Sunderland Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Sunderland Central is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It is represented by the Labour Party MP Julie Elliott, who has held the seat since its creation in 2010.

Sunderland Central
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Sunderland Central in Tyne and Wear for the 2010 general election
Location of Tyne and Wear within England
CountyTyne and Wear
Electorate76,292 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created2010
Member of ParliamentJulie Elliott (Labour Party)
Number of membersOne
Created fromSunderland North, Sunderland South

Boundaries

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which created this constituency for the 2010 general election, with the following Sunderland City Council electoral wards: Barnes, Fulwell, Hendon, Millfield, Pallion, Ryhope, St Michael’s, St Peter’s and Southwick.

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 historical Conservative strength, such as Fulwell and St Michaels, into one seat.

Local politics of wards in the seat

At the 2008 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]

The Sunderland Central constituency covers both the city centre and Sunderland Docks as well as coastal suburbs such as Fulwell and Ryhope. Nearly all of the middle-class areas of the city are in this constituency and therefore the Conservatives tend to do better in Sunderland Central than either of its neighbours.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[3] Party
2010 Julie Elliott Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Sunderland Central[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julie Elliott 18,336 42.2 –13.3
Conservative Tom D'Silva 15,372 35.4 +2.1
Brexit Party Viral Parikh 5,047 11.6 New
Liberal Democrats Niall Hodson 3,025 7.0 +3.1
Green Rachel Featherstone 1,212 2.8 +1.3
Independent Dale McKenzie 484 1.1 New
Majority 2,964 6.8 –15.4
Turnout 43,476 59.8 –2.2
Labour hold Swing –7.7
General election 2017: Sunderland Central[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julie Elliott 25,056 55.5 +5.3
Conservative Robert Oliver 15,059 33.3 +9.9
UKIP Gary Leighton 2,209 4.8 -14.3
Liberal Democrats Niall Hodson 1,777 3.9 +1.3
Green Rachel Featherstone 705 1.5 -2.6
Independent Sean Cockburn 305 0.6 New
Majority 9,997 22.2 -4.6
Turnout 45,111 62.0 +5.0
Labour hold Swing -2.3
General election 2015: Sunderland Central[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julie Elliott 20,959 50.2 +4.3
Conservative Jeff Townsend 9,780 23.4 -6.7
UKIP Bryan Foster 7,997 19.1 +16.5
Green Rachel Featherstone 1,706 4.1 New
Liberal Democrats Adrian Page 1,105 2.6 -14.3
Independent Joseph Young 215 0.5 New
Majority 11,179 26.8 +11.0
Turnout 41,762 57.0 ±0.0
Labour hold Swing +5.5
General election 2010: Sunderland Central[7][8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Julie Elliott 19,495 45.9
Conservative Lee Martin 12,770 30.1
Liberal Democrats Paul Dixon 7,191 16.9
BNP John McCaffrey 1,913 4.5
UKIP Pauline Fentonby-Warren 1,094 2.6
Majority 6,725 15.8
Turnout 42,463 57.0
Labour win (new seat)

See also

References
  1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  4. "Sunderland Central Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  5. "Revealed: the full list of 2017 general election candidates in Sunderland". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2010-05-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Sunderland Central". BBC News.
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