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Houghton-le-Spring — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Houghton-le-Spring was won by Labour at the 1979 general election, with a majority of 21,076 votes over Conservative. This page covers every general election in Houghton-le-Spring from 1885 to 1979.

Full Election History, 1885–1979

Election Elected Votes Vote Share Runner-up Majority Turnout
1885 John Wilson (Liberal-Labour) 6,511 57.7% Nicholas Wood (Conservative) 1,744 (15.5 pts) 86.8%
1886 Nicholas Wood (Conservative) 5,870 53.7% John Wilson (Liberal-Labour) 811 (7.4 pts) 84.1%
1892 Henry Thomas Fenwick (Liberal) 6,256 52.6% Nicholas Wood (Conservative) 1,433 (12.0 pts) 86.7%
1895 Robert Cameron (Liberal) 6,592 53.6% Vincent Charles Stuart Wortley Corbett (Conservative) 881 (7.2 pts) 88.0%
1900 Robert Cameron (Liberal) 6,865 58.3% Ralph Stapleton Ward-Jackson (Conservative) 1,948 (16.5 pts) 82.3%
1906 Robert Cameron (Liberal) 9,429 72.2% Roland Edmund Lomax Vaughan Williams (Liberal Unionist) 5,790 (44.3 pts) 83.2%
Jan 1910 Robert Cameron (Liberal) 10,393 70.3% Hugh Sidney Streatfield (Conservative) 6,011 (40.7 pts) 84.4%
Dec 1910 Robert Cameron (Liberal) Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record 0.0%
1918 Robert Richardson (Labour) 7,315 36.3% Thomas Edward Wing (Liberal) 689 (3.4 pts) 61.8%
1922 Robert Richardson (Labour) 14,611 52.0% Walter William Shaw (Unionist) 7,056 (25.1 pts) 78.4%
1923 Robert Richardson (Labour) 15,225 59.3% Aaron Charlton Curry (Liberal) 4,780 (18.6 pts) 69.0%
1924 Robert Richardson (Labour) 17,857 57.8% Aaron Charlton Curry (Liberal) 4,834 (15.7 pts) 79.6%
1929 Robert Richardson (Labour) 25,056 57.1% Thomas Edward Wing (Liberal) 14,789 (33.7 pts) 80.3%
1931 Robert Chapman (Conservative) 25,549 53.0% Robert Richardson (Labour) 2,849 (5.9 pts) 82.8%
1935 William Joseph Stewart (Labour) 30,665 57.9% Robert Chapman (Conservative) 8,375 (15.8 pts) 81.0%
1945 William Reid Blyton (Labour) 43,730 66.7% Thomas Ballantyne Martin (Conservative) 21,866 (33.3 pts) 76.6%
1950 William Reid Blyton (Labour) 36,044 77.1% Beatrice Bolam (Conservative) 25,362 (54.3 pts) 87.2%
1951 William Reid Blyton (Labour) 37,718 75.8% Beatrice Bolam (Conservative) 25,676 (51.6 pts) 86.6%
1955 William Reid Blyton (Labour) 33,375 76.1% Thomas Edward Sydney Egerton (Conservative) 22,899 (52.2 pts) 79.5%
1959 William Reid Blyton (Labour) 35,960 75.9% Andrew Robert Coghill Arbuthnot (Conservative) 24,562 (51.9 pts) 83.4%
1964 Thomas William Urwin (Labour) 32,914 74.8% Peter Coles Price (Conservative) 21,838 (49.6 pts) 78.7%
1966 Tom Urwin (Labour) 32,067 77.5% Michael Craig-Cooper (Conservative) 22,763 (55.0 pts) 73.9%
1970 Tom Urwin (Labour) 32,888 73.4% Frederick Howard Michael Craig-Cooper (Conservative) 20,974 (46.8 pts) 71.7%
Feb 1974 Tom Urwin (Labour) 23,263 69.3% Richard Charles Ritchie (Conservative) 12,963 (38.6 pts) 75.1%
Oct 1974 Tom Urwin (Labour) 29,699 68.4% William Armstrong Robson (Liberal) 20,401 (47.0 pts) 72.5%
1979 Tom Urwin (Labour) 30,181 68.5% Philip Watson Straw (Conservative) 21,076 (47.8 pts) 72.9%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1885

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Wilson Liberal-Labour 6,51157.7% Yes
Nicholas Wood Conservative 4,76742.3% No

1886

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Nicholas Wood Conservative 5,87053.7% Yes
John Wilson Liberal-Labour 5,05946.3% No

1892

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Henry Thomas Fenwick Liberal 6,25652.6% Yes
Nicholas Wood Conservative 4,82340.6% No
Jonathan Hargrove Independent Liberal and Direct Veto 8146.8% No

1895

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Cameron Liberal 6,59253.6% Yes
Vincent Charles Stuart Wortley Corbett Conservative 5,71146.4% No

1900

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Cameron Liberal 6,86558.3% Yes
Ralph Stapleton Ward-Jackson Conservative 4,91741.7% No

1906

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Cameron Liberal 9,42972.2% Yes
Roland Edmund Lomax Vaughan Williams Liberal Unionist 3,63927.8% No

Jan 1910

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Cameron Liberal 10,39370.3% Yes
Hugh Sidney Streatfield Conservative 4,38229.7% No

Dec 1910

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Cameron Liberal Unopposed Yes

1918

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Richardson Labour 7,31536.3% Yes
Thomas Edward Wing Liberal 6,62632.9% No
John Lindsley National Democratic and Labour 6,18530.7% No

1922

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Richardson Labour 14,61152.0% Yes
Walter William Shaw Unionist 7,55526.9% No
John Edward Johnston Liberal 5,95821.2% No

1923

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Richardson Labour 15,22559.3% Yes
Aaron Charlton Curry Liberal 10,44540.7% No

1924

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Richardson Labour 17,85757.8% Yes
Aaron Charlton Curry Liberal 13,02342.2% No

1929

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Richardson Labour 25,05657.1% Yes
Thomas Edward Wing Liberal 10,26723.4% No
William George Pearson Unionist 8,54519.5% No

1931

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Chapman Conservative 25,54953.0% Yes
Robert Richardson Labour 22,70047.0% No

1935

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Joseph Stewart Labour 30,66557.9% Yes
Robert Chapman Conservative 22,29042.1% No

1945

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Reid Blyton Labour 43,73066.7% Yes
Thomas Ballantyne Martin Conservative 21,86433.3% No

1950

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Reid Blyton Labour 36,04477.1% Yes
Beatrice Bolam Conservative 10,68222.9% No

1951

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Reid Blyton Labour 37,71875.8% Yes
Beatrice Bolam Conservative 12,04224.2% No

1955

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Reid Blyton Labour 33,37576.1% Yes
Thomas Edward Sydney Egerton Conservative 10,47623.9% No

1959

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Reid Blyton Labour 35,96075.9% Yes
Andrew Robert Coghill Arbuthnot Conservative 11,39824.1% No

1964

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Thomas William Urwin Labour 32,91474.8% Yes
Peter Coles Price Conservative 11,07625.2% No

1966

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Tom Urwin Labour 32,06777.5% Yes
Michael Craig-Cooper Conservative 9,30422.5% No

1970

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Tom Urwin Labour 32,88873.4% Yes
Frederick Howard Michael Craig-Cooper Conservative 11,91426.6% No

Feb 1974

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Tom Urwin Labour 23,26369.3% Yes
Richard Charles Ritchie Conservative 10,30030.7% No

Oct 1974

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Tom Urwin Labour 29,69968.4% Yes
William Armstrong Robson Liberal 9,29821.4% No
Richard Charles Ritchie Conservative 4,39910.1% No

1979

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Tom Urwin Labour 30,18168.5% Yes
Philip Watson Straw Conservative 9,10520.7% No
John Verrill Ellis Liberal 4,47910.2% No
David Temple Workers Revolutionary 3260.7% No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

1885: Liberal-Labour margin 15.5 pts 1886: Conservative margin 7.4 pts 1892: Liberal margin 12.0 pts 1895: Liberal margin 7.2 pts 1900: Liberal margin 16.5 pts 1906: Liberal margin 44.3 pts Jan 1910: Liberal margin 40.7 pts 1918: Labour margin 3.4 pts 1922: Labour margin 25.1 pts 1923: Labour margin 18.6 pts 1924: Labour margin 15.7 pts 1929: Labour margin 33.7 pts 1931: Conservative margin 5.9 pts 1935: Labour margin 15.8 pts 1945: Labour margin 33.3 pts 1950: Labour margin 54.3 pts 1951: Labour margin 51.6 pts 1955: Labour margin 52.2 pts 1959: Labour margin 51.9 pts 1964: Labour margin 49.6 pts 1966: Labour margin 55.0 pts 1970: Labour margin 46.8 pts Feb 1974: Labour margin 38.6 pts Oct 1974: Labour margin 47.0 pts 1979: Labour margin 47.8 pts 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 Jan 1910 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979

Trend

Houghton-le-Spring has been contested at 26 general elections on record since 1885. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Liberal-Labour, Conservative, Liberal, Labour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Houghton-le-Spring in the 1979 general election?

Labour won Houghton-le-Spring in 1979 with 30,181 votes (68.5%), a majority of 21,076 votes over Conservative in second place.

Which parties have won Houghton-le-Spring since 1885?

Since 1885, Houghton-le-Spring has been won by: Conservative, Labour, Liberal, Liberal-Labour.

What was the closest result in Houghton-le-Spring?

The closest result on record for Houghton-le-Spring was 1918, when Labour beat Liberal by just 689 votes (3.4 percentage points).

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