Blaydon (UK Parliament constituency)

Blaydon
Blaydon
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
	2010–2024 boundary of Blaydon in Tyne and Wear
	Location of Tyne and Wear within England
County	Tyne and Wear
Population	88,281 (2011 census)
Electorate	68,156 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Birtley, Blaydon, Rowlands Gill, Ryton and Whickham
1918–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Chester-le-Street and Hexham
Replaced by	Blaydon and Consett; Gateshead Central and Whickham (part); Washington and Gateshead South (part);

Blaydon was a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons from 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Liz Twist of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

The seat was a safe seat for the Labour Party from 1935 until its abolition.

Historically, the area's economy relied on coal mining from the Victorian period until the decline of mining in the latter half of the 20th century.

By 2024, the economy was supported by engineering and service industries on Tyneside, and agriculture.^{[citation needed]} It also included the Metrocentre, the second-largest shopping centre in the UK.

The constituency was on the western upland outskirts of Gateshead and with communities separated by green buffers. It comprised the towns of Blaydon, Whickham, Ryton, Birtley and surrounding villages in the south and west of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.

Boundaries

1918–1950

The Urban Districts of Blaydon, Ryton, Tanfield, and Whickham.^[3]

Blaydon was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election when Blaydon, Ryton and Whickham were split off from the existing Chester-le-Street seat. Tanfield was added from the abolished constituency of North West Durham.

1950–1983

The Urban Districts of Blaydon, Ryton, and Whickham.^[4]

Tanfield transferred to Consett.

1983–2010

The Borough of Gateshead wards of Birtley, Blaydon, Chopwell and Rowlands Gill, Crawcrook and Greenside, Lamesley, Ryton, Whickham North, Whickham South, and Winlaton.^[5]^[6]

The communities of Birtley and Lamesley were transferred in from the abolished constituency of Chester-le-Street. Lost small area in the east of the seat to the new constituency of Tyne Bridge.

2010–2024

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

The Borough of Gateshead wards of Birtley, Blaydon, Chopwell and Rowlands Gill, Crawcrook and Greenside, Dunston Hill and Whickham East, Lamesley, Ryton, Crookhill and Stella, Whickham North, Whickham South and Sunniside, and Winlaton and High Spen.^[7]

Minor changes resulting from the redrawing of ward boundaries in Gateshead Borough and abolition of Tyne Bridge.

Abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed to three new constituencies:^[8]

The three wards incorporating the town of Whickham included in an expanded Gateshead constituency named Gateshead Central and Whickham
Birtley and Lamesley combined with Washington to form Washington and Gateshead South
Remaining wards (comprising about half the electorate), including the communities of Blaydon, Rowlands Gill and Ryton, to form a cross-county constituency with Consett in County Durham - named Blaydon and Consett

Members of Parliament

	Member^[9]	Whip
1918	Walter Waring	Coalition Liberal
1922	William Whiteley	Labour
1931	Thomas Martin	Conservative
1935	William Whiteley	Labour
1956 by-election	Robert Woof	Labour
1979	John McWilliam	Labour
2005	David Anderson	Labour
2017	Liz Twist	Labour
2024	Constituency abolished

Election results 1918-2024

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Blaydon^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	National Liberal	Walter Waring	9,937	52.8
	Labour	William Whiteley	7,844	41.6
	Liberal	Thomas George Graham	1,064	5.6
Majority			2,093	11.2
Turnout			18,845	57.4
	National Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Whiteley	14,722	53.9	+12.3
	Unionist	Sir Frank Robert Simpson, 1st Baronet	7,963	29.2	New
	National Liberal	Frederick William Cook	4,606	16.9	-35.9
Majority			6,759	24.7	N/A
Turnout			27,291	77.0	+19.6
Registered electors			35,434
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Blaydon ^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Whiteley	15,073	67.9	+14.0
	Unionist	George Denson	7,124	32.1	+2.9
Majority			7,949	35.8	+11.1
Turnout			22,197	62.1	−14.9
Registered electors			35,764
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.6

General election 1924: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Whiteley	17,670	62.6	−5.3
	Unionist	George Denson	10,549	37.4	+5.3
Majority			7,121	25.2	−10.6
Turnout			28,219	77.0	+14.9
Registered electors			36,646
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.3

General election 1929: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Whiteley	21,221	59.1	-3.5
	Unionist	R. Charles White	7,847	21.8	-15.6
	Liberal	Thomas Magnay	6878	19.1	New
Majority			13,374	37.3	+12.1
Turnout			35,946	79.5	+2.5
Registered electors			45,204
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.0

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Thomas Martin	18,927	50.66
	Labour	William Whiteley	18,431	49.34
Majority			496	1.32	N/A
Turnout			37,358	80.95
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Whiteley	24,148	62.29
	Conservative	Charles Edwin Vickery	14,622	37.71
Majority			9,526	24.58	N/A
Turnout			38,770	80.76
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	William Whiteley	29,931	71.65
	Conservative	Edward Charles Peake	11,842	28.35
Majority			18,089	43.30
Turnout			41,773	79.70
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	William Whiteley	28,343	68.94
	Conservative	Leslie Frances Lawson	12,772	31.06
Majority			15,571	37.88
Turnout			41,115	87.46
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	William Whiteley	28,337	68.18
	Conservative	Charles Percy Lawler Satchwell	13,223	31.82
Majority			15,114	36.36
Turnout			41,560	87.60
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	William Whiteley	25,273	66.47
	Conservative	John Morley Reay-Smith	12,750	33.53
Majority			12,523	32.94
Turnout			38,023	80.66
	Labour hold		Swing

1956 Blaydon by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Woof	18,791	69.94	+3.47
	Conservative	John Morley Reay-Smith	8,077	30.06	-3.47
Majority			10,714	39.88	+6.94
Turnout			26,868
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.4

General election 1959: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Woof	25,969	65.43
	Conservative	Godfrey William Iredell	13,719	34.57
Majority			12,250	30.86
Turnout			39,688	82.94
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Woof	25,926	66.72
	Conservative	Neville Cooper Bailey	12,932	33.28
Majority			12,994	33.44
Turnout			38,858	80.01
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Woof	26,629	69.21
	Conservative	Bernard Bligh	11,849	30.79
Majority			14,780	38.42
Turnout			38,478	77.45
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Woof	25,724	64.88
	Conservative	Norman H. D'Aguiar	13,926	35.12
Majority			11,798	29.76
Turnout			39,650	72.30
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Woof	22,279	58.65
	Conservative	A.A. Craig	15,705	41.35
Majority			6,574	17.30
Turnout			37,984	67.25
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Woof	23,743	57.27
	Conservative	A.A. Craig	10,277	24.79
	Liberal	Paul Barker	7,439	17.94	New
Majority			13,466	32.48
Turnout			41,409	69.20
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Blaydon
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John McWilliam	24,687	53.40
	Conservative	T. Middleton	16,178	35.00
	Liberal	David Hutton	5,364	11.60
Majority			8,509	18.40
Turnout			46,229	79.07
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Blaydon^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John McWilliam	21,285	44.4	-9.0
	Conservative	Andrew Williams	14,063	29.3	-5.7
	SDP	Maurice Carr	12,607	26.3	New
Majority			7,222	15.1	-3.3
Turnout			47,955	73.2	-5.9
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.7

General election 1987: Blaydon^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John McWilliam	25,277	50.3	+5.9
	SDP	Paul Nunn	12,789	25.5	-0.8
	Conservative	Peter Pescod	12,147	24.2	-5.1
Majority			12,488	24.8	+9.7
Turnout			50,213	75.7	+2.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Blaydon^[14]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John McWilliam	27,028	52.7	+2.4
	Conservative	Peter Pescod	13,685	26.7	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Nunn	10,602	20.7	−4.8
Majority			13,343	26.0	+1.1
Turnout			51,315	77.7	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.1

General election 1997: Blaydon^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John McWilliam	27,535	60.0	+7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter J. Maughan	10,930	23.8	+3.1
	Conservative	Mark A. Watson	6,048	13.2	-13.5
	Independent	Richard J. Rook	1,412	3.1	New
Majority			16,605	36.2	+10.2
Turnout			45,925	71.0	-6.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Blaydon^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John McWilliam	20,340	54.8	−5.2
	Liberal Democrats	Peter J. Maughan	12,531	33.8	+10.0
	Conservative	Mark A. Watson	4,215	11.4	−1.8
Majority			7,809	21.0	-15.2
Turnout			37,086	57.4	−13.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2005: Blaydon^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Anderson	20,120	51.5	−3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Peter J. Maughan	14,785	37.9	+4.1
	Conservative	Dorothy Luckhurst	3,129	8.0	−3.4
	UKIP	Norman R. Endacott	1,019	2.6	New
Majority			5,335	13.7	-7.3
Turnout			39,053	62.6	+5.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Blaydon^[19]^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dave Anderson	22,297	49.6	−1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Bradbury	13,180	29.3	−8.5
	Conservative	Glenn Hall	7,159	15.9	+7.9
	BNP	Keith McFarlane	2,277	5.1	New
Majority			9,117	20.3	+6.6
Turnout			44,913	66.2	+4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.5

General election 2015: Blaydon^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dave Anderson	22,090	49.2	-0.6
	UKIP	Mark Bell	7,863	17.5	New
	Conservative	Alison Griffiths	7,838	17.4	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Wallace	5,497	12.2	-17.1
	Green	Paul McNally^[22]	1,648	3.7	New
Majority			14,227	31.7	+11.4
Turnout			44,936	66.2	0.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.0

General election 2017: Blaydon^[23]^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Liz Twist	26,979	56.1	+6.9
	Conservative	Tom Smith	13,502	28.1	+10.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Wallace	4,366	9.1	−3.1
	UKIP	Ray Tolley	2,459	5.1	−12.4
	Green	Paul McNally	583	1.2	−2.5
	Libertarian	Michael Marchetti^[25]	114	0.2	New
	Space Navies Party	Lisabela Marschild	81	0.2	New
Majority			13,477	28.0	-3.7
Turnout			48,084	70.2	+4.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.85

General election 2019: Blaydon^[26]^[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Liz Twist	19,794	43.3	−12.8
	Conservative	Adrian Pepper	14,263	31.2	+3.1
	Brexit Party	Michael Robinson	5,833	12.8	New
	Liberal Democrats	Vicky Anderson	3,703	8.1	−1.0
	Green	Diane Cadman	1,279	2.8	+1.6
	Liberal	Kathy King	615	1.3	New
	Space Navies Party	Lisabela Marschild	118	0.3	+0.1
	Independent	Lee Garrett	76	0.2	New
Majority			5,531	12.1	−15.9
Turnout			45,681	67.3	−2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.0

Notes

References

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Blaydon, presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics
Blaydon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

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