History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Tyne and Wear

The ceremonial county of Tyne and Wear has returned 12 MPs to the UK Parliament since 2010. It was created under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, comprising the urban areas around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear, previously parts of the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham.

Numbers of seats

The table below shows the number of MPs representing Tyne and Wear at each major redistribution of seats affecting the county.

Year	County seats1	Borough seats1	Total
1974-19832	1	13	14
1983-1997	-	13	13
1997-2010	-	13	13
2010-present	-	12	12

¹Since 1950, seats have been classified as County or Borough Constituencies.

²Approximate equivalent number of constituencies. Prior to the redistribution coming into effect for the 1983 general election, several constituencies were split between Tyne and Wear and the counties of Northumberland or Durham.

Constituencies timeline

  County seat  Borough seat

Constituencies	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present
Tynemouth	<---present
Wallsend	<---1997
North Tyneside			1997-present
Newcastle upon Tyne East	<---1997			2010-present
Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend			1997-2010
Newcastle upon Tyne Central	<---present
Newcastle upon Tyne North	<---present
Newcastle upon Tyne West	<---1983
Blaydon	<---present
Gateshead West	<---1983
Tyne Bridge		1983-2010
Gateshead East	<---1997
Gateshead East and Washington West			1997-2010
Gateshead				2010-present
Jarrow	<---present
South Shields	<---present
Sunderland North	<---2010
Sunderland Central				2010-present
Sunderland South	<---2010
Houghton-le-Spring (part)	<---1983
Chester-le-Street (part)	<---1983
Houghton and Washington		1983-1997
Houghton and Washington East			1997-2010
Houghton and Sunderland South				2010-present
Washington and Sunderland West				2010-present

Boundary reviews

1974

At the time of its creation, Tyne and Wear contained the equivalent of approximately 14 constituencies. North of the River Tyne, previously part of Northumberland, they comprised the four Newcastle upon Tyne constituencies and those of Wallsend and Tynemouth¹, together with small areas of Hexham and Blyth. South of the River Tyne and around the River Wear, previously part of Durham, they comprised the two Gateshead and two Sunderland constituencies and those of Blaydon, Jarrow and South Shields, together with most of Houghton-le-Spring and parts of Chester-le-Street.

¹ Apart from the small community of Seaton Sluice.

1983

The next change to parliamentary constituency boundaries, following the recommendations of the Third Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, reflected the change in county boundaries and reorganisation of local government authorities in 1974. The review did not come into effect for a further nine years, at the 1983 general election, and resulted in a reduction of one seat. This was achieved by effectively abolishing the existing seats of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and Gateshead West and creating a new constituency named Tyne Bridge which spanned the River Tyne.

The boundaries of Newcastle upon Tyne Central were completely redrawn with only a small part of the existing constituency retained. The majority of the old seat was incorporated into Tyne Bridge, with eastern parts transferred to Newcastle upon Tyne East. The reconstituted seat comprised the bulk of the existing Newcastle upon Tyne North seat, combined with parts of the abolished constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne West and small area transferred from Wallsend.

Newcastle upon Tyne North was also reconstituted, with no part of the existing constituency retained. The new boundaries comprised about half of the abolished Newcastle upon Tyne West seat, including Newburn, together with areas which had been absorbed into the metropolitan borough, transferred from Wallsend (South Gosforth) and Hexham (part of Castle Ward). Wallsend now included a small area transferred from Blyth (Earsdon and Backworth).

The abolished seat of Gateshead West was absorbed into Gateshead East and Tyne Bridge. Blaydon gained the former parishes of Birtley and Lamesley from the abolished constituency of Chester-le-Street. Houghton-le-Spring gained the new town of Washington, which had also been part of Chester-le-Street, and lost the town of Seaham and surrounding communities, which had been retained in County Durham (transferred to Easington). It was consequently renamed Houghton and Washington.

Parts of Jarrow were transferred to South Shields to equalise their electorates. Sunderland North, Sunderland South and Tynemouth were largely unchanged. ^[1]

1997

Under the Fourth Periodic Review, the following transfers between constituencies were made:

Wards transferred	From	To
Sandyford	Newcastle upon Tyne East	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Wallsend Northumberland	Wallsend (renamed North Tyneside)	Newcastle upon Tyne East (renamed Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Riverside	Tynemouth	North Tyneside
Deckham Saltwell	Gateshead East	Tyne Bridge
Wrekendyke	Gateshead East	Jarrow
Biddick Hall	Jarrow	South Shields
South Hylton	Sunderland North	Sunderland South
Washington South Washington West	Houghton and Washington (renamed Houghton and Washington East)	Gateshead East (renamed Gateshead East and Washington West)
Ryhope	Sunderland South	Houghton and Washington East [2]

2010

The Fifth Review resulted in a further reduction in the county’s representation, from 13 to 12 MPs, with the abolition of the cross-river constituency of Tyne Bridge.

The part of Tyne Bridge to the north of the River Tyne was transferred to Newcastle upon Tyne Central, with eastern parts of this seat being moved back to the re-established seat of Newcastle upon Tyne East (replacing Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend). The North Tyneside borough wards of Wallsend and Northumberland were transferred back out to the North Tyneside constituency, with Valley ward moving to Tynemouth.

The majority of the Tyne Bridge constituency, south of the Tyne, was incorporated into a re-established Gateshead constituency. This also included the Gateshead borough wards in the abolished constituency of Gateshead East and Washington West, with the exception of the Pelaw and Heworth ward which was transferred to Jarrow. The South Tyneside borough ward of Whitburn and Marsden was transferred from Jarrow to South Shields.

The boundaries of the three constituencies in the city of Sunderland were radically redrawn with Sunderland North, Sunderland South, and Houghton and Washington East being replaced by Sunderland Central, Houghton and Sunderland South, and Washington and Sunderland West. The last of these included the two Washington wards which had been in Gateshead East and Washington West, thus reuniting the town of Washington.

Blaydon and Newcastle upon Tyne North were affected by ward boundary changes. ^{[3] [4]}

Maps

• 
  1974-1983
• 
  1983-1997
• 
  1997-2010
• 
  2010-present

Communities Timeline

The table below shows which constituencies represented selected communities within the current county from 1885 onwards.

Metropolitan borough	Community	1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1955	1955-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present
Gateshead	Bensham	Gateshead		Gateshead West			Tyne Bridge		Gateshead
	Birtley	Chester-le-Street					Blaydon
	Blaydon	Chester-le-Street	Blaydon
	Dunston	Chester-le-Street	Blaydon				Tyne Bridge		Gateshead
	Felling	Jarrow			Gateshead East			Gateshead East and Washington West	Gateshead
	Heworth	Jarrow			Gateshead East			Gateshead East and Washington West	Jarrow
	Low Fell	Gateshead		Gateshead East				Gateshead East and Washington West	Gateshead
	Ryton	Chester-le-Street	Blaydon
	Saltwell	Gateshead		Gateshead West			Gateshead East	Tyne Bridge	Gateshead
	Town centre	Gateshead		Gateshead West			Tyne Bridge		Gateshead
	Whickham	Chester-le-Street	Blaydon
	Wrekenton	Chester-le-Street		Gateshead East				Gateshead East and Washington West	Gateshead
Metropolitan borough	Community	1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1955	1955-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present
Newcastle upon Tyne	Benwell	Tyneside	Newcastle upon Tyne West		Newcastle upon Tyne Central		Tyne Bridge		Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Byker	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne East	Newcastle upon Tyne Central			Newcastle upon Tyne East	Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend	Newcastle upon Tyne East
	City centre	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne Central				Tyne Bridge		Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Elswick	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne West	Newcastle upon Tyne North			Tyne Bridge		Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Fenham	Tyneside	Newcastle upon Tyne West				Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Gosforth	Tyneside	Wallsend				Newcastle upon Tyne Central / North
	Heaton	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne North	Newcastle upon Tyne East				Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend	Newcastle upon Tyne East
	Jesmond	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne North				Newcastle upon Tyne Central		Newcastle upon Tyne East
	Kenton	Tyneside	Wansbeck	Newcastle upon Tyne West			Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Newburn	Tyneside	Wansbeck	Newcastle upon Tyne West			Newcastle upon Tyne North
	Walker	Tyneside	Newcastle upon Tyne East					Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend	Newcastle upon Tyne East
	Westgate	Newcastle upon Tyne	Newcastle upon Tyne Central	Newcastle upon Tyne North			Newcastle upon Tyne Central
	Woolsington	Tyneside	Wansbeck	Hexham			Newcastle upon Tyne North
Metropolitan borough	Community	1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1955	1955-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present
North Tyneside	Backworth	Wansbeck		Blyth			Wallsend	North Tyneside	Tynemouth
	Dudley	Tyneside	Wallsend					North Tyneside
	Longbenton	Tyneside	Wallsend					North Tyneside
	Monkseaton	Wansbeck		Tynemouth
	North Shields	Tynemouth							North Tyneside
	Tynemouth	Tynemouth
	Wallsend	Tyneside	Wallsend					Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend	North Tyneside
	Whitley Bay	Wansbeck		Tynemouth
	Willington Quay	Tyneside	Wallsend				Tynemouth	North Tyneside
Metropolitan borough	Community	1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1955	1955-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present
South Tyneside	Cleadon	Jarrow	Houghton-le-Spring	Jarrow
	Harton	Jarrow	Houghton-le-Spring	South Shields
	Hebburn	Jarrow
	Jarrow	Jarrow
	Monkton	Jarrow	Houghton-le-Spring	Jarrow
	South Shields	South Shields
	The Boldons	Jarrow	Houghton-le-Spring	Jarrow
	Whitburn	Jarrow	Houghton-le-Spring	Jarrow					South Shields
Metropolitan borough	Community	1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1955	1955-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present
Sunderland	City centre	Sunderland		Sunderland North					Sunderland Central
	Fulwell	Houghton-le-Spring		Sunderland North					Sunderland Central
	Hendon	Sunderland		Sunderland South					Sunderland Central
	Hetton-le-Hole	Houghton-le-Spring	City of Durham			Houghton-le-Spring	Houghton and Washington	Houghton and Washington East	Houghton and Sunderland South
	Houghton-le-Spring	Houghton-le-Spring					Houghton and Washington	Houghton and Washington East	Houghton and Sunderland South
	North Hylton	Houghton-le-Spring				Sunderland North			Washington and Sunderland West
	Pallion	Sunderland		Sunderland South		Sunderland North			Sunderland Central
	Ryhope	Houghton-le-Spring				Sunderland South		Houghton and Washington East	Sunderland Central
	Silksworth	Houghton-le-Spring				Sunderland South			Houghton and Sunderland South
	South Hylton	Houghton-le-Spring				Sunderland North		Sunderland South	Washington and Sunderland West
	Southwick	Sunderland		Sunderland North					Sunderland Central
	Washington (East)	Chester-le-Street					Houghton and Washington	Houghton and Washington East	Washington and Sunderland West
	Washington (West)	Chester-le-Street					Houghton and Washington	Gateshead East and Washington West	Washington and Sunderland West
Metropolitan borough	Community	1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1955	1955-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-2010	2010-present

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Northumberland
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham

References

1. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983" (PDF). pp. 74–75.
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". In the County of Tyne and Wear.
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". In Tyne and Wear.
4. "Boundary Commission for England Fifth Periodical Report" (PDF). pp. 166–177.