Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is a constituency created in 1997 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Luke Myer of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland is a constituency in the Teesside area of North Yorkshire. It covers the southern suburbs of the town of Middlesbrough (Stainton, Hemlington, Coulby Newham, Marton, Nunthorpe and part of Ormesby) and the eastern part of the region of Cleveland, which includes the towns of Guisborough, Skelton-in-Cleveland and Loftus and the village of Brotton.
Middlesbrough is a large port town. It was a small settlement until the 1830s when it was selected as the location for an industrial port to ship the region's coal production. It rapidly grew to become a major centre for iron manufacturing and was nicknamed Ironopolis. Middlesbrough's southern suburbs were rural villages until the late 20th century when the town's expansion brought them into its urban area. The towns in Cleveland are historic market towns that grew mostly to house iron miners who worked in the nearby North York Moors. Guisborough, Marton and Nunthorpe are generally affluent whilst the rest of the constituency has high levels of deprivation, giving the constituency an overall average level of wealth. The average house price is lower than the national average but similar to the rest of North East England.
There is a large retiree population in the Cleveland area, giving the constituency a high average age. Residents have average levels of education and homeownership, and rates of household income and child poverty are in line with the rest of the region. and the unemployment rate is similar to the rest of the country.
The constituency is politically mixed at the local borough council level. The wealthier Middlesbrough suburbs elected Liberal Democrat and independent representatives, whilst the more deprived areas are represented by Labour Party and Conservative councillors. In Cleveland, there was Labour Party support in Guisborough and Skelton-in-Cleveland whilst the more rural east elected mostly independents. Voters in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum; an estimated 65% voted in favour of Brexit compared to the nationwide figure of 52%.
The boundaries within the Borough of Middlesbrough were aligned to new ward boundaries; in Redcar and Cleveland, the town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea was transferred to the Redcar constituency.
The constituency was created in 1997, mostly replacing the former seat of Langbaurgh and consists of the southern outskirts of Middlesbrough (such as Hemlington, Nunthorpe, Coulby Newham, Marton, Easterside and Park End) and those parts of the Redcar and Cleveland district not in the Redcar constituency. These include Guisborough, Loftus, Skelton and Brotton.
History
;Summary of results
This seat was created in 1997 and was held until 2017 by a representative of the Labour Party. Election results have to date been considerably more close than in the overwhelmingly urban, city seat of Middlesbrough, this instead being a marginal seat, particularly the 2010, 2015 and 2017 results which saw no absolute majority unlike the previous three absolute majorities won by Ashok Kumar of the Labour Party. In the five elections from 1997 to 2015, the second-positioned candidate was a Conservative. The 2015 result gave the seat the 20th-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. At the 2017 general election, the seat was gained by Simon Clarke of the Conservative Party on a 3.6% swing, one of the six seats in England gained by the Conservatives at that election.
;Third-placed parties
In each election to date the fourth-placed and lower candidates have failed to reach 5% of the vote, therefore forfeiting their deposits. In 2015 the third-placed party in line with national trends changed from the Liberal Democrats to UKIP on large swings; candidates from the third-placed parties in this area have always kept their deposit except in the 2017 and 2019 elections.
;Turnout
Turnout has varied from 76% in 1997 to just over 60% in 2005.
Members of Parliament
Langbaurgh prior to 1997
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election
!Member
!Party
!Notes
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1997
| Ashok Kumar
| Labour
| Died in office March 2010; no by-election held due to impending general election
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2010
| Tom Blenkinsop
| Labour
|
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2017
| Simon Clarke
| Conservative
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2021-2022; Secretary of State for Housing September-October 2022
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2024
| Luke Myer
| Labour
|
|-
|}
Elections
thumb|centre|upright=2.5|Election results 1997-2024
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
See also
- List of parliamentary constituencies in Cleveland
- History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Cleveland
- List of parliamentary constituencies in North East England (region)
Notes
References
External links
- Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
- Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK