Newcastle upon Tyne Central was a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

from 2010 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by

Chi Onwurah Dame Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah (; born 12 April 1965) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle ...

of the Labour Party. As with all constituencies since

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, the constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

system of election at least every five years. Under the

2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

, the majority of the seat was included in the new constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West.

History

Parliament created this seat under the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

for the general election later that year. It was one of four divisions of the parliamentary borough of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which had previously been represented by one two-member seat. The constituency covered the central part of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, 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 The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...

constituency. From its creation, the constituency was represented by only members of the Labour and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

parties. The seat was represented by Labour from

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

until its abolition. At the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

general elections, the constituency was the first in the UK to officially declare its result. It narrowly beat Houghton and Sunderland South, which had declared first in 2010 and 2015 (as did its predecessor Sunderland South in the four preceding general elections), and would do so again in 2024.

Boundaries

1918–1950

* The County Borough of Newcastle upon Tyne wards of All Saints, St John's, St Nicholas, Stephenson, and Westgate.

1950–1955

* The County Borough of Newcastle upon Tyne wards of Armstrong, Byker, St Anthony's, St Nicholas, and Stephenson; and * The Rural District of Newcastle upon Tyne. NB: the Rural District of Newcastle upon Tyne contained just a single building ('the Moot Hall and Precincts') in the centre of Newcastle. ''Boundaries redrawn to take account of expansion of the County Borough and redistribution of wards. Expanded eastwards, gaining Byker and St Anthony's from Newcastle upon Tyne East, westwards, gaining Armstrong from Newcastle upon Tyne West. St John's and Westgate were transferred to Newcastle upon Tyne North. The constituency now comprised a narrow strip along the north bank of the River Tyne.''

1955–1983

* The County Borough of Newcastle upon Tyne wards of Armstrong, Benwell, Byker, St Anthony's, St Nicholas, and Stephenson; and * The Rural District of Newcastle upon Tyne. '' Benwell ward transferred from Newcastle upon Tyne West.'' 1983–1997 * The City of Newcastle upon Tyne wards of Blakelaw, Fenham, Jesmond, Kenton, Moorside, South Gosforth, and Wingrove. ''Following the reorganisation of local authorities as a result of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the constituencies within the City of Newcastle upon Tyne were completely redrawn. The contents of the newly constituted seat comprised only a small area common to the previous version. The central and western areas of the old seat, including Benwell and the city centre, were incorporated into the new constituency of

, which included parts of Gateshead Borough on the south side of the River Tyne. Byker and St Anthony's were returned to Newcastle upon Tyne East, along with the Battle Field area.'' ''The new version of the constituency absorbed the whole of the existing Newcastle upon Tyne North seat, apart from Sandyford. It also included parts of the now abolished Newcastle upon Tyne West constituency ( Fenham and Kenton) and a small area transferred from

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

( South Gosforth).''

1997–2010

* The City of Newcastle upon Tyne wards of Blakelaw, Fenham, Jesmond, Kenton, Moorside, Sandyford, South Gosforth, and Wingrove. ''Sandyford ward transferred from Newcastle upon Tyne East, which was now abolished.''

2010–2024

* The City of Newcastle upon Tyne wards of Benwell and Scotswood, Blakelaw, Elswick, Fenham, Kenton, Westgate, West Gosforth, and Wingrove. ''Following its review of parliamentary representation in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

in 2007, which took effect at the 2010 general election, the

Boundary Commission for England In the United Kingdom, the boundary commissions are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: one each f ...

moved the Sandyford area back to the re-created constituency of Newcastle upon Tyne East, together with the suburb of

Jesmond Jesmond ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher aver ...

. Those areas north of the River Tyne in the now abolished

constituency (Benwell, Scotswood, Elswick and the city centre) were transferred in.''

Constituency profile

The constituency contained the city centre and surrounding suburbs. Previously based around heavy industry, such as shipbuilding, its adult population had mostly lower or middle incomes. The economy is now mainly focused on services and tourism. In November 2012 total unemployment (based on the more up-to-date claimant statistics) placed the constituency 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 Sunderland Central is a List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament. It is represented by the Labour Party ...

.Unemployment statistics
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Members of Parliament

Election results 1918-2024

Election in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 2010s

Notes

References

External links

Newcastle upon Tyne Central UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Authority control Parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024 Politics of Newcastle upon Tyne