History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Cleveland explained

The non-metropolitan county of Cleveland was created under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect on 1 April 1974, comprising the urban areas around the mouth of the River Tees, previously parts of the administrative counties of Durham and North Riding of Yorkshire. Although it was abolished in 1996, the four unitary authorities which succeeded it (Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees) have been considered together for the purposes of reviewing parliamentary boundaries. The area has returned 6 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1983.

Constituencies timeline

Constituencies	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-present
Hartlepool	<---present
Stockton^1	<---1983
Stockton North		1983-present
Thornaby^1	<---1983
Stockton South		1983-present
Middlesbrough^1	<---present
Redcar^1	<---present
Cleveland and Whitby	<---1983
Langbaurgh		1983-1997
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland			1997-present

1 From 1974 to 1983, these constituencies were formally named as sub-divisions of the County Borough of Teesside.

Boundary reviews

1974

At the time of its creation, Cleveland contained the equivalent of approximately 6 constituencies: four boroughs contained within the County Borough of Teesside, namely Stockton, Thornaby, Middlesbrough and Redcar; Hartlepool in the county of Durham; and the majority of Cleveland and Whitby in the North Riding of Yorkshire. It also contained small areas of Easington and Richmond (Yorks).

1983

The next change to parliamentary constituency boundaries, following the recommendations of the Third Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, reflected the change in county boundaries and reorganisation of local government authorities in 1974. The review did not come into effect for a further nine years, at the 1983 general election.

The new constituency of Stockton North comprised the majority of the abolished Stockton constituency, including Billingham, Norton and the town centre of Stockton-on-Tees. The new constituency of Stockton South was based on the abolished constituency of Thornaby and included Thornaby-on-Tees and three wards in the borough of Middlesbrough. It also included parts of the old Stockton seat, parts transferred from Easington in Durham (Egglescliffe) and parts transferred from Richmond (Yorks) (Ingleby Barwick and Yarm).Middlesbrough gained some areas of the old Thornaby seat, including Acklam and Linthorpe, but lost southern areas, including Marton, to Langbaurgh. This new constituency was based on the “Cleveland” part of the abolished Cleveland and Whitby, with Whitby and surrounding rural areas being transferred to Scarborough in North Yorkshire.

There were only minor changes to Hartlepool and Redcar was unchanged.^[1]

1997

Under the Fourth Periodic Review, the three Middlesbrough borough wards (Ayresome, Brockfield and Kader) in Stockton South were transferred to the Middlesbrough constituency.

Markse-by-the-Sea was transferred to Redcar from Langbaurgh, which was renamed Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.^[2]

2010

At the Fifth Review there were only minor changes due to the revision of local authority ward boundaries.^{[3] [4]}

Communities timeline

The table below shows which constituencies represented selected communities within the current county from 1885 onwards.

Community		1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-present
Billingham		South East Durham	Sedgefield		Teesside, Stockton	Stockton North
Egglescliffe		South East Durham	Sedgefield		Easington	Stockton South
Eston		Cleveland			Teesside, Redcar	Redcar
Greatham		South East Durham	Sedgefield		Easington	Hartlepool
Guisborough		Cleveland			Cleveland and Whitby	Langbaurgh	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Hartlepool (incorporatingWest Hartlepool)		The Hartlepools			Hartlepool
Ingleby Barwick		Cleveland		Richmond		Stockton South
Loftus		Cleveland			Cleveland and Whitby	Langbaurgh	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Norton		Stockton-on-Tees			Teesside, Stockton	Stockton North
Marske-by-the-Sea		Cleveland			Cleveland and Whitby	Langbaurgh	Redcar
Middlesbrough	Acklam	Cleveland		Middlesbrough West	Teesside, Thornaby	Middlesbrough
	Ayresome	Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough West		Teesside, Thornaby	Stockton South	Middlesbrough
	Linthorpe	Cleveland	Middlesbrough West		Teesside, Thornaby	Middlesbrough
	Marton	Cleveland		Richmond	Teesside, Middlesbrough	Langbaurgh	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
	Newport	Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough West	Middlesbrough East	Teesside, Thornaby	Middlesbrough
	North Ormesby	Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough East		Teesside, Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough
	Town centre	Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough East		Teesside, Middlesbrough	Middlesbrough
Ormesby		Cleveland		Richmond	Teesside, Redcar	Redcar
Redcar		Cleveland			Teesside, Redcar	Redcar
Saltburn-by-the-Sea		Cleveland			Cleveland and Whitby	Langbaurgh	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Skelton and Brotton		Cleveland			Cleveland and Whitby	Langbaurgh	Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Stockton-on-Tees		Stockton-on-Tees			Teesside, Stockton	Stockton North
Thornaby-on-Tees		Stockton-on-Tees		Middlesbrough West	Teesside, Thornaby	Stockton South
Yarm		Cleveland	Richmond			Stockton South
Community		1885-1918	1918-1950	1950-1974	1974-1983	1983-1997	1997-present

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Cleveland
• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Durham

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983 . 13-14.
2. Web site: The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995 . In the County of Cleveland.
3. Web site: The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007 .
4. Web site: Boundary Commission for England Fifth Periodical Report . 337-341.