Newcastle upon Tyne Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 55°00′11″N 1°36′36″W / 55.003°N 1.610°W

Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Newcastle upon Tyne Central in Tyne and Wear.
Location of Tyne and Wear within England.
County	Tyne and Wear
Electorate	60,795 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Chi Onwurah (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North East England

Newcastle upon Tyne Central is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Chi Onwurah from Labour, a former head of OFCOM.^{[n 2]}

History

Parliament created this seat under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the general election later that year. From its creation the constituency has been represented by members of the Labour and Conservative parties only. Since the 1987 general election, the seat has been served by an MP in the Labour Party.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The County Borough of Newcastle wards of All Saints, St John's, St Nicholas, Stephenson, and Westgate.

1950-1983: The County Borough of Newcastle wards of Armstrong, Byker, St Anthony's, St Nicholas, and Stephenson, and the Rural District of Newcastle.

1983-1997: The City of Newcastle wards of Blakelaw, Fenham, Jesmond, Kenton, Moorside, South Gosforth, and Wingrove.

1997-2010: The City of Newcastle wards of Blakelaw, Fenham, Jesmond, Kenton, Moorside, Sandyford, South Gosforth, and Wingrove.

2010-present: The City of Newcastle wards of Benwell and Scotswood, Blakelaw, Elswick, Fenham, Kenton, Westgate, West Gosforth, and Wingrove.

The constituency covers the central part of Newcastle upon Tyne, being one of three constituencies in the city. Between 1983 and 2010, the seat did not actually include the city's commercial centre, being instead part of the now-abolished Tyne Bridge constituency.

Constituency profile

The constituency is mostly the urban city itself, which has seen end its once export-leading shipbuilding industry, its adult population has mostly a middle or low income, however with modern advanced engineering, learning, design, graphics, production company headquarters and tourism the city forms is a bellwether for the North East region's economy firmly in the British forefront of a determined return to increasing national output.^[2] In November 2012 total unemployment (based on the more up-to-date claimant statistics) placed the City of Newcastle in joint 17th place of 29 constituencies in the region, above, for example the City of Durham at the bottom of the list, with just 3.4% claimants whereas Newcastle had 6.0% claimants, identical to Sunderland Central.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1918	George Renwick	Conservative
	1922	Charles Trevelyan	Labour
	1931	Arthur Denville	Conservative
	1945	Lyall Wilkes	Labour
	1951	Ted Short	Labour
	1976 by-election	Harry Cowans	Labour
	1983	Piers Merchant	Conservative
	1987	Jim Cousins	Labour
	2010	Chi Onwurah	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Chi Onwurah	19,301	55.0	+9.1
	Conservative	Simon Kitchen[6]	6,628	18.9	-0.5
	UKIP	Daniel Peter Thompson[7]	5,214	14.9	+12.7
	Liberal Democrat	Nicholas Cott	2,218	6.3	-17.8
	Green	Alexander Patrick Johnson[8]	1,724	4.9	+3.3
Majority			12,673	36.1
Turnout			35085	57.5
	Labour hold		Swing

David Robinson-Young was previously standing for UKIP in Newcastle Central,^[9] but has now moved to Newcastle East.

General Election 2010: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Chi Onwurah	15,692	45.9	−4.6
	Liberal Democrat	Gareth Kane	8,228	24.1	−3.4
	Conservative	Nick Holder	6,611	19.4	+2.8
	BNP	Ken Booth	2,302	6.7	+6.7
	UKIP	Martin Davies	754	2.2	+2.2
	Green	John Pearson	568	1.7	−2.2
Majority			7,464	21.9
Turnout			34,155	56.4	−0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.6

* Gareth Kane, Lib Dem candidate, was Councillor for Ouseburn Ward at the time of the General Election 2010

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jim Cousins	16,211	45.1	−9.9
	Liberal Democrat	Greg Stone	12,229	34.0	+12.3
	Conservative	Wendy Morton	5,749	16.0	−5.3
	Green	Joe Hulm	1,254	3.5	+3.5
	Newcastle Academy with Christian Values Party	Clive Harding	477	1.3	+1.3
Majority			3,982	11.1
Turnout			35,920	52.5	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−11.1

* Greg Stone, Lib Dem candidate, was Councillor for North Heaton Ward at the time of the General Election 2005

General Election 2001: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jim Cousins	19,169	55.0	−4.2
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Psallidas	7,564	21.7	+6.7
	Conservative	Aidan Ruff	7,414	21.3	−2.2
	Socialist Labour	Gordon Potts	723	2.1	N/A
Majority			11,605	33.3
Turnout			34,870	51.3	−14.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jim Cousins	27,272	59.2	+7.5
	Conservative	Brooks Newmark	10,792	23.4	−12.2
	Liberal Democrat	Ruth Berry	6,911	15.0	+2.3
	Referendum	Charles A. Coxon	1,113	2.4	N/A
Majority			16,480	35.8
Turnout			46,088	65.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jim Cousins	21,123	49.4	+5.2
	Conservative	Mike Summersby	15,835	37.0	-1.8
	Liberal Democrat	Lembit Öpik	5,816	13.6	−2.2
Majority			5,288	12.4	+7.0
Turnout			42,774	71.3	−4.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Jim Cousins	20,416	44.2
	Conservative	Piers Merchant	17,933	38.8
	Social Democratic	Nigel Martin	7,304	15.8
	Green	Richard John Bird	418	0.91
	Red Front	Kirk Williams	111	0.24
Majority			2,483	5.38
Turnout				75.52
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1983: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Piers Merchant	18,161	40.82
	Labour	Nigel Todd	15,933	35.81
	Social Democratic	John Horam	9,923	22.30
	Ecology	Douglas Neil Jacques	478	1.07
Majority			2,228	5.01
Turnout				70.98
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Newcastle upon Tyne Central^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Cowans	10,395	67.28	-4.49
	Conservative	Piers Rolf Garfield Merchant	2,982	19.30	+2.75
	Liberal	Andrew Steven Ellis	2,073	13.42	+1.74
Majority			7,413	47.98
Turnout				65.25
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.62

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central by-election, 1976

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Harry Cowans	4,692	47.61	-24.16
	Liberal	Andrew Stephen Ellis	2,854	28.96	+17.28
	Conservative	Richard Sowler	1,945	19.73	+3.18
	Socialist Workers	David Hayes	184	1.87	N/A
	National Front	Bruce Anderson-Lynes	181	1.84	N/A
Majority			1,838	18.65
Turnout			9,856
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Rt Hon. Edward Watson Short	10,546	71.8
	Conservative	Irene Sheila Faith	2,432	16.6
	Liberal	Andrew Stephen Ellis	1,716	11.7
Majority			8,108	55.2
Turnout			14,694	58.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Rt Hon. Edward Watson Short	12,182	74.45
	Conservative	Michael Jack	4,180	25.55
Majority			8,002	48.91
Turnout				65.43
	Labour hold		Swing	0.1%

General Election 1970: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Rt Hon. Edward Watson Short	13,671	70.61
	Conservative	Michael St John Way	4,256	21.98
	Liberal	David Lesser	1,433	7.40
Majority			9,415	48.63
Turnout				61.64
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Watson Short	19,291	76.65
	Conservative	J. J. Walker-Smith	5,474	21.75
	Communist	T. G. Welch	404	1.61
Majority			13,817	54.90
Turnout				65.87
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Watson Short	20,547	70.91
	Conservative	W. D. Rutter	7,896	27.25
	Communist	T. G. Welch	532	1.84
Majority			12,651	43.66
Turnout				69.13
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Watson Short	24,051	65.83
	Conservative	W. D. Rutter	12,485	34.17
Majority			11,566	31.66
Turnout				73.18
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Watson Short	26,102	66.59
	Conservative	G. Peters	13,099	33,41
Majority			13,003	33.17
Turnout				70.88
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Edward Watson Short	25,637	64.14
	Conservative	F. T. Webster	13,325	33.34
	Ind. Labour Party	Fred Barton	1,006	2.52
Majority			12,312	30.80
Turnout				80.74
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lyall Wilkes	25,190	63.66
	Conservative	G. C. White	13,567	34.29
	Ind. Labour Party	Fred Barton	812	2.05
Majority			11,623	29.37
Turnout				79.80
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lyall Wilkes	10,627	61.92
	Conservative	Arthur Denville	6,536	38.08
Majority			4,091	23.84
Turnout				71.75
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Alfred Arthur Hinchcliffe Denville	15,826	59.28
	Labour	Walter Monslow	10,871	40.72
Majority			4,955	18.56
Turnout				75.47
	Conservative hold		Swing

Trevelyan

General Election 1931: Newcastle upon Tyne Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Alfred Arthur Hinchcliffe Denville	20,309	62.41
	Ind. Labour Party	Rt Hon. Sir Charles Trevelyan	12,136	37.30
	National Labour	W.H.D. Caple	94	0.29
Majority			8,173	25.12
Turnout			32,539	80.47
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Rt Hon. Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan	17,580	57.2
	Unionist	Viscount Adare	13,161	42.8
Majority			4,419	14.6
Turnout			30,740
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Charles Philips Trevelyan	12,447	52.5
	Unionist	Francis Marion Bates Fisher	11,260	47.5
Majority			1,187	5.0
Turnout				67.4
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Constituency Profile The Guardian
3. Unemployment statistics The Guardian
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 1)
5. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. Wearmouth, Rachel (17 January 2015). "Young Geordie Tory from Heaton to battle Labour for Newcastle Central seat". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
7. http://ukip-gatesheadnewcastle.org.uk/candidates.htm
8. Tallentire, Mark (15 January 2015). "Greens name election candidates". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
9. http://web.archive.org/web/20150213030710/http://ukip-gatesheadnewcastle.org.uk/candidates.htm
10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Washington & Sunderland West". BBC News.
12. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
17. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "'Newcastle upon Tyne Central', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
20. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
21. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig