Washington and Sunderland West (UK Parliament constituency)


Washington and Sunderland West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Sharon Hodgson, a member of the Labour Party.

Members of Parliament

Constituency profile

The town of Washington has a well-preserved historic centre with a museum dedicated to the first United States president, on its outskirts, the family home of George Washington. Notwithstanding its tourism appeal, workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 5.7% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian, and equal to the North East average.

Boundaries

Washington and Sunderland West has electoral wards:
Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies to create this constituency for the General Election 2010.
;Forerunners
It is composed of elements of the following predecessors: Houghton and Washington East; Gateshead East and Washington West; Sunderland North; and Sunderland South.
;Selection of first MP
Following a ballot of members on 8 September 2007 Sharon Hodgson MP was selected as the Labour candidate, she represented 38% of the new seat which came from her previous seat of Gateshead East and Washington West which was abolished.
;Political history
All of the predecessor seats were held with majorities exceeding 5,000 votes and 5% of the vote before the 2010 election. Electoral calculus, an academic website, gave a provisional ranking as the 28th-safest Labour seat in the United Kingdom, and the 11th-safest Labour seat in England based on the results of 2005.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

For 2015, the British National Party announced Pauline Renwick as a candidate, but she failed to stand.
2010 vote share changes and swing are based on notional results.