Blyth Valley (UK Parliament constituency)

This article is about the Parliamentary constituency. For the former local government district of the same name, see Blyth Valley.

Blyth Valley, formerly known as Blyth, was a constituency^{[n 1]} most recently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2019 by Ian Levy, a Conservative ^{[n 2]} until its abolition in 2024.

Blyth Valley
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
2010–2024 boundary of Blyth Valley in Northumberland
Location of Northumberland within England
County	Northumberland
Population	82,174 (2011 UK Census)[1]
Electorate	63,173 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Blyth, Cramlington, Seaton Delaval
1950–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Morpeth, Wansbeck
Replaced by	Cramlington and Killingworth (most), Blyth and Ashington (part)

Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished, with the majority of its contents - excluding the town of Blyth itself - being absorbed into the new constituency of Cramlington and Killingworth, to be first contested at the 2024 general election. Blyth was included in the new constituency of Blyth and Ashington.^[3]

Constituency profile

The constituency is in the former Northumberland Coalfield where mining and shipbuilding were once significant industries. Residents' incomes and wealth are slightly below average for the UK.^[4]

History

The constituency of Blyth was established under the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general election. Following the reorganisation of local authorities resulting from the Local Government Act 1972, it was renamed Blyth Valley for the 1983 general election to correspond with the newly formed Borough of Blyth Valley.

In the 2019 general election, Blyth Valley was the third seat to declare and the first Conservative victory of the election,^[5] pointing towards many similar Conservative victories in Labour's Red Wall^[6] as the night went on.

Boundaries

Map of 1983-2024 boundaries

1950–1974 (Blyth): The Municipal Borough of Blyth, and the Urban Districts of Bedlingtonshire, and Seaton Valley.^[7][8]

Blyth and Bedlington were transferred from Morpeth. Seaton Valley (incorporating Cramlington, Seghill, Earsdon and Seaton Delaval) was added from the abolished constituency of Wansbeck.

1974–1983 (Blyth): The borough of Blyth, and the urban districts of Bedlingtonshire, and Seaton Valley.^[9]

The boundary with Hexham was slightly amended to take account of changes to local government boundaries.

1983–2024 (Blyth Valley): The Borough of Blyth Valley.^[10][11][12]

Bedlington was transferred to the re-established constituency of Wansbeck. Small area in the south (Backworth and Earsdon), which was now part of the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, transferred to Wallsend.

In the fifth periodic boundary review of parliamentary representation in Northumberland, which came into effect for the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England recommended that no changes be made to the Blyth Valley constituency.^[13]

In 2009, a further government reorganisation resulted in the abolition of all local government boroughs and districts in Northumberland and the establishment of the county as a unitary authority. Accordingly, although this did not affect constituency boundaries in Northumberland, for 2009-2024 the constituency contained the Northumberland County Council wards of: Cowpen, Cramlington East, Cramlington Eastfield, Cramlington North, Cramlington South East, Cramlington Village, Cramlington West, Croft, Hartley, Holywell, Isabella, Kitty Brewster, Newsham, Plessey, Seghill with Seaton Delaval, South Blyth, and Wensleydale.

Members of Parliament

Event		Member[14]	Party
	1950	Alfred Robens	Labour
	1960 by-election	Eddie Milne
	Feb 1974		Independent Labour
	Oct 1974	John Ryman	Labour
	1987	Ronnie Campbell
	2019	Ian Levy	Conservative
	2024	Constituency abolished

Election results 1950–2024

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alfred Robens	40,245	74.7
	Conservative	L.J. Amos	13,665	25.4
Majority			26,580	49.3
Turnout			53,910	86.97
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1951: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alfred Robens	39,823	73.7	−1.0
	Conservative	George Peters	14,184	26.3	+0.9
Majority			25,693	47.4	−1.9
Turnout			54,007	86.25	−0.72
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.95

General election 1955: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alfred Robens	36,522	73.1	−0.6
	Conservative	Nicholas Ridley	13,429	26.9	+0.6
Majority			23,093	46.2	−1.2
Turnout			49,951	80.3	−5.95
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 1959: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alfred Robens	38,616	74.6	+1.5
	Conservative	Dennis Walters	13,122	25.4	−1.5
Majority			25,494	49.2	+3.0
Turnout			51,738	82.7	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1960s

1960 Blyth by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eddie Milne	23,438	68.9	−5.7
	Conservative	Dennis Walters	7,366	21.6	−3.8
	Independent	C. Pym	3,223	9.5	New
Majority			16,072	47.3	−1.9
Turnout			34,027
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1964: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eddie Milne	37,336	75.9	+1.3
	Conservative	Geoffrey P Davidson	11,832	24.1	−1.3
Majority			25,504	51.8	+2.6
Turnout			49,168	78.3	−4.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eddie Milne	36,493	78.2	+2.3
	Conservative	William J Prime	10,179	21.8	−2.3
Majority			26,314	56.4	+4.6
Turnout			46,672	74.4	−3.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Eddie Milne	36,118	74.2	−4.0
	Conservative	Anthony J Blackburn	12,550	25.8	+4.0
Majority			23,568	48.4	−8.0
Turnout			48,668	71.6	−2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.0

General election February 1974: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Eddie Milne	22,918	38.9	+38.9
	Labour	Ivor Richard	16,778	28.5	−45.7
	Liberal	John Shipley	10,214	17.4	New
	Conservative	Brian Griffiths	8,888	15.1	−10.7
Majority			6,140	10.4	N/A
Turnout			58,798	79.5	+7.9
	Independent Labour gain from Labour		Swing	+42.3

General election October 1974: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Ryman	20,308	36.7	+8.2
	Independent Labour	Eddie Milne	20,230	36.6	−2.3
	Liberal	John Shipley	8,177	14.8	−2.6
	Conservative	Brian Griffiths	6,590	11.9	−3.2
Majority			78	0.1	N/A
Turnout			55,305	74.3	−5.2
	Labour gain from Independent Labour		Swing	+5.25

General election 1979: Blyth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Ryman	25,047	40.1	+3.4
	Independent Labour	Eddie Milne	17,987	28.8	−7.8
	Conservative	Emma Nicholson	14,194	22.8	+10.9
	Liberal	D. Parkin	5,176	8.3	−6.5
Majority			7,060	11.3	+11.2
Turnout			62,404	78.3	−4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Blyth Valley^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Ryman	16,583	39.5	−0.6
	SDP	Rosemary Brownlow	13,340	31.8	+23.5
	Conservative	Andrew Hargreaves	11,657	27.8	+5.0
	Independent	S. Robinson	406	0.9	+0.9
Majority			3,243	7.7	−3.6
Turnout			41,986	72.8	−5.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1987: Blyth Valley^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	19,604	42.5	+3.0
	SDP	Rosemary Brownlow	18,751	40.6	+8.8
	Conservative	Robert Kinghorn	7,823	16.9	−10.9
Majority			853	1.9	−5.8
Turnout			46,178	78.1	+5.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Blyth Valley^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	24,542	49.9	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Peter M. Tracey	16,498	33.5	−7.1
	Conservative	Michael J. Revell	7,691	15.6	−1.3
	Green	Stephen P. Tyley	470	1.0	New
Majority			8,044	16.4	+14.5
Turnout			49,201	80.7	+2.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.3

General election 1997: Blyth Valley^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	27,276	64.2	+14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Lamb	9,540	22.5	−11.0
	Conservative	Barbara Musgrave	5,666	13.3	−2.3
Majority			17,736	41.7	+25.3
Turnout			42,482	68.8	−11.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Blyth Valley^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	20,627	59.7	−4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jeffrey Reid	8,439	24.4	+1.9
	Conservative	Wayne Daley	5,484	15.9	+2.6
Majority			12,188	35.3	−6.6
Turnout			34,550	54.7	−14.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.2

General election 2005: Blyth Valley^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	19,659	55.0	−4.7
	Liberal Democrats	Jeffrey Reid	11,132	31.1	+6.7
	Conservative	Michael Windridge	4,982	13.9	−2.0
Majority			8,527	23.9	−11.4
Turnout			35,773	56.2	+1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Blyth Valley^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	17,156	44.5	−10.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jeff Reid	10,488	27.2	−3.9
	Conservative	Barry Flux	6,412	16.6	+2.7
	BNP	Steve Fairbairn	1,699	4.4	New
	UKIP	Jim Condon	1,665	4.3	New
	Independent	Barry Elliott	819	2.1	New
	English Democrat	Allan White	327	0.8	New
Majority			6,668	17.3	−6.6
Turnout			38,566	60.0	+3.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.3

General election 2015: Blyth Valley^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	17,813	46.3	+1.8
	UKIP	Barry Elliott	8,584	22.3	+18.0
	Conservative	Greg Munro	8,346	21.7	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Latham[24]	2,265	5.9	−21.3
	Green	Dawn Furness[25]	1,453	3.8	New
Majority			9,229	24.0	+6.7
Turnout			38,461	62.8	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.1

General election 2017: Blyth Valley^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ronnie Campbell	23,770	55.9	+9.6
	Conservative	Ian Levy	15,855	36.9	+15.2
	Liberal Democrats	Jeff Reid	1,947	4.6	−1.3
	Green	Dawn Furness	918	2.2	−1.6
Majority			7,915	19.0	−5.0
Turnout			42,490	67.0	+4.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.8

General election 2019: Blyth Valley^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ian Levy	17,440	42.7	+5.8
	Labour Co-op	Susan Dungworth	16,728	40.9	−15.0
	Brexit Party	Mark Peart	3,394	8.3	New
	Liberal Democrats	Thom Chapman	2,151	5.3	+0.7
	Green	Dawn Furness	1,146	2.8	+0.6
Majority			712	1.8	N/A
Turnout			40,859	64.6	−2.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+10.4

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northumberland
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Northumberland

Notes

1. A county 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.