Houghton and Sunderland South () is a
constituency
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 (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
UK Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
since its creation in 2010 by
Bridget Phillipson
Bridget Maeve Phillipson (born 19 December 1983) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Education since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South since 2 ...
of the
Labour Party.
In the
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
general elections, it was the first constituency to declare its result, continuing the record of its predecessor seat, Sunderland South, in the four general elections from 1992 to 2005. However, in the
2017 and 2019 general elections, it was beaten by
Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Newcastle upon Tyne Central is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Chi Onwurah of the Labour Party. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the f ...
.
Constituency profile
Houghton and Sunderland South is a medium density inland area, partly situated on the south banks of the
River Wear, which is mostly populated by people of working age, and a minority of the population living in rural villages. The majority of the population historically relied on
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
,
steelworks and
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries on
Wearside
Wearside () is a built-up area in both Tyne and Wear and County Durham, Northern England. It is named after the River Wear which flows through it and traditionally all in the County of Durham. In the 2011 census, its official name was the Sunderl ...
, with
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...
at the forefront of some of the earliest
Labour Party activity, and several of its earliest Members of Parliament. The largest opposition vote has come from the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
Boundaries
The
City of Sunderland
The City of Sunderland () is a metropolitan borough with city status in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is named after its largest settlement, Sunderland, spanning a far larger area, including nearby towns i ...
wards of Copt Hill, Doxford, Hetton, Houghton, St Chad's, Sandhill, Shiney Row, and Silksworth.
Houghton and Sunderland South was created for the
2010 general election when the Boundary Commission reduced the number of seats in
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...
from 13 to 12, with the constituencies in the City of Sunderland, in particular, being reorganised. The constituency was formed from the majority of the former
Houghton and Washington East
Houghton and Washington East was, from 1997 until 2010, a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. A seat ...
seat (Copt Hill, Doxford, Hetton, Houghton and Shiney Row wards) and parts of the former
Sunderland South seat (St Chad's, Sandhill and Silksworth wards).
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
See also
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear
*
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear
Politics of the City of Sunderland
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2010