Post by Robert Waller on Oct 1, 2022 21:34:31 GMT
Jarrow in South Tyneside has chiefly impinged upon the nation’s consciousness in two very different ways in relation to two very different time periods. The first significant English historian, and indeed the pioneer historian of England, was the Venerable Bede, who ended his life as a monk at the abbey of St Paul’s, Jarrow in the year 735. There is even a ward named Bede now, situated in east Jarrow. Well over a thousand years later Jarrow became the best known example and symbol of the economic depression of the 1930s, in the shape of the famous 'Hunger' March to London in 1936 to protest about the massive local unemployment caused by the closure of the main employer, Palmer’s shipyard, three years earlier. The town’s Labour MP, Ellen Wilkinson, published The Town That Was Murdered in 1939. It was said that the unemployment rate had exceed 70% in the town of Jarrow in that decade, and indeed it has been estimated to have been even higher in the neighbouring town of Hebburn, also within the constituency.
Not surprisingly, the name of Jarrow has loomed large in left wing history ever since; and indeed the parliamentary constituency bearing its name (the only one beginning with the letter J) has been won by Labour continuously since Ellen Wilkinson regained it in 1935. Jarrow was an early adopter as far as the Labour party was concerned; they first won it in a July 1907 byelection caused by the death of its 84 year old Liberal MP, Sir Charles Palmer (of the family that owned the shipyard). The victor then, Pete Curran, a trade unionist of Glaswegian Irish Catholic background, did not enjoy such longevity. He was narrowly beaten by Sir Charles’s son Mark Palmer in January 1910 and shortly afterwards passed away at the age of 49. Ellen Wilkinson did not live into old age either, dying in 1947 at 55 of an overdose of medication from her bronchial condition. She was succeeded by a series of long serving Labour members for Jarrow. Their majorities were invariably in a very comfortable five figures – until December 2019.
Between the general elections of 2017 and 2019 the Labour share of the vote in the Jarrow constituency dropped by fully 20%, from 65.1% to 45.1%, a lower share even than in the disastrous year of 1931 and in fact their weakest since 1918, 101 years previously. There were a number of reasons for this slump. As in many other northern working class areas, Jarrow had voted to leave the EU in 2016 - in its case by nearly 62% to 38%. The Brexit party candidate did finish in third place in 2019 with a 10% share. Yet this alone is an insufficient explanation. The neighbouring seat to the east, South Shields, expressed almost identical preferences in the referendum and had a much large Brexit party share of 17%, but Labour’s vote did not drop as sharply. A second factor might have been the circumstances of the retirement of the Labour MP for Jarrow fom 1997 to 2019, Stephen Hepburn, who had been suspended from the party since September 2019 and barred from standing again due to allegations of harassment. Thirdly, there was an intervention by a relatively strong Independent candidate, John Robertson, who took nearly 3,000 votes and a 7% share in 2019. Robertson, a colourful character (worth a Google search), has intermittently been a South Tyneside councillor, and gained the Primrose ward seat from Labour as recently as May 2022. All this added up to a less than convincing Labour performance at the last general election in this iconic seat.
The position now looks more like there will be a re-establishment of a larger Labour lead next time, though. In the most recent electoral contests for South Tyneside council within the existing seat, there was only one other blemish apart from John Robertson’s victory in Primrose, which is the ward that covers the central and southern parts of the Town of Jarrow, the Primrose social housing state itself being in the latter part, away from the river frontage. This was in the rather untypical ward of Cleadon and East Boldon, located in the south eastern corner of the constituency towards Sunderland. Cleadon & East Boldon has been on many occasions the only ward within the seat won by the Tories, most recently in 2021, and in May 2022 it was taken for the first time by the Green party, in an intriguing three way marginal result in which three candidates, Green, Conservative and Labour, all polled between 31.3% and 36.2%. In fact the ward has had three different winners in its last three contests, as Labour won in 2019. It is typified by private housing, with an owner occupation proportion of 91.3% in the last available census in 2011, along with nearly 48% in professional and managerial occupations.
However Labour won all the other wards within the South Tyneside section of the Jarrow seat in 2022. There are still some strongly ‘council estate’ wards, in addition to Primrose (46% social housing in 2011) such as Bede (also 46%) and Hebburn North (37%). Hebburn is still very much a working class community as it was in the 1930s depression, and its North ward was Labour’s strongest of all in 2022, with a mighty 72% share. They also achieved 68% in Fellgate & Hedworth (even further south than Primrose), 60% in Hebburn South, 59% in Monkton (south west of Jarrow, south east of Hebburn), and 55% in Boldon Colliery, which as the name implies is not the posh end of Boldon, even though it is the west end. They won Bede ward easily despite a fairly strong Independent presence. Finally, two wards from the easternmost parts of Gateshead metropolitan borough are included at present along with the seven from South Tyneside. In 2022 Labour won Wardley & Leam Lane very easily, but the Liberal Democrats made a gain in Pelaw & Heworth, which wasn’t really a surprise as they had won the ward in 2021 and 2019 as well.
In the provisional boundary recommendations, it was proposed that the centre of gravity of the Jarrow constituency should move well to the south east, to take in a number of wards from Sunderland. However the North East of England region saw major changes at the revised report stage, published in early November 2022. instead of the Sunderland connection, Jarrow was now to maintain a close link to the south bank of the Tyne by extending further west into the borough of Gateshead, to include the four Gateshead wards of Felling, Pelaw & Heworth, Wardley & Leam Lane, and Windy Nook & Whitehills - the first and last named of these new additions, taken from the Gateshead constituency. Both Felling, on the river bank, and Windy Nook and Whitehills, as the name implies on the uplands to the south, were won massively by Labour in the last metropolitan council elections in May 2022. Meanwhile the anomalously middle class Cleadon & East Boldon ward, much weaker for Labour, will still be transferred out of the Jarrow seat and into South Shields.
Therefore Jarrow seems unlikely to hit the headlines again as it has done during its long history; for example it has not been part of the crumbling ‘red wall’ so far and seems very unlikely to be so in the foreseeable future. However the continued lack of economic growth and prosperity in the south Tyneside sub-region has meant that its population has not grown either, so the boundary changes in the general area will add up to one fewer Labour seat in total at the next general election, for all that Jarrow itself may look safer.
2011 Census
Age 65+ 17.8% 244/650
Owner-occupied 60.4% 469/650
Private rented 7.9% 638/650
Social rented 30.7% 46 /650
White 97.6% 169/650
Black 0.2% 557/650
Asian 1.3% 448/650
Born in England 96.0% 9/650
Managerial & professional 24.9%
Routine & Semi-routine 33.1%
Degree level 19.7% 529/650
No qualifications 26.9% 180/650
Highest qualification apprenticeship 6.5% 2/650
Students 6.5% 377/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 60.4% 399/573
Private rented 11.2% 564/573
Social rented 28.5% 41/573
White 96.5%
Black 0.5%
Asian 1.5%
Managerial & professional 27.6% 419/573
Routine & Semi-routine 28.8% 122/573
Degree level 26.6% 438/573
No qualifications 19.8% 205/573
General Election 2019: Jarrow
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Kate Osborne 18,363 45.1 –20.0
Conservative Nick Oliver 11,243 27.6 +2.6
Brexit Party Richard Monaghan 4,122 10.1 +10.1
Independent John Robertson 2,991 7.3 +7.3
Liberal Democrats David Wilkinson 2,360 5.8 +3.1
Green James Milne 831 2.0 +0.3
Independent Shaun Sadler 614 1.5 +1.5
SDP Mark Conway 212 0.5 +0.5
Lab Majority 7,120 17.5 -22.6
2019 electorate 65,103
Turnout 40,736 62.6 –3.8
Labour hold
Swing 11.3 Lab to C
Not surprisingly, the name of Jarrow has loomed large in left wing history ever since; and indeed the parliamentary constituency bearing its name (the only one beginning with the letter J) has been won by Labour continuously since Ellen Wilkinson regained it in 1935. Jarrow was an early adopter as far as the Labour party was concerned; they first won it in a July 1907 byelection caused by the death of its 84 year old Liberal MP, Sir Charles Palmer (of the family that owned the shipyard). The victor then, Pete Curran, a trade unionist of Glaswegian Irish Catholic background, did not enjoy such longevity. He was narrowly beaten by Sir Charles’s son Mark Palmer in January 1910 and shortly afterwards passed away at the age of 49. Ellen Wilkinson did not live into old age either, dying in 1947 at 55 of an overdose of medication from her bronchial condition. She was succeeded by a series of long serving Labour members for Jarrow. Their majorities were invariably in a very comfortable five figures – until December 2019.
Between the general elections of 2017 and 2019 the Labour share of the vote in the Jarrow constituency dropped by fully 20%, from 65.1% to 45.1%, a lower share even than in the disastrous year of 1931 and in fact their weakest since 1918, 101 years previously. There were a number of reasons for this slump. As in many other northern working class areas, Jarrow had voted to leave the EU in 2016 - in its case by nearly 62% to 38%. The Brexit party candidate did finish in third place in 2019 with a 10% share. Yet this alone is an insufficient explanation. The neighbouring seat to the east, South Shields, expressed almost identical preferences in the referendum and had a much large Brexit party share of 17%, but Labour’s vote did not drop as sharply. A second factor might have been the circumstances of the retirement of the Labour MP for Jarrow fom 1997 to 2019, Stephen Hepburn, who had been suspended from the party since September 2019 and barred from standing again due to allegations of harassment. Thirdly, there was an intervention by a relatively strong Independent candidate, John Robertson, who took nearly 3,000 votes and a 7% share in 2019. Robertson, a colourful character (worth a Google search), has intermittently been a South Tyneside councillor, and gained the Primrose ward seat from Labour as recently as May 2022. All this added up to a less than convincing Labour performance at the last general election in this iconic seat.
The position now looks more like there will be a re-establishment of a larger Labour lead next time, though. In the most recent electoral contests for South Tyneside council within the existing seat, there was only one other blemish apart from John Robertson’s victory in Primrose, which is the ward that covers the central and southern parts of the Town of Jarrow, the Primrose social housing state itself being in the latter part, away from the river frontage. This was in the rather untypical ward of Cleadon and East Boldon, located in the south eastern corner of the constituency towards Sunderland. Cleadon & East Boldon has been on many occasions the only ward within the seat won by the Tories, most recently in 2021, and in May 2022 it was taken for the first time by the Green party, in an intriguing three way marginal result in which three candidates, Green, Conservative and Labour, all polled between 31.3% and 36.2%. In fact the ward has had three different winners in its last three contests, as Labour won in 2019. It is typified by private housing, with an owner occupation proportion of 91.3% in the last available census in 2011, along with nearly 48% in professional and managerial occupations.
However Labour won all the other wards within the South Tyneside section of the Jarrow seat in 2022. There are still some strongly ‘council estate’ wards, in addition to Primrose (46% social housing in 2011) such as Bede (also 46%) and Hebburn North (37%). Hebburn is still very much a working class community as it was in the 1930s depression, and its North ward was Labour’s strongest of all in 2022, with a mighty 72% share. They also achieved 68% in Fellgate & Hedworth (even further south than Primrose), 60% in Hebburn South, 59% in Monkton (south west of Jarrow, south east of Hebburn), and 55% in Boldon Colliery, which as the name implies is not the posh end of Boldon, even though it is the west end. They won Bede ward easily despite a fairly strong Independent presence. Finally, two wards from the easternmost parts of Gateshead metropolitan borough are included at present along with the seven from South Tyneside. In 2022 Labour won Wardley & Leam Lane very easily, but the Liberal Democrats made a gain in Pelaw & Heworth, which wasn’t really a surprise as they had won the ward in 2021 and 2019 as well.
In the provisional boundary recommendations, it was proposed that the centre of gravity of the Jarrow constituency should move well to the south east, to take in a number of wards from Sunderland. However the North East of England region saw major changes at the revised report stage, published in early November 2022. instead of the Sunderland connection, Jarrow was now to maintain a close link to the south bank of the Tyne by extending further west into the borough of Gateshead, to include the four Gateshead wards of Felling, Pelaw & Heworth, Wardley & Leam Lane, and Windy Nook & Whitehills - the first and last named of these new additions, taken from the Gateshead constituency. Both Felling, on the river bank, and Windy Nook and Whitehills, as the name implies on the uplands to the south, were won massively by Labour in the last metropolitan council elections in May 2022. Meanwhile the anomalously middle class Cleadon & East Boldon ward, much weaker for Labour, will still be transferred out of the Jarrow seat and into South Shields.
Therefore Jarrow seems unlikely to hit the headlines again as it has done during its long history; for example it has not been part of the crumbling ‘red wall’ so far and seems very unlikely to be so in the foreseeable future. However the continued lack of economic growth and prosperity in the south Tyneside sub-region has meant that its population has not grown either, so the boundary changes in the general area will add up to one fewer Labour seat in total at the next general election, for all that Jarrow itself may look safer.
2011 Census
Age 65+ 17.8% 244/650
Owner-occupied 60.4% 469/650
Private rented 7.9% 638/650
Social rented 30.7% 46 /650
White 97.6% 169/650
Black 0.2% 557/650
Asian 1.3% 448/650
Born in England 96.0% 9/650
Managerial & professional 24.9%
Routine & Semi-routine 33.1%
Degree level 19.7% 529/650
No qualifications 26.9% 180/650
Highest qualification apprenticeship 6.5% 2/650
Students 6.5% 377/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 60.4% 399/573
Private rented 11.2% 564/573
Social rented 28.5% 41/573
White 96.5%
Black 0.5%
Asian 1.5%
Managerial & professional 27.6% 419/573
Routine & Semi-routine 28.8% 122/573
Degree level 26.6% 438/573
No qualifications 19.8% 205/573
General Election 2019: Jarrow
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Kate Osborne 18,363 45.1 –20.0
Conservative Nick Oliver 11,243 27.6 +2.6
Brexit Party Richard Monaghan 4,122 10.1 +10.1
Independent John Robertson 2,991 7.3 +7.3
Liberal Democrats David Wilkinson 2,360 5.8 +3.1
Green James Milne 831 2.0 +0.3
Independent Shaun Sadler 614 1.5 +1.5
SDP Mark Conway 212 0.5 +0.5
Lab Majority 7,120 17.5 -22.6
2019 electorate 65,103
Turnout 40,736 62.6 –3.8
Labour hold
Swing 11.3 Lab to C