Stockton North is a constituency[n 1] covering the town of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham and other nearby settlements in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees located north of the River Tees, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Alex Cunningham, a member of the Labour Party.[n 2]
Stockton North | |
---|---|
Borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | County Durham |
Electorate | 65,023 (2018)[1] |
Major settlements | Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham, Wolviston, Port Clarence and Thorpe Thewles |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1983 |
Member of Parliament | Alex Cunningham (Labour) |
Seats | One |
Created from | Stockton-on-Tees |
1983–1997: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Blue Hall, Charltons, Elm Tree, Glebe, Grange, Hardwick, Marsh House, Mile House, Newtown, Northfield, Norton, Portrack and Tilery, Roseworth, St Aidan's, St Cuthbert's, Whitton, and Wolveston.
1997–2010: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Blue Hall, Charltons, Glebe, Grange, Hardwick, Marsh House, Mile House, Newtown, Northfield, Norton, Portrack and Tilery, Roseworth, St Aidan's, St Cuthbert's, Whitton, and Wolviston.
2010–present: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Billingham Central, Billingham East, Billingham North, Billingham South, Billingham West, Hardwick, Newtown, Northern Parishes, Norton North, Norton South, Norton West, Roseworth, Stockton Town Centre, and Western Parishes.
Stockton North consists of the north-eastern part of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham and the nearby towns and villages of Billingham, Wolviston, Port Clarence and Thorpe Thewles.[2]
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the constituency will be composed of the following wards of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
In order to bring the electorate within the permitted electoral range, the Parkfield and Oxbridge ward will be transferred in from Stockton South (to be renamed Stockton West) in exchange for Western Parishes.
Following a local government boundary review which came into effect in May 2023,[4][5] the constituency will now comprise the following wards of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees from the next general election:
The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, partially replacing the former Stockton-on-Tees constituency. The outgoing MP for Stockton-on-Tees was Bill Rodgers, who had held the seat since 1962. He had been a Labour Party member until 1981, when he left to found the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
The 1983 election was the first since Rodgers had left the Labour Party, and he was narrowly defeated by Labour's Frank Cook. Cook held the seat with majorities between 16% and 48% until the 2010 general election, when after 27 years as the MP he was de-selected by his local party. Cook chose to run again however, as an independent candidate. Cook polled less than 5% of the vote, fifth of the seven candidates who stood, and joined four of these in forfeiting his deposit and the seat was held by the Labour Party's next candidate, Alex Cunningham.
In November 2021, Cunningham announced his intention to stand down at the next general election.[7]
The town of Stockton-on-Tees is a significant exports manufacturing and processing base in the United Kingdom. Stockton North has often in economically troubled times significantly more unemployment than Stockton South: workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly above the national average of 3.8%, at 7.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian compared to 4.5% in Stockton South.[8]
In November 2023 Home Secretary James Cleverly was accused of calling the constituency "a shithole" during a Commons debate. The comment was said to have been made after the prime minister Rishi Sunak was challenged by MP Alex Cunningham on the level of child poverty in his constituency.[9][10]
Election | Member[11] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Frank Cook | Labour | |
2010 | Alex Cunningham | Labour |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Green | Sam Bradford[12] | ||||
Conservative | Niall Innes[13] | ||||
Reform UK | John Gerard McDermottroe[14] | ||||
Labour | Chris McDonald[15] | ||||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | |||||
Registered electors | |||||
Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alex Cunningham | 17,728 | 43.1 | −13.8 | |
Conservative | Steven Jackson | 16,701 | 40.6 | +4.1 | |
Brexit Party | Martin Walker | 3,907 | 9.5 | New | |
Liberal Democrats | Aidan King | 1,631 | 4.0 | +2.5 | |
North East | Mark Burdon | 1,189 | 2.9 | New | |
Majority | 1,027 | 2.5 | −17.9 | ||
Turnout | 41,156 | 61.7 | −2.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −9.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alex Cunningham[18] | 24,304 | 56.9 | +7.8 | |
Conservative | Mark Fletcher | 15,589 | 36.5 | +8.5 | |
UKIP | Ted Strike | 1,834 | 4.3 | −14.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Sarah Brown[19] | 646 | 1.5 | −0.7 | |
Green | Emma Robson | 358 | 0.8 | New | |
Majority | 8,715 | 20.4 | −0.7 | ||
Turnout | 42,731 | 64.5 | +4.7 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −0.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alex Cunningham | 19,436 | 49.1 | +6.3 | |
Conservative | Christopher Daniels | 11,069 | 28.0 | +2.1 | |
UKIP | Mandy Boylett | 7,581 | 19.2 | +15.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Anthony Sycamore | 884 | 2.2 | −13.9 | |
North East | John Tait | 601 | 1.5 | New | |
Majority | 8,367 | 21.1 | +4.2 | ||
Turnout | 39,571 | 59.8 | +1.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alex Cunningham | 16,923 | 42.8 | −12.0 | |
Conservative | Ian Galletley | 10,247 | 25.9 | +4.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Philip Latham | 6,342 | 16.1 | -2.6 | |
BNP | James MacPherson | 1,724 | 4.4 | +1.8 | |
Independent | Frank Cook | 1,577 | 4.0 | New | |
UKIP | Gordon Parkin | 1,556 | 3.9 | +1.2 | |
English Democrat | Ian Saul | 1,129 | 2.9 | New | |
Majority | 6,676 | 16.9 | -17.2 | ||
Turnout | 39,498 | 58.6 | +0.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -8.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Cook | 20,012 | 54.9 | -8.5 | |
Conservative | Harriett Baldwin | 7,575 | 20.8 | -1.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Neil Hughes | 6,869 | 18.9 | +7.0 | |
BNP | Kevin Hughes | 986 | 2.7 | New | |
UKIP | Gordon Parkin | 986 | 2.7 | New | |
Majority | 12,439 | 34.1 | -7.2 | ||
Turnout | 36,428 | 57.6 | +2.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | -3.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Cook | 22,470 | 63.4 | -3.4 | |
Conservative | Amanda Vigar | 7,823 | 22.1 | +3.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mary Wallace | 4,208 | 11.9 | +1.1 | |
Green | Bill Wennington | 926 | 2.6 | New | |
Majority | 14,647 | 41.3 | −6.7 | ||
Turnout | 35,427 | 54.8 | −14.2 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −3.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Cook | 29,726 | 66.8 | +14.5 | |
Conservative | Bryan Johnston | 8,369 | 18.8 | −13.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Suzanne Fletcher | 4,816 | 10.8 | −3.2 | |
Referendum | Kevin McConnell | 1,563 | 3.5 | New | |
Majority | 21,357 | 48.0 | +28.4 | ||
Turnout | 44,474 | 69.0 | −7.8 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +14.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Cook | 27,918 | 52.3 | +3.1 | |
Conservative | Simon E Brocklebank-Fowler | 17,444 | 32.7 | +0.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Suzanne Fletcher | 7,454 | 14.0 | -4.3 | |
Independent Labour | Ken McGarvey | 550 | 1.0 | New | |
Majority | 10,474 | 19.6 | +3.0 | ||
Turnout | 53,366 | 76.8 | +1.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Cook | 26,043 | 49.2 | +12.1 | |
Conservative | David Faber | 17,242 | 32.5 | −0.8 | |
SDP | Nicholas Bosanquet | 9,712 | 18.3 | −11.3 | |
Majority | 8,801 | 16.6 | +12.8 | ||
Turnout | 52,997 | 75.4 | +5.1 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +6.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Frank Cook | 18,339 | 37.1 | ||
Conservative | Harry Davies | 16,469 | 33.3 | ||
SDP | Bill Rodgers | 14,630 | 29.6 | ||
Majority | 1,870 | 3.8 | |||
Turnout | 49,438 | 70.3 | |||
Labour win (new seat) |
Speaking at PMQs, Mr Cunningham had asked: "Why are 34 per cent of children in my constituency living in poverty?" Before the Prime Minister could answer, Cleverly allegedly responded: "Because it's a shithole".
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