Washington and Sunderland West
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Washington and Sunderland West in Tyne and Wear for the 2010 general election
Outline map
Location of Tyne and Wear within England
CountyTyne and Wear
Electorate70,177 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentSharon Hodgson (Labour)
Created fromHoughton and Washington East, Gateshead East and Washington West, Sunderland North, Sunderland South

Washington and Sunderland West is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Sharon Hodgson, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to moderate boundary changes, losing the St Anne's ward to Houghton and Sunderland South, and gaining the Borough of Gateshead wards of Birtley and Lamesley from the (to be abolished) constituency of Blaydon. Consequently, it will be renamed Washington and Gateshead South, to be first contested at the next general election.[1]

Constituency profile

The town of Washington has a well-preserved historic centre with a museum dedicated to the first US president, on its outskirts, the family home of George Washington. Residents have lower levels of wealth and education than UK averages.[2]

Boundaries

Map
Map of current boundaries

The City of Sunderland wards of Castle, Redhill, St Anne's, Washington Central, Washington East, Washington North, Washington South, Washington West.[3]

Washington and Sunderland West was created for the 2010 general election when the Boundary Commission reduced the number of seats in Tyne and Wear from 13 to 12, with the constituencies in the City of Sunderland, in particular, being reorganised. The constituency was formed from parts of four abolished constituencies:

Political history

All of the predecessor seats were held with majorities exceeding 5,000 votes and 5% of the vote before the 2010 election. Electoral calculus, an academic website, gave a provisional ranking as the 28th-safest Labour seat in the United Kingdom, and the 11th-safest Labour seat in England based on the results of 2005.[4]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[5] Party
2010 Sharon Hodgson Labour
Selection of first MP

Following a ballot of members on 8 September 2007 Sharon Hodgson MP was selected as the Labour candidate, she represented 38% of the new seat which came from her previous seat of Gateshead East and Washington West which was abolished.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Washington and Sunderland West[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sharon Hodgson 15,941 42.5 –18.2
Conservative Valerie Allen 12,218 32.6 +3.8
Brexit Party Howard Brown 5,439 14.5 +14.5
Liberal Democrats Carlton West 2,071 5.5 +3.1
Green Michal Chantkowski 1,005 2.7 +1.4
UKIP Keith Jenkins 839 2.2 –4.6
Majority 3,723 9.9 –22.0
Turnout 37,513 56.6 –3.7
Labour hold Swing –11.0
General election 2017: Washington and Sunderland West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sharon Hodgson 24,639 60.7 +5.7
Conservative Jonathan Gullis 11,699 28.8 +9.9
UKIP Bryan Foster 2,761 6.8 –12.8
Liberal Democrats Thomas Appleby 961 2.4 –0.3
Green Michal Chantkowski 514 1.3 –1.6
Majority 12,940 31.9 –3.5
Turnout 40,574 60.3 +5.7
Labour hold Swing –2.1
General election 2015: Washington and Sunderland West[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sharon Hodgson 20,478 55.0 +2.5
UKIP Aileen Casey 7,321 19.6 +16.3
Conservative Bob Dhillon 7,033 18.9 –2.9
Green Anthony Murphy 1,091 2.9 New
Liberal Democrats Dominic Haney 993 2.7 –14.4
TUSC Gary Duncan 341 0.9 New
Majority 13,157 35.4 +4.7
Turnout 37,257 54.6 +1.4
Labour hold Swing

For 2015, the British National Party announced Pauline Renwick as a candidate,[8] but she failed to stand.[9]

General election 2010: Washington and Sunderland West[10][11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sharon Hodgson* 19,615 52.5 –16.2
Conservative Ian Cuthbert 8,157 21.8 +6.9
Liberal Democrats Peter Andras 6,382 17.1 +0.9
BNP Ian McDonald 1,913 5.1 New
UKIP Linda Hudson 1,267 3.3 New
Majority 11,458 30.7
Turnout 37,334 53.2 +6.8
Labour hold Swing –11.6
* Served as an MP for Gateshead East and Washington West in the 2005–2010 Parliament

2010 vote share changes and swing are based on notional results (a calculation of how the seat would have voted if it had existed at the previous election).

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. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – North East | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  2. ^ Electoral Calculus https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/seatdetails.py?seat=Washington+and+Sunderland+West
  3. ^ "2010 post-revision map Greater London and metropolitan areas of England" (PDF).
  4. ^ Electoral calculus by statistics modeller, Martin Baxter see Electoral Calculus
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 1)
  6. ^ Statement of Persons nominated - Washington and Sunderland West Sunderland City Council
  7. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ Seddon, Sean (8 June 2017). "Washington & Sunderland West constituency General Election results 2017". nechronicle.
  9. ^ "Pauline Renwick - Candidate (PPC) for Washington and Sunderland West in 2015". Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Washington & Sunderland West". news.bbc.co.uk.

See also

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