Post by Robert Waller on Sept 15, 2023 13:07:29 GMT
The Washington (County Durham, or Tyne and Wear, not District of Columbia) based seat is currently called Washington and Sunderland West. For a while between the publication of the revised Boundary Commission proposals in November 2022 and the final report of June 2023, it was going to be just plain Washington. But then, with no actual changes in its composition, it changed again, to Washington and Gateshead South. Yet it does still have some of Sunderland in it – in fact, two wards’ worth - just like the Gateshead element, but with 16,000 voters compared with 13,000. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Sunderland has now been hard done by – or that maybe the earlier suggestion, of calling it Washington alone, would have been more fair as well as more pithy.
There are two ways of identifying the distinctiveness of this constituency, however named. One is that this is the closest we have to a North East of England New Town seat. This is because Washington is by far the largest and most fully developed of the three New Towns in the region, though none of them has reached the size of, say, Basildon or Stevenage, or East Kilbride in Scotland. The populations of Peterlee and Newton Aycliffe, also latter-day planned communities in historic county Durham, are only around 20,000 and 25,000 respectively according to the 2021 Census, whereas Washington has expanded to over 50,000 souls. It too was part of the second wave of New Town designation, in 1964. In 1974 Washington became part of Sunderland metropolitan borough within the Tyne and Wear ‘county’. In the electorate figures used by the 2023 English Boundary Commission, the five Washington wards amount to over 42,000 voters. It therefore will continue to form the majority and determining political influence of a parliamentary constituency.
New Towns in the North East of England have not shared the political journey away from Labour support that they have further south. Both of those in Essex (Basildon and Harlow) have not come close to electing a Labour member since the Blair elections, when seats of all kinds were willing to embrace its ‘third way’ philosophy. Nor have the four in Hertfordshire or New Town constituencies elsewhere like Redditch, Crawley and Corby. Those in Scotland are all currently represented by Scottish Nationalists. But the Easington division containing Peterlee has remained loyal to Labour, as did Sedgefield (Newton Aycliffe) until the ‘red wall revolution’ of 2019. Washington & Sunderland West still awarded Sharon Hodgson a majority of 3,700 that year, despite a drop in the Labour share of fully 18%. Previously her margins since the creation of the seat in 2010 were always in five figures. Given the exceptional circumstances of 2019, following the 2016 referendum in which this constituency is estimated to have voted 62% for leaving the EU, there cannot be said to be evidence for a secular trend rightwards, as in the southern English New Towns.
The second distinction is that Washington (especially taking into account the ‘Sunderland West’ element) could also be described as the ‘Nissan constituency’. Built between 1984 and 1986 in the site of the former airfield, RAF Usworth, the British factory of the Japanese car giant lies directly between Washington and the part of Sunderland included in this division, creating a physical and economic link. There is no immediate threat to the future of the plant, despite Brexit alarms and Nissan’s intention to downsize elsewhere in Europe. The impact of this one factory on the whole of the constituency’s economics can be over-estimated. Only 14.5% of residents in employment at the time of the last fully available census were in manufacturing, which places the seat in 60th position out of the 650 in the UK. Nevertheless, this was still higher than the other Sunderland seats (Central: 9.4%, 290th and Houghton & Sunderland South 10.9%, 196th). There is perhaps, an indirect link between Nissan’s decision to choose this particular site and Washington’s New Town status, as both are connected to the extensive infrastructure improvements such as those of the A19 and A1 roads and the general plan of regeneration for the North East of England after the collapse of its long term staples such as coal mining and shipbuilding.
Internally, the seat is fairly homogeneous – and in the main solidly backing the Labour party. All five Washington wards have strong Labour traditions, who missed out in the May elections over the past 50 years of the Sunderland authority only as follows: in South, a Green win in 2019, Conservatives in 2006 and 2008, and a couple of Liberal Democrats in the all out 1982 contests; in East, Tories in 2006 and 2008. West, South and North have never elected any other party in those five decades. South does have higher level of owner-occupation (73% in 2021, in the Harraton, Rickleton & Fatfield MSOA area) and both East and South have around 30% in professional and managerial occupations, but only Washington North has the kind of indictors that would be as strong for Labour in more southerly parts of the land; it includes the Nissan plant and the Concord and Sulgrave New Town neighbourhoods were only 40% owner occupied at the last census (2021). All five Washington wards again elected Labour councillors in the most recent municipal contests in May 2023, with shares of the vote ranging from 43.6% in South (a gain from the Tories) to 68.2% in North.
The three ‘Sunderland West’ wards included under the current lines have also been relatively more immune to Labour’s problems in the rest of the city in local elections. St Anne’s opted for UKIP in 2019 and the Conservatives in 2021, but in 2022 and 2023 returned to the Labour preferences it had shown continually from 1973 to 2018. Redhill diverted to UKIP twice, in 2018 and 2019. Castle is one of the few Sunderland metropolitan authority wards that has never elected anyone but Labour, and their lead was over 50% in May 2023. The predominant tone of these three wards is that of peripheral council estates, even if these have been subject to sale off and been diluted since the 1980s. Castle’s housing was still 39% social rented in 2011, Redhill 46%, and St Anne’s 37%. The ‘castle’ concerned is Hylton Castle, of which the 14th century gatehouse still stands, incongruously surrounded by planned immediately post war estates, if appropriately (for this seat) on the Washington Road. Castle ward concludes the Town End Farm and North Hylton estates as well as that named Hylton Castle. Redhill includes (Hylton) Red House (known just as Red House locally), Downhill and Witherwack, which is a slightly later local authority overspill development from the 1960s. Castle and Redhill are north of the Wear, St Anne’s is south of Sunderland’s river, and is centred on South Hylton (older redbrick terraces backed with alleys, as seen in many Durham ex-mining villages) and Pennywell, divided between another giant post-war council scheme and owner occupied semis.
In the revised and final boundary change proposals, however, St Anne’s is removed to Houghton & Sunderland South. It is replaced by Birtley and Lamesley wards, presently in the Blaydon division, and in the Gateshead council area. Neither of these are integral parts of Gateshead itself. Lamesley is a semi-rural ward covering a number of small communities such as Kibblesworth, though it does approach the estates in the Team valley, while Birtley, including Barley Mow, Vigo and Portobello, was part of Chester le Street Rural District before 1974 and is very much of a latitude with Washington. Therefore the boundary change, if not the name, is logical enough. The inclusion of these Blaydon wards should not alter the political balance, as Lamesley and Birtley are by tradition strong Labour wards, although in the most recent Gateshead borough elections in May 2023 they were overturned in Birtley by the Liberal Democrats; but the LDs do not feature in Westminster contests, having only reached 5.5% in Washington & Sunderland West in 2019 and lost their deposit on the two previous occasions. One feature of Lamesley ward that will be familiar to non-locals is the Angel of the North statue, which will now be in the Washington and Gateshead South constituency.
Apart from the slightly quaint elements of ‘Washington Village’, the non-New Town section still visible in Central ward, one wonders what Americans who visit this neck of the woods make of the community that shares its name with their first President and hence nation’s capital. There is actually an ancestral connection between his family and the area, for example in Washington Old Hall. The politics however have not been at all appropriate; as Werner Sombart asked, ‘why is there no socialism in the United States?’ - but this Washington has had none other than Labour representatives for over a hundred years, and even if some recent versions of the Labour party might arguably not have been exactly socialist, there is still a left of centre tone here, New Town, Nissan, or not.
2021 Census, new boundaries
Age 65+ 21.1% 201/575
Owner occupied 57.7% 429/575
Private rented 12.3% 549/575
Social rented 30.0% 35/575
White 97.0% 68/575
Black 0.4% 473/575
Asian 1.4% 457/575
Managerial & professional 24.4% 496/575
Routine & Semi-routine 32.0% 38/575
Degree level 22.3% 542/575
No qualifications 23.1% 82/575
Students 5.2% 355/575
General Election 2019: Washington and Sunderland West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sharon Hodgson 15,941 42.5 –18.2
Conservative Valerie Allen 12,218 32.6 +3.8
Brexit Party Howard Brown 5,439 14.5 +14.5
Liberal Democrats Carlton West 2,071 5.5 +3.1
Green Michal Chantkowski 1,005 2.7 +1.4
UKIP Keith Jenkins 839 2.2 –4.6
Lab Majority 3,723 9.9 –22.0
2019 electorate 66,278
Turnout 37,513 56.6 –3.7
Labour hold Swing –11.0
Boundary Changes
Washington and Gateshead South will consist of
88.1% of Washington and Sunderland West
19.7% of Blaydon
Map
boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2023/9bc0b2ea-7915-4997-9d4a-3e313c0ceb51/north-east/North%20East_210_Washington%20and%20Gateshead%20South_Landscape.pdf
2019 Notional results on new boundaries (Rallings and Thrasher)
There are two ways of identifying the distinctiveness of this constituency, however named. One is that this is the closest we have to a North East of England New Town seat. This is because Washington is by far the largest and most fully developed of the three New Towns in the region, though none of them has reached the size of, say, Basildon or Stevenage, or East Kilbride in Scotland. The populations of Peterlee and Newton Aycliffe, also latter-day planned communities in historic county Durham, are only around 20,000 and 25,000 respectively according to the 2021 Census, whereas Washington has expanded to over 50,000 souls. It too was part of the second wave of New Town designation, in 1964. In 1974 Washington became part of Sunderland metropolitan borough within the Tyne and Wear ‘county’. In the electorate figures used by the 2023 English Boundary Commission, the five Washington wards amount to over 42,000 voters. It therefore will continue to form the majority and determining political influence of a parliamentary constituency.
New Towns in the North East of England have not shared the political journey away from Labour support that they have further south. Both of those in Essex (Basildon and Harlow) have not come close to electing a Labour member since the Blair elections, when seats of all kinds were willing to embrace its ‘third way’ philosophy. Nor have the four in Hertfordshire or New Town constituencies elsewhere like Redditch, Crawley and Corby. Those in Scotland are all currently represented by Scottish Nationalists. But the Easington division containing Peterlee has remained loyal to Labour, as did Sedgefield (Newton Aycliffe) until the ‘red wall revolution’ of 2019. Washington & Sunderland West still awarded Sharon Hodgson a majority of 3,700 that year, despite a drop in the Labour share of fully 18%. Previously her margins since the creation of the seat in 2010 were always in five figures. Given the exceptional circumstances of 2019, following the 2016 referendum in which this constituency is estimated to have voted 62% for leaving the EU, there cannot be said to be evidence for a secular trend rightwards, as in the southern English New Towns.
The second distinction is that Washington (especially taking into account the ‘Sunderland West’ element) could also be described as the ‘Nissan constituency’. Built between 1984 and 1986 in the site of the former airfield, RAF Usworth, the British factory of the Japanese car giant lies directly between Washington and the part of Sunderland included in this division, creating a physical and economic link. There is no immediate threat to the future of the plant, despite Brexit alarms and Nissan’s intention to downsize elsewhere in Europe. The impact of this one factory on the whole of the constituency’s economics can be over-estimated. Only 14.5% of residents in employment at the time of the last fully available census were in manufacturing, which places the seat in 60th position out of the 650 in the UK. Nevertheless, this was still higher than the other Sunderland seats (Central: 9.4%, 290th and Houghton & Sunderland South 10.9%, 196th). There is perhaps, an indirect link between Nissan’s decision to choose this particular site and Washington’s New Town status, as both are connected to the extensive infrastructure improvements such as those of the A19 and A1 roads and the general plan of regeneration for the North East of England after the collapse of its long term staples such as coal mining and shipbuilding.
Internally, the seat is fairly homogeneous – and in the main solidly backing the Labour party. All five Washington wards have strong Labour traditions, who missed out in the May elections over the past 50 years of the Sunderland authority only as follows: in South, a Green win in 2019, Conservatives in 2006 and 2008, and a couple of Liberal Democrats in the all out 1982 contests; in East, Tories in 2006 and 2008. West, South and North have never elected any other party in those five decades. South does have higher level of owner-occupation (73% in 2021, in the Harraton, Rickleton & Fatfield MSOA area) and both East and South have around 30% in professional and managerial occupations, but only Washington North has the kind of indictors that would be as strong for Labour in more southerly parts of the land; it includes the Nissan plant and the Concord and Sulgrave New Town neighbourhoods were only 40% owner occupied at the last census (2021). All five Washington wards again elected Labour councillors in the most recent municipal contests in May 2023, with shares of the vote ranging from 43.6% in South (a gain from the Tories) to 68.2% in North.
The three ‘Sunderland West’ wards included under the current lines have also been relatively more immune to Labour’s problems in the rest of the city in local elections. St Anne’s opted for UKIP in 2019 and the Conservatives in 2021, but in 2022 and 2023 returned to the Labour preferences it had shown continually from 1973 to 2018. Redhill diverted to UKIP twice, in 2018 and 2019. Castle is one of the few Sunderland metropolitan authority wards that has never elected anyone but Labour, and their lead was over 50% in May 2023. The predominant tone of these three wards is that of peripheral council estates, even if these have been subject to sale off and been diluted since the 1980s. Castle’s housing was still 39% social rented in 2011, Redhill 46%, and St Anne’s 37%. The ‘castle’ concerned is Hylton Castle, of which the 14th century gatehouse still stands, incongruously surrounded by planned immediately post war estates, if appropriately (for this seat) on the Washington Road. Castle ward concludes the Town End Farm and North Hylton estates as well as that named Hylton Castle. Redhill includes (Hylton) Red House (known just as Red House locally), Downhill and Witherwack, which is a slightly later local authority overspill development from the 1960s. Castle and Redhill are north of the Wear, St Anne’s is south of Sunderland’s river, and is centred on South Hylton (older redbrick terraces backed with alleys, as seen in many Durham ex-mining villages) and Pennywell, divided between another giant post-war council scheme and owner occupied semis.
In the revised and final boundary change proposals, however, St Anne’s is removed to Houghton & Sunderland South. It is replaced by Birtley and Lamesley wards, presently in the Blaydon division, and in the Gateshead council area. Neither of these are integral parts of Gateshead itself. Lamesley is a semi-rural ward covering a number of small communities such as Kibblesworth, though it does approach the estates in the Team valley, while Birtley, including Barley Mow, Vigo and Portobello, was part of Chester le Street Rural District before 1974 and is very much of a latitude with Washington. Therefore the boundary change, if not the name, is logical enough. The inclusion of these Blaydon wards should not alter the political balance, as Lamesley and Birtley are by tradition strong Labour wards, although in the most recent Gateshead borough elections in May 2023 they were overturned in Birtley by the Liberal Democrats; but the LDs do not feature in Westminster contests, having only reached 5.5% in Washington & Sunderland West in 2019 and lost their deposit on the two previous occasions. One feature of Lamesley ward that will be familiar to non-locals is the Angel of the North statue, which will now be in the Washington and Gateshead South constituency.
Apart from the slightly quaint elements of ‘Washington Village’, the non-New Town section still visible in Central ward, one wonders what Americans who visit this neck of the woods make of the community that shares its name with their first President and hence nation’s capital. There is actually an ancestral connection between his family and the area, for example in Washington Old Hall. The politics however have not been at all appropriate; as Werner Sombart asked, ‘why is there no socialism in the United States?’ - but this Washington has had none other than Labour representatives for over a hundred years, and even if some recent versions of the Labour party might arguably not have been exactly socialist, there is still a left of centre tone here, New Town, Nissan, or not.
2021 Census, new boundaries
Age 65+ 21.1% 201/575
Owner occupied 57.7% 429/575
Private rented 12.3% 549/575
Social rented 30.0% 35/575
White 97.0% 68/575
Black 0.4% 473/575
Asian 1.4% 457/575
Managerial & professional 24.4% 496/575
Routine & Semi-routine 32.0% 38/575
Degree level 22.3% 542/575
No qualifications 23.1% 82/575
Students 5.2% 355/575
General Election 2019: Washington and Sunderland West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sharon Hodgson 15,941 42.5 –18.2
Conservative Valerie Allen 12,218 32.6 +3.8
Brexit Party Howard Brown 5,439 14.5 +14.5
Liberal Democrats Carlton West 2,071 5.5 +3.1
Green Michal Chantkowski 1,005 2.7 +1.4
UKIP Keith Jenkins 839 2.2 –4.6
Lab Majority 3,723 9.9 –22.0
2019 electorate 66,278
Turnout 37,513 56.6 –3.7
Labour hold Swing –11.0
Boundary Changes
Washington and Gateshead South will consist of
88.1% of Washington and Sunderland West
19.7% of Blaydon
Map
boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2023/9bc0b2ea-7915-4997-9d4a-3e313c0ceb51/north-east/North%20East_210_Washington%20and%20Gateshead%20South_Landscape.pdf
2019 Notional results on new boundaries (Rallings and Thrasher)
| Lab | 18090 | 43.1% |
| Con | 14152 | 33.7% |
| Brexit | 5784 | 13.8% |
| LD | 2067 | 4.9% |
| Green | 1122 | 2.7% |
| Oth | 739 | 1.8% |
| Majority | 3938 | 9.4% |