Tynemouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Tynemouth is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Tyne and Wear represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Sir Alan Campbell, a member of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Tynemouth
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundaries since 2024
Boundary of Tynemouth in the North East England
County	Tyne and Wear
Electorate	73,022 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	North Shields, Whitley Bay, Monkseaton, Tynemouth and Cullercoats
Current constituency
Created	1832
Member of Parliament	Alan Campbell (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Northumberland

Creation

Tynemouth was one of 20 new single-member parliamentary boroughs created by the Reform Act 1832.^[2] However, under the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, it is referred to as Tynemouth and North Shields.^[3] The constituency is referred to in various sources (e.g. Leigh Rayment^[4] and F.W.S.Craig) by the latter name between 1832 and 1885 and then treated as abolished and replaced by Tynemouth from 1885 onwards. However, there is no mention of this in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and the boundaries were unchanged at that time. The current name of Tynemouth has officially been in use since the Representation of the People Act 1918.^[5] It therefore appears that both names were used for the same constituency at different times from 1832 to 1918.

Boundaries

1832-1918

• Under the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, the contents of Tynemouth and North Shields were defined as: The several Townships of Tynemouth, North Shields, Chirton, Preston and Cullercoats.^[3][6]

1918–1950

• The County Borough of Tynemouth.^[5]

No change to the boundaries.

1950–1983

• The County Borough of Tynemouth; and
• The Urban District of Whitley Bay.^[7]

Whitley Bay, which became a municipal borough in 1954, was transferred from the abolished constituency of Wansbeck.

1983–1997

• The Borough of North Tyneside wards of Chirton, Collingwood, Cullercoats, Monkseaton, North Shields, Riverside, St Mary's, Seatonville, Tynemouth, Whitley Bay.^[8]

Minor changes to take account of changes to local authority and ward boundaries following the reorganisation under the Local Government Act 1972.

1997–2010

• The Borough of North Tyneside wards of Chirton, Collingwood, Cullercoats, Monkseaton, North Shields, St Mary's, Seatonville, Tynemouth, Whitley Bay.^[9]

Riverside ward transferred to the new constituency of North Tyneside.

Map of 2010–2024 boundaries

2010–2024

• The Borough of North Tyneside wards of Chirton, Collingwood, Cullercoats, Monkseaton North, Monkseaton South, Preston, St Mary's, Tynemouth, Valley, Whitley Bay.^[10]

Valley ward transferred from North Tyneside.

2024–present

Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was defined as being composed of the following as they existed on 1 December 2020:

• The Borough of North Tyneside wards of Chirton, Collingwood, Cullercoats, Monkseaton North, Monkseaton South, Preston, Riverside (majority, comprising polling districts FC, FD, FE, FF, FG, and FH), St. Mary's, Tynemouth, and Whitley Bay.^[11]

The Valley ward was moved back out, to the new constituency of Cramlington and Killingworth, partly offset by the reinstatement of most of Riverside ward from North Tyneside (abolished).

Further to a local government boundary review which became effective in May 2024,^[12] the constituency now comprises the following with effect from the 2024 general election:

• The Borough of North Tyneside wards of: Chirton & Percy Main; Cullercoats & Whitley Bay South; Monkseaton; New York & Murton; Preston with Preston Grange; St. Mary's; Tynemouth; Whitley Bay North.^[13]

Constituency profile

Tynemouth is a coastal seat on the northern bank of the River Tyne. The seat covers Tynemouth, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Cullercoats, Monkseaton and, since 2010, Shiremoor and Backworth.

North Shields and the communities along the Tyne itself tend to be more industrial and working-class, once dominated by coal mining and shipbuilding. The coastal towns to the north, such as Whitley Bay, tend to be more middle-class dormitory towns for Newcastle commuters.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 close to the national average of 3.8%, at 3.9% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, lower than the regional average by 0.5%.^[14]

Political history

The seat has tended to be one of the more Conservative-leaning seats in the North East of England, where the party has traditionally struggled against the Labour Party. As a relatively middle-class area, it returned Conservative MPs from 1950 to 1997, albeit often on narrow majorities. It has been represented by Labour since 1997, though the Conservatives remain strong at a local level. Similar to Sefton Central on Merseyside, despite being a traditionally strong Conservative area in a Labour-dominated county, the area has swung significantly to Labour during the twenty-first century, and has been won by semi-marginal to safe margins by Labour candidates at every general election since 1997, with significant swings to Labour seen in both 2015 and 2017, the largest of all in 2024.

Since the 1997 general election, it has been represented by Alan Campbell of the Labour Party, who reached the level of government below a Minister of State in 2008, as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office. He is currently Labour Chief Whip in the House of Commons.

Members of Parliament

• Constituency created (1885)

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1885	Richard Donkin	Conservative
	1900	Frederick Leverton Harris	Conservative
	1906	Herbert James Craig	Liberal
	1918	Charles Percy	Conservative
	1922	Alexander Russell	Conservative
	1945	Grace Colman	Labour
	1950	Irene Ward	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Neville Trotter	Conservative
	1997	Alan Campbell	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Tynemouth^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	24,491	50.6	+3.9
	Conservative	Lewis Bartoli	9,036	18.7	−21.5
	Reform UK	Rosalyn Elliot	7,392	15.3	+11.4
	Green	Chloe-Louise Fawcett-Reilly	3,592	7.4	+5.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Appleby	2,709	5.6	−1.1
	Independent	Mustaque Rahman	531	1.1	N/A
	Party of Women	Kelly Dougall	286	0.6	N/A
	Independent	Christopher Greener	273	0.6	N/A
	Heritage	Adam Thewlis	108	0.2	N/A
Majority			15,455	31.9	+23.3
Turnout			48,418	65.9	−8.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Tynemouth^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	26,928	48.0	9.0
	Conservative	Lewis Bartoli	22,071	39.4	2.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Appleby	3,791	6.8	3.0
	Brexit Party	Ed Punchard	1,963	3.5	New
	Green	Julia Erskine	1,281	2.3	1.2
Majority			4,857	8.6	12.9
Turnout			56,034	72.5	2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	5.9

General election 2017: Tynemouth^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	32,395	57.0	8.8
	Conservative	Nick Varley	20,729	36.5	3.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Appleby	1,724	3.0
	UKIP	Stuart Haughton	1,257	2.2	10.0
	Green	Julia Erskine[18]	629	1.1	2.7
	Independent	Anthony "The Durham Cobbler" Jull	124	0.2	New
Majority			11,666	20.5	4.1
Turnout			56,858	74.5	5.5
	Labour hold		Swing	2.6

General election 2015: Tynemouth^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	25,791	48.2	2.9
	Conservative	Glenn Hall[20]	17,551	32.8	1.6
	UKIP	Gary Legg[21]	6,541	12.2	10.5
	Green	Julia Erskine[22]	2,017	3.8	2.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Paton-Day[23]	1,595	3.0	11.9
Majority			8,240	15.4	4.5
Turnout			53,495	69.0	0.6
	Labour hold		Swing	2.3

For the 2010 election, this was the primary target seat for the Conservatives in North East England following impressive local council victories since 2006 and the recent marginality of Alan Campbell's 2005 re-election.

General election 2010: Tynemouth^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	23,860	45.3	3.0
	Conservative	Wendy Morton	18,121	34.4	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Appleby	7,845	14.9	0.2
	BNP	Dorothy Brooke	1,404	2.7	New
	UKIP	Natasha Payne	900	1.7	New
	Green	Julia Erskine	538	1.0	New
Majority			5,739	10.9	1.2
Turnout			52,668	69.6	3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	0.4

Elections in the 2000s

Michael McIntyre was councillor for the Whitley Bay Ward at the time of polling. The Conservatives hoped to snatch the seat, but could only diminish Alan Campbell's majority. In the Mayoral election held on the same day, Mayor Linda Arkley (Conservative) narrowly lost re-election.

General election 2005: Tynemouth^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	20,143	47.0	6.2
	Conservative	Michael McIntyre	16,000	37.3	3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Finlay	6,716	15.7	4.1
Majority			4,143	9.7	10.0
Turnout			42,859	66.9	0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	5.0

Labour MP Alan Campbell was returned in 2001 with a smaller majority during Tony Blair's second landslide.

General election 2001: Tynemouth^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	23,364	53.2	2.2
	Conservative	Karl Poulsen	14,686	33.5	0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Penny Reid	5,108	11.6	2.8
	UKIP	Michael Rollings	745	1.7	0.8
Majority			8,678	19.7	2.4
Turnout			43,903	67.4	9.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.2

Elections in the 1990s

In 1997 Labour won the seat for the first time since 1945. The Conservatives chose Gateshead Councillor Martin Callanan as their candidate to replace the retiring Neville Trotter. He would subsequently become a North East MEP and later a peer and government minister.

General election 1997: Tynemouth^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Campbell	28,318	55.4	10.4
	Conservative	Martin Callanan	17,045	33.3	12.7
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Duffield	4,509	8.8	0.7
	Referendum	Clive Rook	819	1.6	New
	UKIP	Frank Rogers	462	0.9	New
Majority			11,273	22.1	N/A
Turnout			51,153	77.11	3.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	11.5

In 1992 Neville Trotter narrowly won his final term as the Labour candidate's fourth attempt failed. Many council seats were also unexpectedly won on the back of John Major's victory such as Whitley Bay and Monkseaton.

General election 1992: Tynemouth^[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Trotter	27,731	46.0	2.8
	Labour	Patrick Cosgrove	27,134	45.0	6.2
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Selby	4,855	8.1	9.9
	Green	Andrew Buchanan-Smith	543	0.9	New
Majority			597	1.0	3.4
Turnout			60,263	80.4	2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.7

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Tynemouth^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Trotter	25,113	43.2	4.9
	Labour	Patrick Cosgrove	22,530	38.8	7.5
	Liberal	David Mayhew	10,446	18.0	2.1
Majority			2,583	4.4	12.8
Turnout			58,089	78.1	3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.42

The 1983 election saw Neville Trotter's biggest majority after a landslide victory won by Margaret Thatcher.

General election 1983: Tynemouth^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Trotter	27,029	48.1	3.5
	Labour	Patrick Cosgrove	17,420	31.3	7.2
	Liberal	David Mayhew	11,153	20.1	10.3
Majority			9,609	17.2	4.2
Turnout			55.602	74.6	3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.0

Elections in the 1970s

1979: Patrick 'Paddy' Cosgrove's first of four attempts to win the seat. Cosgrove was the Labour councillor for Whitley Bay Ward.

General election 1979: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Trotter	29,941	51.57
	Labour	Patrick Cosgrove[n 3]	22,377	38.55
	Liberal	R. Pinkney	5,736	9.88
Majority			7,564	13.02
Turnout			58,054	77.69
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Trotter	24,510	43.16
	Labour	J. Miller	21,389	37.66
	Liberal	Rodney Turner	10,895	19.18
Majority			3,121	5.50
Turnout			56,794	74.29
	Conservative hold		Swing

February 1974: Neville Trotter, a Newcastle City Councillor and Chartered Accountant, became MP.

General election February 1974: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neville Trotter	26,824	44.22
	Labour	David Carlton	20,437	33.69
	Liberal	Rodney Turner	13,393	22.08
Majority			6,387	10.53
Turnout			60,654	80.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

Jeremy Beecham would later become leader of Newcastle City Council and a Peer.

General election 1970: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	30,773	51.36
	Labour	Jeremy Beecham	23,927	39.93
	Liberal	Rodney Turner	5,221	8.71	New
Majority			6,846	11.43
Turnout			59,921	75.85
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1966: Gordon Adam would latterly become a North East MEP and make a failed bid to become Mayor of North Tyneside in 2001.

General election 1966: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	29,210	49.62
	Labour	Gordon Adam	25,814	43.85
	Independent	James C. Edwards	3,846	6.53	New
Majority			3,396	5.77
Turnout			58,870	78.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	33,342	56.29
	Labour	Albert Booth	25,894	43.71
Majority			7,448	12.58
Turnout			59,236	78.96
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	32,810	56.37
	Labour	William H. Hutchinson	18,866	32.42
	Liberal	David N. Thompson	6,525	11.21
Majority			13,994	23.95
Turnout			58,201	80.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	30,949	55.12
	Labour	James Finegan	20,113	35.82
	Liberal	Roy Cairncross	5,082	9.05	New
Majority			10,836	19.30
Turnout			56,144	79.35
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	33,800	56.39
	Labour	Grace Colman	26,144	43.61
Majority			7,656	12.78
Turnout			59,944	84.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1950: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Irene Ward	28,785	49.30
	Labour	Grace Colman	23,148	39.65
	Liberal	E.B. Slack	6,452	11.05
Majority			5,637	9.65
Turnout			58,385	84.01
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Grace Colman	13,963	46.07
	Conservative	Alexander Russell	10,884	35.91
	Liberal	Kenneth Paterson Chitty	5,460	18.02
Majority			3,079	10.16	N/A
Turnout			30,307	76.85
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Russell	16,003	47.1	4.7
	Labour	Samuel Segal	10,145	29.8	6.0
	Liberal	John Stanley Holmes	7,868	23.1	1.3
Majority			5,858	17.3	10.1
Turnout			34,016	79.22	4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Russell	17,607	51.8	14.8
	Liberal	John Stanley Holmes	8,295	24.4	8.7
	Labour	T.H. Knight	8,110	23.8	6.1
Majority			9,312	27.38	23.5
Turnout			34,012	84.15	0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Russell	11,785	37.0	8.2
	Liberal	Richard Irvin	10,545	33.1	5.7
	Labour	John Stuart Barr	9,503	29.9	2.5
Majority			1,240	3.9	13.9
Turnout			31,833	83.3	1.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	7.0

General election 1924: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Russell	11,210	45.2	4.2
	Liberal	Harry Barnes	6,820	27.4	10.9
	Labour	John Stuart Barr	6,818	27.4	6.7
Majority			4,390	17.8	15.1
Turnout			24,848	84.6	3.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	7.5

Harry Barnes

General election 1923: Tynemouth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Russell	9,612	41.0	7.1
	Liberal	Harry Barnes	9,008	38.3	9.3
	Labour	W. Pitt	4,875	20.7	2.2
Majority			604	2.7	16.4
Turnout			23,495	81.1	2.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	8.2

General election 1922: Tynemouth ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Russell	11,244	48.1	13.4
	Liberal	Herbert Craig	6,787	29.0	3.2
	Labour	George Harold Humphrey	5,362	22.9	7.7
Majority			4,457	19.1	16.6
Turnout			23,393	83.5	19.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	8.4

Elections in the 1910s

Craig

General election 1918: Tynemouth ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Charles Percy	5,883	34.7	14.2
	Liberal	Herbert Craig	5,434	32.2	18.9
	Independent Labour	George Harold Humphrey	2,566	15.2	New
	Independent	Henry Gregg (British politician)	2,495	14.8	New
	National	Dixon Scott	517	3.1	New
Majority			449	2.5	N/A
Turnout			16,895	63.8	15.6
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	2.4
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

1918: Dixon Scott was the founder of Newcastle's 'News Cinema', the modern 'Tyneside Cinema'.

General election December 1910: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herbert Craig	4,106	51.1	1.8
	Conservative	Charles Percy	3,939	48.9	1.8
Majority			177	2.2	3.6
Turnout			8,045	79.4	3.9
Registered electors			10,122
	Liberal hold		Swing	1.8

General election January 1910: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herbert Craig	4,487	52.9	2.0
	Conservative	Edward George Spencer-Churchill[35]	3,993	47.1	2.0
Majority			494	5.8	4.0
Turnout			8,480	83.3	3.3
Registered electors			10,122
	Liberal hold		Swing	2.0

Elections in the 1900s

Herbert Craig

General election January 1906: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Herbert Craig	4,286	54.9	8.0
	Conservative	Frederick Leverton Harris	3,522	45.1	8.0
Majority			764	9.8	N/A
Turnout			7,808	86.6	4.6
Registered electors			9,019
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	8.0

General election 1900: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frederick Leverton Harris[36]	3,501	53.1	1.4
	Liberal	F.D. Blake	3,094	46.9	1.4
Majority			407	6.2	2.8
Turnout			6,595	82.0	2.0
Registered electors			8,041
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.4

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Donkin	3,168	51.7	1.2
	Liberal	Francis Blake[37]	2,959	48.3	1.2
Majority			209	3.4	2.4
Turnout			6,127	80.0	0.9
Registered electors			7,659
	Conservative hold		Swing	1.2

James Annand

General election 1892: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Donkin	3,121	52.9	2.2
	Liberal	James Annand	2,783	47.1	2.2
Majority			338	5.8	4.4
Turnout			5,904	80.9	4.8
Registered electors			7,300
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.2

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Donkin	2,795	55.1	2.1
	Liberal	William Thomas Raymond[38]	2,277	44.9	2.1
Majority			518	10.2	4.2
Turnout			5,072	76.1	3.3
Registered electors			6,669
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.1

General election 1885: Tynemouth^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Donkin	3,027	57.2
	Liberal	Joseph Spence[39]	2,269	42.8
Majority			758	14.4
Turnout			5,296	79.4
Registered electors			6,669
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Tyne and Wear
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Northumberland
• List of parliamentary constituencies in North East England (region)

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.
3. Cosgrove was a Whitley Bay councillor and leading North East barrister