Houghton-le-Spring was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. Centred on the town of Houghton-le-Spring, now part of the City of Sunderland, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. History Creation The constituency was created for the 1885 general election by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as one of eight new single-member divisions of the county of Durham, replacing the two 2-member seats of North Durham and South Durham. The seat included the towns of Houghton-le-Spring, Hetton-le-Hole and Seaham and areas to the south and west of the borough of Sunderland. The majority now lies within the City of Sunderland in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. Boundaries 1885–1918 The Sessional Divisions of Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland and Seaham Harbour (part); and The Municipal Borough of Sunderland NB included only non-resident freeholders in the parliamentary borough of Sunderland. See map on Vision of Britain website. 1918–1950 The Urban District of Houghton-le-Spring; the Rural Districts of South Shields and Sunderland; and part of the Rural District of Houghton-le-Spring. Rural/coastal areas between South Shields and Sunderland, including the Boldons, transferred from Jarrow. Lost Hetton-le-Hole to the new Durham Division of County Durham and Seaham to the new Seaham Division. 1950–1955 The Urban Districts of Houghton-le-Spring and Seaham; and the Rural District of Sunderland. Seaham (including Seaham Harbour) transferred back from the abolished Seaham Division. Lost areas to the Borough Constituencies of South Shields, Sunderland North and Sunderland South as a result of the expansion of the respective County Boroughs. Remaining northern areas, largely comprising the Urban District of Boldon (which had largely succeeded the abolished Rural District of South Shields), transferred to Jarrow. 1955–1974 The Urban Districts of Houghton-le-Spring and Seaham; and the Rural District of Sunderland except the parts of the parishes of Ford, Herrington, Hylton, and Silksworth added to the County Borough of Sunderland by the Sunderland Extension Act 1950. 1974–1983 The Urban Districts of Hetton, Houghton-le-Spring, and Seaham; and in the Rural District of Easington, the parishes of Burdon, Cold Hesledon, Dalton-le-Dale, East Murton, Seaton with Slingley, and Warden Law. The Urban District of Hetton transferred back from Durham and northern parts of the Rural District of Easington, including East Murton, transferred from Easington. Parts comprising the former Rural District of Sunderland, which had been largely absorbed by the County Borough,