# Blaydon (UK Parliament constituency)

Blaydon was a constituency represented in the House of Commons from 2017 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Liz Twist of the Labour Party.

## Constituency profile

The seat was a safe seat for the Labour Party from 1935 until its abolition.
Historically, the area's economy relied on coal mining from the Victorian period until the decline of mining in the latter half of the 20th century.
By 2024, the economy was supported by engineering and service industries on Tyneside, and agriculture. It also included the Metrocentre, the second-largest shopping centre in the UK.
The constituency was on the western upland outskirts of Gateshead and with communities separated by green buffers. It comprised the towns of Blaydon, Whickham, Ryton, Birtley and surrounding villages in the south and west of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.

## Boundaries
### 1918–1950

* The Urban Districts of Blaydon, Ryton, Tanfield, and Whickham.
Blaydon was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918 for the 1918 general election when Blaydon, Ryton and Whickham were split off from the existing Chester-le-Street seat. Tanfield was added from the abolished constituency of North West Durham.

### 1950–1983

* The Urban Districts of Blaydon, Ryton, and Whickham.
Tanfield transferred to Consett.

### 1983–2010

* The Borough of Gateshead wards of Birtley, Blaydon, Chopwell and Rowlands Gill, Crawcrook and Greenside, Lamesley, Ryton, Whickham North, Whickham South, and Winlaton.
The communities of Birtley and Lamesley were transferred in from the abolished constituency of Chester-le-Street. Lost small area in the east of the seat to the new constituency of Tyne Bridge.

### 2010–2024

* The Borough of Gateshead wards of Birtley, Blaydon, Chopwell and Rowlands Gill, Crawcrook and Greenside, Dunston Hill and Whickham East, Lamesley, Ryton, Crookhill and Stella, Whickham North, Whickham South and Sunniside, and Winlaton and High Spen.
Minor changes resulting from the redrawing of ward boundaries in Gateshead Borough and abolition of Tyne Bridge.

## Abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents distributed to three new constituencies:
* The three wards incorporating the town of Whickham included in an expanded Gateshead constituency named Gateshead Central and Whickham
* Birtley and Lamesley combined with Washington to form Washington and Gateshead South
* Remaining wards (comprising about half the electorate), including the communities of Blaydon, Rowlands Gill and Ryton, to form a cross-county constituency with Consett in County Durham - named Blaydon and Consett

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Whip |
| 1918 | Walter Waring | Coalition Liberal |
| 1922 | William Whiteley | Labour |
| 1931 | Thomas Martin | Conservative |
| 1935 | William Whiteley | Labour |
| 1956 by-election | Robert Woof | Labour |
| 1979 | John McWilliam | Labour |
| 2005 | David Anderson | Labour |
| 2017 | Liz Twist | Labour |
| 2024 | Constituency abolished | Constituency abolished |

## Election results 1918-2024
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | National Liberal | Walter Waring | 9,937 | 52.8 | |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 7,844 | 41.6 | |
| | Liberal | Thomas George Graham | 1,064 | 5.6 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,093 | 11.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,845 | 57.4 | |
| | National Liberal win (new seat) | National Liberal win (new seat) | National Liberal win (new seat) | National Liberal win (new seat) | National Liberal win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 14,722 | 53.9 | +12.3 |
| | Unionist | Sir Frank Robert Simpson, 1st Baronet | 7,963 | 29.2 | New |
| | National Liberal | Frederick William Cook | 4,606 | 16.9 | −35.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,759 | 24.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,291 | 77.0 | +19.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 35,434 | | |
| | Labour gain from National Liberal | Labour gain from National Liberal | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1923: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 15,073 | 67.9 | +14.0 |
| | Unionist | George Denson | 7,124 | 32.1 | +2.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,949 | 35.8 | +11.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,197 | 62.1 | −14.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 35,764 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +5.6 | |
General election 1924: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 17,670 | 62.6 | −5.3 |
| | Unionist | George Denson | 10,549 | 37.4 | +5.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,121 | 25.2 | −10.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,219 | 77.0 | +14.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 36,646 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −5.3 | |
General election 1929: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 21,221 | 59.1 | −3.5 |
| | Unionist | R. Charles White | 7,847 | 21.8 | −15.6 |
| | Liberal | Thomas Magnay | 6878 | 19.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,374 | 37.3 | +12.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,946 | 79.5 | +2.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 45,204 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +6.0 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Thomas Martin | 18,927 | 50.66 | |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 18,431 | 49.34 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 496 | 1.32 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,358 | 80.95 | |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | | |
General election 1935: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 24,148 | 62.29 | |
| | Conservative | Charles Edwin Vickery | 14,622 | 37.71 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,526 | 24.58 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,770 | 80.76 | |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |

### Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 29,931 | 71.65 |
| | Conservative | Edward Charles Peake | 11,842 | 28.35 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,089 | 43.30 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,773 | 79.70 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 28,343 | 68.94 |
| | Conservative | Leslie Frances Lawson | 12,772 | 31.06 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,571 | 37.88 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,115 | 87.46 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1951: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 28,337 | 68.18 |
| | Conservative | Charles Percy Lawler Satchwell | 13,223 | 31.82 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,114 | 36.36 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,560 | 87.60 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | William Whiteley | 25,273 | 66.47 |
| | Conservative | John Morley Reay-Smith | 12,750 | 33.53 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,523 | 32.94 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,023 | 80.66 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
1956 Blaydon by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 18,791 | 69.94 | +3.47 |
| | Conservative | John Morley Reay-Smith | 8,077 | 30.06 | −3.47 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,714 | 39.88 | +6.94 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,868 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -3.4 | |
General election 1959: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 25,969 | 65.43 |
| | Conservative | Godfrey William Iredell | 13,719 | 34.57 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,250 | 30.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,688 | 82.94 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 25,926 | 66.72 |
| | Conservative | Neville Cooper Bailey | 12,932 | 33.28 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,994 | 33.44 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,858 | 80.01 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1966: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 26,629 | 69.21 |
| | Conservative | Bernard Bligh | 11,849 | 30.79 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,780 | 38.42 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,478 | 77.45 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 25,724 | 64.88 |
| | Conservative | Norman H. D'Aguiar | 13,926 | 35.12 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,798 | 29.76 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,650 | 72.30 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election February 1974: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 22,279 | 58.65 |
| | Conservative | A.A. Craig | 15,705 | 41.35 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,574 | 17.30 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,984 | 67.25 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election October 1974: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Robert Woof | 23,743 | 57.27 | |
| | Conservative | A.A. Craig | 10,277 | 24.79 | |
| | Liberal | Paul Barker | 7,439 | 17.94 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,466 | 32.48 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,409 | 69.20 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1979: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | John McWilliam | 24,687 | 53.40 |
| | Conservative | T. Middleton | 16,178 | 35.00 |
| | Liberal | David Hutton | 5,364 | 11.60 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,509 | 18.40 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,229 | 79.07 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John McWilliam | 21,285 | 44.4 | −9.0 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Williams | 14,063 | 29.3 | −5.7 |
| | SDP | Maurice Carr | 12,607 | 26.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,222 | 15.1 | −3.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,955 | 73.2 | −5.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -1.7 | |
General election 1987: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John McWilliam | 25,277 | 50.3 | +5.9 |
| | SDP | Paul Nunn | 12,789 | 25.5 | −0.8 |
| | Conservative | Peter Pescod | 12,147 | 24.2 | −5.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,488 | 24.8 | +9.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,213 | 75.7 | +2.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John McWilliam | 27,028 | 52.7 | +2.4 |
| | Conservative | Peter Pescod | 13,685 | 26.7 | +2.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Nunn | 10,602 | 20.7 | −4.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,343 | 26.0 | +1.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,315 | 77.7 | +2.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −0.1 | |
General election 1997: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John McWilliam | 27,535 | 60.0 | +7.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter J. Maughan | 10,930 | 23.8 | +3.1 |
| | Conservative | Mark A. Watson | 6,048 | 13.2 | −13.5 |
| | Independent | Richard J. Rook | 1,412 | 3.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,605 | 36.2 | +10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,925 | 71.0 | −6.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | John McWilliam | 20,340 | 54.8 | −5.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter J. Maughan | 12,531 | 33.8 | +10.0 |
| | Conservative | Mark A. Watson | 4,215 | 11.4 | −1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,809 | 21.0 | −15.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,086 | 57.4 | −13.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 2005: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | David Anderson | 20,120 | 51.5 | −3.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter J. Maughan | 14,785 | 37.9 | +4.1 |
| | Conservative | Dorothy Luckhurst | 3,129 | 8.0 | −3.4 |
| | UKIP | Norman R. Endacott | 1,019 | 2.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,335 | 13.7 | −7.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,053 | 62.6 | +5.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −3.7 | |

### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Dave Anderson | 22,297 | 49.6 | −1.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Bradbury | 13,180 | 29.3 | −8.5 |
| | Conservative | Glenn Hall | 7,159 | 15.9 | +7.9 |
| | BNP | Keith McFarlane | 2,277 | 5.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,117 | 20.3 | +6.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,913 | 66.2 | +4.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −4.5 | |
General election 2015: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Dave Anderson | 22,090 | 49.2 | −0.6 |
| | UKIP | Mark Bell | 7,863 | 17.5 | New |
| | Conservative | Alison Griffiths | 7,838 | 17.4 | +1.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Wallace | 5,497 | 12.2 | −17.1 |
| | Green | Paul McNally | 1,648 | 3.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,227 | 31.7 | +11.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,936 | 66.2 | 0.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -9.0 | |
General election 2017: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Liz Twist | 26,979 | 56.1 | +6.9 |
| | Conservative | Tom Smith | 13,502 | 28.1 | +10.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jonathan Wallace | 4,366 | 9.1 | −3.1 |
| | UKIP | Ray Tolley | 2,459 | 5.1 | −12.4 |
| | Green | Paul McNally | 583 | 1.2 | −2.5 |
| | Libertarian | Michael Marchetti | 114 | 0.2 | New |
| | Space Navies Party | Lisabela Marschild | 81 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,477 | 28.0 | −3.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,084 | 70.2 | +4.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -1.85 | |
General election 2019: Blaydon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Liz Twist | 19,794 | 43.3 | −12.8 |
| | Conservative | Adrian Pepper | 14,263 | 31.2 | +3.1 |
| | Brexit Party | Michael Robinson | 5,833 | 12.8 | New |
| | Liberal Democrats | Vicky Anderson | 3,703 | 8.1 | −1.0 |
| | Green | Diane Cadman | 1,279 | 2.8 | +1.6 |
| | Liberal | Kathy King | 615 | 1.3 | New |
| | Space Navies Party | Lisabela Marschild | 118 | 0.3 | +0.1 |
| | Independent | Lee Garrett | 76 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,531 | 12.1 | −15.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,681 | 67.3 | −2.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −8.0 | |