Washington and Sunderland West (UK Parliament constituency)

Washington and Sunderland West was a constituency^{[n 1]} in Tyne and Wear represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Sharon Hodgson, a member of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Washington and Sunderland West
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Washington and Sunderland West in Tyne and Wear for the 2010 general election
Location of Tyne and Wear within England
County	Tyne and Wear
Electorate	70,177 (December 2010)
2010–2024
Created from	Houghton and Washington East, Gateshead East and Washington West, Sunderland North, Sunderland South
Replaced by	Washington and Gateshead South

Under the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished. Subject to moderate boundary changes - including losing the St Anne's ward to Houghton and Sunderland South, and gaining the Borough of Gateshead wards of Birtley and Lamesley from the (abolished) constituency of Blaydon - it was reformed as Washington and Gateshead South.^[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 of boundaries 2010–2024

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:

• Castle and Redhill wards from Sunderland North;
• St Anne's ward from Sunderland South;
• Washington Central, East and North from Houghton and Washington East; and
• Washington South and West from Gateshead East and Washington West.

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).

See also

• List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Tyne and Wear
• Houghton and Sunderland South
• Sunderland Central

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.