electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Tim Crakanthorp Timothy Carson Crakanthorp is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 25 October 2014, when he was elected in a by-election to the seat of Newcastle. When he was elected he was a ser ...

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

City of Newcastle The City of Newcastle is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The City of Newcastle incorporates much of the area of the Newcastle metropolitan area. The Lord Mayor of City of Newcastle Council is Counci ...

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

Broadmeadow Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".Hamilton South, Merewether Heights and

Merewether Merewether () is a former Municipality and today a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district with a population of around 11,000. The suburb stretches from Merewether Beach in the east ...

and the suburbs further east, including central Newcastle and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. It also includes the

Port Stephens Council Port Stephens Council (also known simply as Port Stephens) is a local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is just north of Newcastle and is adjacent to the Pacific Highway which runs through Raymond ...

suburbs of

Fern Bay Fern Bay is the southernmost suburb of the Port Stephens Council, Port Stephens Local government in Australia, local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located just north of Stockton, New South Wales, Stock ...

and

Fullerton Cove Fullerton Cove is a rural suburb of the Port Stephens Council, Port Stephens Local government in Australia, local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located just north of Fern Bay and adjacent to Fullerton Cove, ...

.

History

Newcastle was created in 1859 from part of North Eastern Boroughs. It gained a second member in 1880 and a third member in 1889. With the abolition of multi-member electorates in 1894, it was divided into

Newcastle East Newcastle East is an inner city suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located immediately east of Newcastle's central business district at the mouth of the Hunter River. The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are acknowledged by City of Newc ...

,

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicized Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city, It is also the county town, and sits on the ...

,

Kahibah Kahibah is a suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie, Greater Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, located from Newcastle's central business district. Kahibah is the closest suburb to Glenrock Lagoon, and is drained by Flaggy and Little Flag ...

,

Waratah Waratah (''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania). The best-known species in this genus is ''Telopea speci ...

and Wickham. These changes to the electoral boundaries were debated. Newcastle was re-created in the 1904 re-distribution of electorates following the 1903 New South Wales referendum, which required the number of members of the Legislative Assembly to be reduced from 125 to 90. It consisted of Newcastle East and part of Newcastle West. With the introduction of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in 1920, it absorbed Kahibah,

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

and Wickham and elected five members. With the end of proportional representation in 1927, Newcastle was split into the single-member electorates of Newcastle,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Kahibah and Wallsend. It has since been usually held by the Labor Party. This pattern was threatened in early 2007, when sitting member Bryce Gaudry lost his preselection to a former local newsreader,

Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is a former Australian politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legislat ...

. Gaudry opted to stand as an independent and as a consequence split the Labor Party's vote. Independent former Lord Mayor of Newcastle

John Tate John Tate may refer to: * John Tate (mathematician) (1925–2019), American mathematician * John Torrence Tate Sr. (1889–1950), American physicist * John Tate (Australian politician) (1895–1977) * John Tate (actor) (1915–1979), Australian act ...

came close to winning the seat after preferences but McKay managed to hold on. Labor's previous margin of over 15% had been slashed to as little as 1.4%, making it one of Labor's most marginal seats. At the 2011 New South Wales state election, Liberal

Tim Owen Timothy Francis Owen (born 29 October 1955) is a former Australian politician and a former deputy commander of the Australian Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electo ...

defeated incumbent and one-term member McKay and popular Independent Tate, marking the first time the Liberals or their predecessors had won Newcastle as a single-member seat in over a century. This was one of many gains the Liberals made in what was previously Labor heartland. Owen became an independent and moved to the crossbench on 6 August 2014 after accusations at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). He resigned from parliament on 12 August 2014 after evidence of corruption was uncovered.Newcastle MP Tim Owen and Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwell resign from NSW Parliament following ICAC donations inquiry: SMH 12 August 2014
/ref> The Liberals opted not to contest the ensuing by-election, which saw Labor's

Tim Crakanthorp Timothy Carson Crakanthorp is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 25 October 2014, when he was elected in a by-election to the seat of Newcastle. When he was elected he was a ser ...

reclaim the seat handily.

Members for Newcastle

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcastle

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Politics of Newcastle, New South Wales 1859 establishments in Australia

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

1894 disestablishments in Australia

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

1904 establishments in Australia

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...