Wansbeck (UK Parliament constituency)

Wansbeck was first created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 as one of four single-member Divisions of the county of Northumberland.^[4] It was abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of Blyth.

The seat was re-established for the 1983 general election, largely replacing the abolished Morpeth constituency. The new version of the seat had very little in common with the version abolished in 1950; only Newbiggin-by-the-Sea and some rural areas were in both.

The Sessional Districts of:

• Bedlingtonshire
• Castle East (except the parish of Wallsend)
• Morpeth
• Castle West (part)
• Coquetdale East (part)^[4][5]

NB included non-resident freeholders in the parliamentary borough of Morpeth

• The Urban Districts of Cramlington, Earsdon, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Newburn, Seaton Delaval, Seghill, and Whitley and Monkseaton
• parts of the Rural Districts of Castle Ward, and Morpeth.^[6]

Gained Newburn and surrounding areas from the abolished Tyneside Division. Ashington transferred to Morpeth and a small area in north (Amble) transferred to Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The contents of the constituency were distributed as follows:

• rural areas around the borough of Morpeth, including Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, to Morpeth;
• Seaton Valley urban district (incorporating Cramlington, Seghill, Earsdon and Seaton Delaval) to Blyth;
• Whitley Bay to Tynemouth;
• rural areas to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne to Hexham; and
• Newburn to Newcastle upon Tyne West

Map of 1983–2024 boundaries

• the Borough of Castle Morpeth wards of Hebron, Hepscott and Mitford, Morpeth Central, Morpeth Kirkhill, Morpeth North, Morpeth South, Morpeth Stobhill and Pegswood; and
• the District of Wansbeck (comprising the wards of: Bedlington Central, Bedlington East, Bedlington West, Bothal, Central, Choppington, Guide Post, Haydon, Hurst, Newbiggin East, Newbiggin West, Park, Seaton, Sleekburn, and Stakeford).^[7][8][9]

The majority of the constituency, including Morpeth, Ashington, and Newbiggin had comprised the bulk of the abolished constituency of Morpeth. Bedlington was transferred from Blyth.

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 Wansbeck constituency.^[10]

In 2009, a 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. However, this did not affect the constituency boundaries.

Named after the River Wansbeck and former district of the same name, the seat had the visitor attractions of a historic main town with a castle, Morpeth and the traditional seaside town of Newbiggin. Workless claimants as registered jobseekers, with high male unemployment, which is widespread but exacerbated in the area, in November 2012, was higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 6.2% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian. This was marginally higher than the then regional average of 5.9%.^[11]

Political history

The seat alternated in accordance with the national trend in strong mining communities outside of South Yorkshire, which as such saw significant early Labour support, and, in the 1931 and 1935 elections, led to a general transfer of loyalty to the Conservative Party, ushering in a return to Labour support at the next contested election in 1945.

Prominent frontbenchers

Alfred Robens represented the area in the Attlee ministry and towards the end of the year of Attlee's more marginal victory (1950–51) served as Minister of Labour and National Service. He then in 1951 won instead the newly created Blyth seat to the immediate south. In 1955 he became Shadow Foreign Secretary until an unimpressive performance in predicting and reacting to events in the Suez Crisis in 1956. However, in a position which would span the period 1961 until 1971, he became Chairman of the National Coal Board (and Lord Robens) and oversaw substantial cuts in the mining industry. During this period he co-authored the Robens Report that followed his difficult but practical risk management of the coal mining sector, including accepting some culpability in the Aberfan Disaster. This led, with the ministry of Barbara Castle's adjustments, to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which set up the Health and Safety Executive and remains the foundation of this area of English law.

The constituency was held solely by Labour since its recreation, presenting a safe seat. However, in 2019 - in line with the huge swing in their favour in traditional Labour seats in the North and Midlands - the Conservatives reduced the Labour majority to an unprecedentedly low three-figure total.

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal-Labour:Charles Fenwick
• Labour: William Straker

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Northumberland
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Northumberland
• 1929 Wansbeck by-election
• 1940 Wansbeck by-election
• 1918 Wansbeck by-election

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

• Wansbeck UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK