Gateshead (UK Parliament constituency)

Gateshead
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear for the 2010 general election.
Location of Tyne and Wear within England.
County	Tyne and Wear
Electorate	66,066 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Gateshead
Current constituency
Created	2010
Member of parliament	Ian Mearns (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Gateshead East & Washington West, and Tyne Bridge
1832–1950
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	County Durham
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North East England

Gateshead is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 recreation by Ian Mearns of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

History

The previous incarnation of the seat existed from 1832 to 1950. Among famous representatives are James Melville KC who was Solicitor General for England and Wales before he died, while holding the seat, and international statesman Konni Zilliacus who assisted in creating peaceful bilateral relations during the Cold War, including though work at the United Nations.

Boundaries

2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead wards of Bridges, Chowdene, Deckham, Dunston and Teams, Felling, High Fell, Lobley Hill and Bensham, Low Fell, Saltwell, and Windy Nook and Whitehills.

The Boundary Commission's 2007-8 review led to a revived constituency of Gateshead, using parts of the abolished Gateshead East and Washington West and Tyne Bridge seats.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1950

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1832	Cuthbert Rippon	Whig
	1841	(Sir) William Hutt	Whig
	1859		Liberal
	1874	Walter Henry James	Liberal
	1893 by-election	Sir William Allan	Liberal
	1904 by-election	John Johnson	Lib-Lab
	1910	Sir Harold Elverston	Liberal
	1918	Herbert Conyers Surtees	Coalition Conservative
	1922	John Brotherton	Labour
	1923	John Purcell Dickie	Liberal
	1924	John Warburton Beckett	Labour
	1929	Sir James Benjamin Melville	Labour
	1931 by-election	Herbert Evans	Labour
	1931	Thomas Magnay	National Liberal
	1945	Konni Zilliacus	Labour (1945–49) Labour Independent Group (1949) Independent Labour (1949–50)
	1950	constituency abolished

MPs since 2010

Election		Member[2]	Party
	2010	Ian Mearns	Labour

Elections

The re-established Gateshead constituency was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election. Tyne Bridge MP David Clelland was chosen as the Labour Party candidate for the seat in 2008, but later stood down. The seat was instead contested and won by Gateshead Councillor Ian Mearns.

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mearns	21,549	56.8	+2.6
	UKIP	John Tennant	6,765	17.8	+14.9
	Conservative	Thomas Smith	5,502	14.5	-0.4
	Liberal Democrat	Frank Hindle	2,585	6.8	-14.5
	Green	Andy Redfern[3]	1,548	4.1	+3.1
Majority			14,784	39.0	+6.2
Turnout			40,451	59.4	+1.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 2010: Gateshead[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Mearns	20,712	54.1	−7.3
	Liberal Democrat	Frank Hindle	8,163	21.3	+0.6
	Conservative	Hazel Anderson	5,716	14.9	+4.8
	BNP	Kevin Scott	1,787	4.7	+1.6
	UKIP	John Tennant	1,103	2.9	−0.4
	Green	Andy Redfern	379	1.0	+1.0
	TUSC	Elaine Brunskill	266	0.7	+0.7
	Christian	David Walton	131	0.3	+0.3
Majority			12,549	32.8
Turnout			38,257	57.5	+3.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Konni Zilliacus	36,736	67.5
	Liberal National	Thomas Magnay	17,719	32.5
Majority			19,017	34.9
Turnout			54,455	76.0
	Labour gain from Liberal National		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Thomas Magnay	28,772	52.72
	Labour	J. Wilson	25,804	47.28
Majority			2,968	5.44
Turnout				74.68
	Liberal National hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Thomas Magnay	34,764	60.09
	Labour	Ernest Bevin	21,826	37.73
	New Party	J.S. Barr	1,077	1.86
	National Labour	J. Fennell	187	0.32
Majority			12,938	22.36
Turnout				78.32
	Liberal National gain from Labour		Swing

Gateshead by-election, 8 June 1931
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Herbert Evans	22,893	51.6	−1.0
	Conservative	Cuthbert Headlam	21,501	48.4	+26.9
Majority			1,392	3.2	−27.9
Turnout			44,394	60.8	−13.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sir James Benjamin Melville	28,393	52.6	+2.4
	Unionist	Ian Leslie Orr-Ewing	11,644	21.5	-8.7
	Liberal	John Fennell	10,314	19.1	-0.5
	Independent Liberal	John Leonard Watson	3,688	6.8	n/a
Majority			16,749	31.1	+11.1
Turnout				73.9	-8.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.5

General Election 1924: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Warburton Beckett	23,514	50.2	+9.1
	Unionist	Hilton Philipson	14,178	30.2	+14.0
	Liberal	John Purcell Dickie	9,185	19.6	-23.1
Majority			9,336	20.0	21.6
Turnout				82.7	+9.5
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	-2.5

General Election 1923: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Purcell Dickie	17,344	42.7	+17.8
	Labour	John Brotherton	16,689	41.1	-2.7
	Unionist	George Francis Stephen Christie	6,592	16.2	-15.1
Majority			355	1.6	20.5
Turnout				73.2	-5.2
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+10.3

General Election 1922: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Brotherton	18,795	43.8	+20.0
	Unionist	Herbert Conyers Surtees	13,424	31.3	-25.6
	Liberal	John Purcell Dickie	10,679	24.9	+5.6
Majority			5,371	12.5	45.6
Turnout				78.4	+23.8
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+22.8

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Brig-Gen. Herbert Conyers Surtees	17,215	56.9	+17.9
	Labour	John Brotherton	7,212	23.8	+23.8
	Liberal	Sir Harold Elverston	5,833	19.3	-41.7
Majority			10,003	33.1
Turnout				54.6
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

• endorsed by Coalition Government

General Election December 1910: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Elverston	8,763	61.0	+20.3
	Conservative	Herbert Conyers Surtees	5,608	39.0	+1.1
Majority			3,155	22.0	+19.2
Turnout				75.1
	Liberal hold		Swing

John Johnson

General Election January 1910: Gateshead
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Elverston	6,800	40.7	+40.7
	Liberal Unionist	Nicholas Grattan-Doyle	6,323	37.9	+3.2
	Labour	John Johnson	3,572	21.4	-43.9
Majority			477	2.8
Turnout				87.2	+7.8
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing	+42.3

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906 Electorate 18,614
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Johnson	9,651	65.3
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Theodore Vivian Samuel Angier	5,126	34.7
Majority			4,525	30.6
Turnout				79.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

See also

• Gateshead by-election, 1931
• 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 current constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
3. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/11728362.Greens_name_election_candidates/
4. Official results from Gateshead Council

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.