60.4	N/A
	Conservative	Matthias Wolverley Attwood	462	39.6	N/A
Majority			244	20.8	N/A
Turnout			1,168	69.1	N/A
Registered electors			1,691
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Grey succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Earl Grey and causing a by-election.

By-election, 15 August 1845: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Hudson	627	55.7	N/A
	Radical	Thomas Perronet Thompson[20][21]	498	44.3	New
Majority			129	11.4	N/A
Turnout			1,125	66.9	N/A
Registered electors			1,681
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1847: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Hudson	879	42.1	N/A
	Whig	David Barclay	642	30.7	N/A
	Radical	William Arthur Wilkinson[22]	568	27.2	N/A
Turnout			1,045 (est)	61.7 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,693
Majority			237	11.4	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			74	3.5	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Barclay resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 22 December 1847: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Hedworth Williamson	705	55.0	+24.3
	Radical	William Arthur Wilkinson	576	45.0	+17.8
Majority			129	10.0	+6.5
Turnout			1,281	75.7	+14.0
Registered electors			1,692
	Whig hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Hudson	868	37.2	−4.9
	Radical	William Digby Seymour	814	34.8	+7.6
	Whig	Henry Fenwick	654	28.0	−2.7
Turnout			1,168 (est)	59.2 (est)	−2.5
Registered electors			1,973
Majority			54	2.4	−9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.4
Majority			160	6.8	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	+4.5

Seymour was appointed Recorder of Newcastle upon Tyne, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 2 January 1855: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Fenwick	956	59.7	+31.7
	Radical	William Digby Seymour	646	40.3	+5.5
Majority			310	19.4	N/A
Turnout			1,602	73.6	+14.4
Registered electors			2,176
	Whig gain from Radical		Swing	+13.1

General election 1857: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Fenwick	1,123	36.6	+8.6
	Conservative	George Hudson	1,081	35.2	−2.0
	Radical	Ralph Walters[23]	863	28.1	−6.7
Turnout			1,534 (est)	61.5 (est)	+2.3
Registered electors			2,493
Majority			260	8.5	N/A
	Whig gain from Radical		Swing	+7.7
Majority			218	8.5	+6.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.2

General election 1859: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fenwick	1,527	42.3	+5.7
	Liberal	William Schaw Lindsay	1,292	35.8	+7.7
	Conservative	George Hudson	790	21.9	−13.3
Majority			502	13.9	N/A
Turnout			2,200 (est)	80.6 (est)	+19.1
Registered electors			2,493
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.2
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Fenwick	1,826	40.7	−1.6
	Conservative	James Hartley	1,355	30.2	+8.3
	Liberal	John Candlish	1,307	29.1	−6.7
Turnout			2,922 (est)	84.2 (est)	+3.6
Registered electors			3,468
Majority			471	10.5	−3.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.9
Majority			48	1.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.3

Fenwick was appointed a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 28 February 1866: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Candlish	1,430	52.5	+23.4
	Liberal	Henry Fenwick	1,294	47.5	+6.8
Majority			136	5.0	N/A
Turnout			2,724	78.5	−5.7
Registered electors			3,468
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1868: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Candlish	6,237	42.3	+13.2
	Liberal	Edward Temperley Gourley	4,901	33.3	N/A
	Liberal	Thomas Charles Thompson	3,596	24.4	N/A
Majority			1,305	8.9	−1.6
Turnout			7,367 (est)	64.8 (est)	−19.4
Registered electors			11,364
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Temperley Gourley	6,172	38.9	+5.6
	Liberal	Henry Havelock	5,920	37.3	N/A
	Conservative	Laurence Richardson Baily	3,781	23.8	New
Majority			2,139	13.5	+4.6
Turnout			9,827 (est)	70.2 (est)	+5.4
Registered electors			14,008
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Temperley Gourley	7,639	40.4	+1.5
	Liberal	Henry Havelock-Allan	6,995	37.0	−0.3
	Conservative	Edward Brooke[24]	4,262	22.6	−1.2
Majority			2,733	14.4	+0.9
Turnout			11,901 (est)	79.2 (est)	+9.0
Registered electors			15,021
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.2

Allan resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 12 Apr 1881: Sunderland^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Storey	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1885: Sunderland^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Storey	8,295	36.4	−0.6
	Liberal	Edward Temperley Gourley	7,759	34.1	−6.3
	Conservative	Samuel Peter Austin	6,703	29.5	+6.9
Majority			1,056	4.6	−9.8
Turnout			14,416	79.7	+0.5 (est)
Registered electors			18,078
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.9

General election 1886: Sunderland^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Storey	6,971	35.1	−1.3
	Liberal	Edward Temperley Gourley	6,840	34.5	+0.4
	Liberal Unionist	William Stobart[27]	6,027	30.4	+0.9
Majority			813	4.1	−0.5
Turnout			12,863	71.2	−9.5
Registered electors			18,078
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	0.0

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Sunderland^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Y Samuel Storey	9,711	27.3	−7.8
	Liberal	Y Edward Temperley Gourley	9,554	26.8	−7.7
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Lambton	8,394	23.5	−6.9
	Conservative	John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	8,002	22.4	N/A
Majority			1,160	3.3	−0.8
Turnout			17,990	80.7	+9.5
Registered electors			22,282
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.4

Doxford

General election 1895: Sunderland^[25][26][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Y Theodore Doxford	9,833	37.4	+15.0
	Liberal	Y Edward Temperley Gourley	8,232	31.4	+4.6
	Liberal	Samuel Storey	8,185	31.2	+3.9
Majority			1,648	6.2	N/A
Turnout			17,910	79.9	−0.8
Registered electors			22,408
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

Wilkie

General election 1900: Sunderland^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Y Theodore Doxford	9,617	25.7	+7.0'"`UNIQ−−ref−000000A8−QINU`"'
	Conservative	Y John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	9,566	25.6	+6.9'"`UNIQ−−ref−000000A9−QINU`"'
	Liberal	George Burton Hunter	9,370	25.1	−37.5'"`UNIQ−−ref−000000AA−QINU`"'
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Alexander Wilkie	8,842	23.6	New
Majority			196	0.5	N/A
Turnout			37,395	78.3	−1.6
Registered electors			24,423
	Conservative hold		Swing	+22.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+22.2

• some records describe Wilkie as Liberal-Labour

Stuart

General election 1906: Sunderland^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Y James Stuart	13,620	32.2	+7.1
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Y Thomas Summerbell	13,430	31.9	+8.3
	Conservative	DH Haggle	7,879	18.7	−7.0
	Conservative	John Stapylton Grey Pemberton	7,244	17.2	−8.4
Turnout			42,173	85.5	+7.2
Registered electors			27,650
Majority			5,741	13.5	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.1
Majority			6,186	14.7	N/A
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.4

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Sunderland^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Conservative	Y *Samuel Storey	12,334	26.2	New
	Conservative	Y James Knott	12,270	26.0	+7.3
	Liberal	James Stuart	11,529	24.4	−7.8
	Labour	Thomas Summerbell	11,058	23.4	−8.5
Turnout			47,191	87.2	+1.7
Registered electors			27,610
Majority			805	1.8	N/A
	Ind. Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
Majority			1,212	2.6	N/A
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+7.6

• stood as "Independent Tariff Reform" but was supported by local Conservative Association

Greenwood

General election December 1910: Sunderland^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Y Hamar Greenwood	11,997	27.4	+3.0
	Labour	Y Frank Goldstone	11,291	25.8	+2.4
	Conservative	William Joynson-Hicks	10,300	23.6	−2.4
	Conservative	Samuel Samuel	10,132	23.2	N/A
Turnout			43,720	81.2	−6.0
Registered electors			27,610
Majority			1,697	3.8	N/A
	Liberal gain from Ind. Conservative		Swing	N/A
Majority			1,059	2.6	N/A
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.4

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: Hamar Greenwood
• Labour: Frank Goldstone
• Unionist:

General election 1918: Sunderland^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Y Hamar Greenwood	27,646	43.9	+16.5
	Unionist	YRalph Milbanke Hudson	25,698	40.8	−6.0
	Labour	Frank Goldstone	9,603	15.3	−10.5
Turnout			62,947	56.4	−24.8
Majority			18,043	28.6	+24.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	+11.3
Majority			16,095	25.5	N/A
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+2.3
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

1920 Sunderland by-election^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Hamar Greenwood	22,813	54.0	+10.1
	Labour	Vickerman Rutherford	14,379	34.0	+18.7
	Liberal	E.M. Howe	5,065	12.0	−31.9
Majority			8,434	20.0	−8.6
Turnout			42,257	55.4	−1.0
	National Liberal hold		Swing	-4.3

General election 1922: Sunderland^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Raine	28,001	25.0	New
	Unionist	Luke Thompson	24,591	22.0	New
	National Liberal	Hamar Greenwood	19,058	17.0	N/A
	Labour	David Baxter Lawley	13,683	12.2	−3.1
	Labour	Vickerman Rutherford	13,490	12.1	N/A
	Liberal	Andrew Common	13,036	11.7	−32.2
Turnout			111,859	81.6	+26.2
Majority			5,533	8.0	−17.5
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			5,541	5.0	N/A
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1923: Sunderland^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	YWalter Raine	23,497	19.9	−6.1
	Unionist	YLuke Thompson	23,379	19.8	−2.2
	Liberal	Andrew Common	22,438	19.0	+7.3
	Liberal	Hamar Greenwood	22,034	18.6	N/A
	Labour	David Baxter Lawley	13,707	11.6	−0.6
	Labour	Tom Gillinder	13,184	11.1	−1.0
Majority			1,905	0.8	−7.2
Turnout			118,239	77.9	−3.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1924: Sunderland^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	YLuke Thompson	28,612	25.4	+5.6
	Unionist	YWalter Raine	28,608	25.3	+5.4
	Labour	Jeremiah McVeagh	21,823	19.3	+7.7
	Liberal	Andrew Common	20,139	17.8	−1.2
	Liberal	Ian Hannah	13,731	12.2	−6.4
Majority			6,785	6.0	+5.2
Turnout			112,913	84.6	+6.7
	Unionist hold		Swing
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1929: Sunderland^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	YMarion Phillips	31,794	19.5	+0.2
	Labour	YAlfred Smith	31,085	19.0	N/A
	Unionist	Walter Raine	29,180	17.9	−7.4
	Unionist	Luke Thompson	28,937	17.7	−7.7
	Liberal	Elizabeth Morgan	21,300	13.0	−4.8
	Liberal	John Pratt	21,142	12.9	+0.7
Majority			1,905	1.1	N/A
Turnout			163,438	81.1	−3.5
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

1931 Sunderland by-election^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Y Luke Thompson	30,497	40.3	+3.7
	Labour	James Thomas Brownlie	30,074	39.8	+1.3
	Liberal	Elizabeth Morgan	15,020	19.9	+1.3
Majority			423	0.5	N/A
Turnout			75,591	73.1	−8.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1931: Sunderland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Y Luke Thompson	53,386	32.3	+14.6
	Conservative	Y Samuel Storey	52,589	31.8	+13.9
	Labour	Marion Phillips	29,707	18.0	−1.5
	Labour	Denis Pritt	29,680	17.9	−1.1
Majority			22,882	13.8	N/A
Turnout			165,362	81.1	0.0
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Sunderland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Y Stephen Furness	49,001	30.2	−2.1
	Conservative	Y Samuel Storey	48,760	30.0	−1.8
	Labour	George Catlin	32,483	20.0	+2.0
	Labour	Leah Manning	32,059	19.8	+1.9
Majority			16,277	10.0	−3.8
Turnout			162,303	79.0	−2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing
	National Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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;

• Conservative: Samuel Storey
• Liberal National: Stephen Furness
• Labour: Fred Peart, Fred Willey^[32]

General election 1945: Sunderland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Fred Willey	38,769	28.1	+8.1
	Labour	Y Richard Ewart	36,711	26.6	+6.8
	National Liberal	Stephen Furness	29,366	21.3	−8.9
	Conservative	Samuel Storey	28,579	20.7	−9.3
	Communist	Tommy Richardson[33]	4,501	3.3	New
Majority			9,403	6.8	N/A
Majority			8,132	5.9	N/A
Turnout			137,926	77.2	−1.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing

See also

• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham