The seat was created in the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. The last Liberal to serve the seat lost his seat at the 1922 general election and the last Conservative to serve the seat held it from 1931-1935, since which it has been served by MPs from the Labour Party. Since 1935, just four people have served as MP for Jarrow; the first, Ellen Wilkinson, served as Labour's first Minister of Education during the first Attlee government. While the seat has been loyally Labour by comfortable margins since 1935, it has seen unusual swings a number of times; in the 1983 Conservative landslide, incumbent MP Don Dixon actually increased his majority; in the close 1992 election his majority fell somewhat despite the general swing to Labour; and in 2001 his successor Stephen Hepburn managed to increase his majority to 51.1%.
Boundaries
1885–1918: The Boroughs of Jarrow and South Shields, the Sessional Division of South Shields, and part of the parish of Heworth. 1918–1950: The Borough of Jarrow, and the Urban Districts of Felling and Hebburn. 1950–1955: The Borough of Jarrow, and the Urban Districts of Boldon, Felling, and Hebburn. 1955–1983: The Borough of Jarrow, and the Urban Districts of Boldon and Hebburn. 1983–1997: The Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside wards of Bede, Biddick Hall, Boldon Colliery, Cleadon and East Boldon, Fellgate and Hedworth, Hebburn Quay, Hebburn South, Monkton, Primrose, and Whitburn and Marsden. 1997–2010: The Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside wards of Bede, Boldon Colliery, Cleadon and East Boldon, Fellgate and Hedworth, Hebburn Quay, Hebburn South, Monkton, Primrose, and Whitburn and Marsden, and the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead ward of Wrekendyke. 2010–present: The Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside wards of Bede, Boldon Colliery, Cleadon and East Boldon, Fellgate and Hedworth, Hebburn North, Hebburn South, Monkton, and Primrose, and the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead wards of Pelaw and Heworth, and Wardley and Leam Lane. Following boundary changes taking effect at the 2010 general election, the constituency consists of part of the metropolitan district of South Tyneside, including the settlements of Jarrow, Boldon, Cleadon and Hebburn, as well as two wards from the adjacent Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, covering Pelaw and Wardley.
Constituency profile
In 2005 The Guardian described the constituency as:
