Electorate 74,521 (December 2010) Member of parliament James Wharton | European Parliament constituency North East England Number of members 1 | |
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County County Durham, North Yorkshire Major settlements Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby-on-Tees, Yarm, Ingleby Barwick, Eaglescliffe Replaced by Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby, Easington, Richmond Created from Stockton-on-Tees, Thornaby, Easington, Richmond | ||
Stockton South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by James Wharton, a Conservative.
Contents
Boundaries
1983-1997: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Bishopsgarth, Egglescliffe, Fairfield, Grangefield, Hartburn, Ingleby Barwick, Mandale, Parkfield, Preston, Stainsby, Victoria, Village, and Yarm, and the Borough of Middlesbrough wards of Ayresome, Brookfield, and Kader.
1997-2010: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Bishopsgarth, Egglescliffe, Elm Tree, Fairfield, Grangefield, Hartburn, Ingleby Barwick, Mandale, Parkfield, Preston, Stainsby, Victoria, Village, and Yarm.
2010-present: The Borough of Stockton-on-Tees wards of Bishopsgarth and Elm Tree, Eaglescliffe, Fairfield, Grangefield, Hartburn, Ingleby Barwick East, Ingleby Barwick West, Mandale and Victoria, Parkfield and Oxbridge, Stainsby Hill, Village, and Yarm.
Stockton South consists of the south-western half of Stockton-on-Tees and on the same bank, upstream, the town of Eaglescliffe – on the southern bank of the River Tees are the towns of Thornaby-on-Tees, Yarm, and Ingleby Barwick.
History
The seat was formed from a combination of Stockton-on-Tees and Thornaby in 1983, predominantly as a replacement to the latter seat.
More "middle-class" than neighbouring Stockton North, and first held by the former SDP-Liberal Alliance very narrowly in 1983, then by a Conservative from 1987 for the next ten years, the seat acted as a bellwether in Labour's landslide in 1997 and its member Dari Taylor retained until the 2010 general election when the Conservative, James Wharton narrowly won the seat. It was the Conservative Party's only gain in the North East.
Constituency profile
Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 lower than the North East average of 5.7% but higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.