Back in January I predicted the outcome of the General Election, seat by seat. Since then, I have done more research and altered some of the predictions taking into account various issues including new updated constituency polls by Lord Ashcroft. Over the next ten days I will be revisiting each county and region giving my final predictions. I’d still welcome feedback, even at this late stage.
COUNTY DURHAM
Seats: 7
Current Political Makeup: Lab 7
Predicted Political Makeup after May 7: Lab 7
1. Bishop Auckland
2010 Result:
Conservative: 10805 (26.3%)
Labour: 16023 (39%)
Lib Dem: 9189 (22.3%)
BNP: 2036 (4.9%)
UKIP: 1119 (2.7%)
Others: 1964 (4.8%)
MAJORITY: 5218 (12.7%)
Sitting MP: Helen Goodman (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
Safe seat.
2. City of Durham
2010 Result:
Conservative: 6146 (13.3%)
Labour: 20496 (44.3%)
Lib Dem: 17429 (37.7%)
BNP: 1153 (2.5%)
UKIP: 856 (1.9%)
Independent: 172 (0.4%)
MAJORITY: 3067 (6.6%)
Sitting MP: Roberta Blackman-Woods (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
A LibDem target last time, but they didn’t quite pull it off. An increased Labour majority here.
3. Darlington
2010 Result:
Conservative: 13503 (31.5%)
Labour: 16891 (39.4%)
Lib Dem: 10046 (23.4%)
BNP: 1262 (2.9%)
UKIP: 1194 (2.8%)
MAJORITY: 3388 (7.9%)
Sitting MP: Jenny Chapman (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
Michael Fallon was MP here between 1983 and 1992 and there are plenty of Tories who expected to win it back in 2010. It didn’t happen and the size of Labour’s majority make it unlikely to switch in May unless there’s a Tory majority of 50 or so. Some hope!
4. Easington
2010 Result:
Conservative: 4790 (13.7%)
Labour: 20579 (58.9%)
Lib Dem: 5597 (16%)
BNP: 2317 (6.6%)
UKIP: 1631 (4.7%)
MAJORITY: 14982 (42.9%)
Sitting MP: Grahame Morris (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
Safe seat.
5. North Durham
2010 Result:
Conservative: 8622 (21%)
Labour: 20698 (50.5%)
Lib Dem: 8617 (21%)
BNP: 1686 (4.1%)
UKIP: 1344 (3.3%)
MAJORITY: 12076 (29.5%)
Sitting MP: Kevan Jones (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
Safe seat.
6. North West Durham
2010 Result:
Conservative: 8766 (20%)
Labour: 18539 (42.3%)
Lib Dem: 10927 (24.9%)
BNP: 1852 (4.2%)
UKIP: 1259 (2.9%)
Independent: 2472 (5.6%)
MAJORITY: 7612 (17.4%)
Sitting MP: Pat Glass (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
Safe seat.
7. Sedgefield
2010 Result:
Conservative: 9445 (23.5%)
Labour: 18141 (45.1%)
Lib Dem: 8033 (20%)
BNP: 2075 (5.2%)
UKIP: 1479 (3.7%)
Others: 1049 (2.6%)
MAJORITY: 8696 (21.6%)
Sitting MP: Phil Wilson (Lab)
Prediction: Labour hold
Safe seat.
If you’d like to see the rest of my seat by seat predictions, click HERE