Newcastle-upon-Tyne was a parliamentary borough in the county of Northumberland of the House of Commons of England from 1283 to 1706, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc vote system.

Newcastle first sent Members to Parliament in 1283, although it was not always possible to act upon the writ of summons, which was disregarded on at least four occasions (1315, 1327, 1332 and 1337) because of warfare with the Scots.^[1]

The constituency was abolished in 1918, being split into four divisions; Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central, Newcastle-upon-Tyne East, Newcastle-upon-Tyne North and Newcastle-upon-Tyne West.^[2]

Boundaries

The constituency was based upon the town, later city, of Newcastle upon Tyne in the historic county of Northumberland in North East England. In 1848, the constituency boundaries were described in A Topographical Dictionary of England.^[3]

The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward the First, since which time it has returned two members to parliament: the present electoral limits are co-extensive with those of the county of the town, comprising 5730 acres; the old boundaries, which were abrogated in 1832, included 2700 acres only.

When the House of Commons debated the boundaries to be used from 1832, the Tory Party suggested including Gateshead (to the south) and South Shields (to the east) within the Newcastle-upon-Tyne constituency. The Whigs resisted this idea, so these two neighbouring settlements were not incorporated into this seat.^[4]

The contents of the parliamentary borough, as defined by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 (2 and 3 Wm. 4, c. 64) were:

The Town and County of the Town of Newcastle and the several Townships of Byker, Heaton, Jesmond, Westgate, and Elswick.^[5][6]

The boundaries remained unchanged from 1832 until the area was divided into single member constituencies in 1918.^[7] These were not necessarily identical to the boundaries used for local government purposes.

In the period after 1885, the constituency was surrounded by Wansbeck to the west and north, Tyneside to the north east and east, Jarrow to the south east, Gateshead to the south, and Chester-le-Street to the south west.^[8]

Members of Parliament

Party affiliations are derived from Stook Smith and Craig (see reference section below). Tory is used prior to the 1835 general election and Conservative from that time. Liberal candidates (as listed by Craig) before the formal creation of the party, shortly after the 1859 general election, are listed as Whig or Radical if the information is available in the work by Stooks Smith.

MPs, who were known by the same name, are distinguished in the table below and the election results by a number in brackets after the name. It is not suggested that such numbers were used by contemporaries of the individuals so numbered.

Elections

The bloc vote electoral system was used in elections to fill two seats and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote (if applicable).

The reference to some candidates as Non Partisan does not, necessarily, mean that they did not have a party allegiance. It means that the sources consulted did not specify a party allegiance.

Before the Representation of the People Act 1832, the borough had an electorate limited to its freemen. There were about 2,500 voters in the second half of the 18th century.^[26]

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Cowen	11,766	42.9	+2.1
	Liberal	Ashton Wentworth Dilke	10,404	37.9	+9.9
	Conservative	Charles Frederick Hamond	5,271	19.2	−12.0
Majority			5,133	18.7	+9.1
Turnout			17,037 (est)	71.6 (est)	+8.0
Registered electors			23,800
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.8

Dilke's resignation caused a by-election.

John Morley

By-election, 26 Feb 1883: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1 seat)^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Morley	9,443	56.8	−24.0
	Conservative	Gainsford Bruce[39]	7,187	43.2	+24.0
Majority			2,256	13.6	−5.1
Turnout			16,630	62.1	−9.5 (est)
Registered electors			26,305
	Liberal hold		Swing	−24.0

General election 1885: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[40][41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Joseph Cowen	10,489	34.9	−8.0
	Liberal	John Morley	10,129	33.6	−4.3
	Conservative	Charles Frederick Hamond	9,500	31.5	+12.3
Turnout			30,478	73.0	+1.4 (est)
Registered electors			30,314
Majority			989	3.4	N/A
	Independent Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
Majority			629	2.1	−16.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.3

• Cowen lost the support of the local Liberal Association during the campaign period, and Liberal supporters were urged to only vote for Morley.

Morley was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

1886 Newcastle-upon-Tyne by-election^[40][41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Morley	11,110	56.8	+23.2
	Conservative	Charles Frederick Hamond	8,449	43.2	+12.7
Majority			2,661	13.6	+11.5
Turnout			19,559	64.5	−8.5
Registered electors			30,314
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.8

Armstrong

Ridley

General election 1886: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[40][41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Morley	10,681	26.6	−7.0
	Liberal	James Craig	10,172	25.4	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	William Armstrong	9,657	24.1	New
	Conservative	Matthew White Ridley	9,580	23.9	−7.6
Majority			515	1.3	−0.8
Turnout			40,090	67.3	−5.7
Registered electors			30,314
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3
	Liberal gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[40][41][42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Richard Plummer	15,097	29.7	+4.3
	Conservative	George Renwick	14,752	29.0	+4.8
	Liberal	Samuel Storey	10,488	20.7	−2.9
	Liberal	Hedworth Lambton	10,463	20.6	−1.6
Majority			4,264	8.3	+7.7
Turnout			50,800	74.1	−5.5
Registered electors			34,690
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.9

Walter Hudson

General election 1906: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[40][41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Walter Hudson	18,869	31.1	New
	Liberal	Thomas Cairns	18,423	30.5	+9.8
	Conservative	Walter Richard Plummer	11,942	19.8	−9.9
	Conservative	George Renwick	11,223	18.6	−10.4
Turnout			60,457	84.6	+10.5
Registered electors			36,909
Majority			6,927	11.3	N/A
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A
Majority			7,200	11.9	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.9

1908 Newcastle-upon-Tyne by-election^[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Renwick	13,863	48.5	+7.1
	Liberal	Edward Shortt	11,720	41.1	+10.6
	Social Democratic Federation	Edward Hartley	2,971	10.4	New
Majority			2,143	7.4	N/A
Turnout			28,554	76.4	−8.2
Registered electors			37,389
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	−1.8

Elections in the 1910s

Edward Shortt

General election January 1910: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[40][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Shortt	18,779	28.9	−1.6
	Labour	Walter Hudson	18,241	28.1	−3.0
	Conservative	Walter Richard Plummer	14,067	21.6	+1.8
	Conservative	George Renwick	13,928	21.4	+2.8
Turnout			65,015	86.1	+1.5
Registered electors			38,534
Majority			4,712	7.3	−3.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.7
Majority			4,174	6.5	−4.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.9

General election December 1910: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2 seats)^[40][41][43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Shortt	16,599	28.1	−0.8
	Labour	Walter Hudson	16,447	28.0	−0.1
	Conservative	Edward Clark	12,915	22.0	+0.4
	Conservative	Jasper Nicholas Ridley	12,849	21.9	+0.5
Turnout			58,810	78.3	−7.8
Majority			3,684	6.1	−1.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.6
Majority			3,598	6.1	−0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.3

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Edward Shortt
• Labour: Walter Hudson
• Unionist: Walter Richard Plummer,^[44] Nicholas Grattan-Doyle^[45]

1918 by-election: Newcastle-upon-Tyne^[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Shortt	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

See also

• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Northumberland

Notes

References

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Electoral Reform in England and Wales, by Charles Seymour (David & Charles Reprints 1970)
• The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F. W. S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 1)