Sunderland Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°54′14″N 1°22′52″W / 54.904°N 1.381°W / 54.904; -1.381

Sunderland Central
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Sunderland Central in Tyne and Wear for the 2010 general election.

Outline map

Location of Tyne and Wear within England.
County Tyne and Wear
Electorate 76,292 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created 2010
Member of parliament Julie Elliott (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Sunderland North, Sunderland South
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency North East England

Sunderland Central is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Julie Elliott, a member of the Labour Party who was re-elected in the 2015 General Election.[n 2]

Boundaries

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which created this constituency for the 2010 general election, with electoral wards:

The review abolished the former Sunderland North and Sunderland South constituencies. The reorganisation also created the Houghton and Sunderland South and Washington and Sunderland West constituencies.

History

This new constituency of Sunderland Central was fought for the first time at the 2010 general election.

Sunderland Central is a slightly more marginal seat than its predecessors with a swing of 12.8% from Labour to the Conservatives required for the latter party to win the seat in 2010. This is because it brings together virtually all of the areas of traditional Conservative strength into one seat, such as Fulwell and St.Michaels.

Local politics of wards in the seat

At the 2009 city council elections, held in thirds, the Conservatives carried five of Sunderland Central's nine wards, with Labour winning three and the Liberal Democrats one. However, at the next city council elections held on the same day as the 2010 general election, the Conservatives carried only two of Sunderland Central's nine wards, with Labour winning seven and the Liberal Democrats none.

Constituency profile

The City of Sunderland spans the River Wear and is southeast of Newcastle upon Tyne, with long distance train and air links, as such it is a base for companies, particularly those requiring a large labour force, including in graphic design and production through to customer service jobs in fields such as insurance and banking. The public sector is also a source of significant employment, providing a wide range of services. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 6.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, one percentage point higher than Houghton and Sunderland South. Similarly the regional average stood at 5.7%.[2]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[3] Party
2010 Julie Elliott Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Sunderland Central[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Julie Elliott 20,959 50.2 +4.3
Conservative Jeff Townsend 9,780 23.4 6.7
UKIP Bryan George Foster[5] 7,997 19.1 +16.5
Green Rachel Sara Featherstone 1,706 4.1 N/A
Liberal Democrat Adrian Page 1,105 2.6 14.3
Independent Joseph Young 215 0.5 N/A
Majority 11,179 26.8
Turnout 41,762 57.0 +0.0
Labour hold Swing +5.5
General Election 2010: Sunderland Central[6][7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Julie Elliott 19,495 45.9 4.1
Conservative Lee Martin 12,770 30.1 +5.6
Liberal Democrat Paul Dixon 7,191 16.9 +0.1
BNP John McCaffrey 1,913 4.5 +1.4
UKIP Pauline Fentonby-Warren 1,094 2.6 +2.6
Majority 6,725 15.8
Turnout 42,463 57 +6.3
Labour hold Swing

See also

Notes and references

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
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