Election night in Newcastle
Labour MPs in Newcastle promised new hope for the city and to “give people their future back”, as their party was on course for a landslide general election win.
Election night brought three comfortable holds for Labour in Newcastle – with Chi Onwurah and Catherine McKinnell re-elected, while Mary Glindon moves into the new Newcastle East and Wallsend constituency.
It was also a night when the city lost its title as first to declare a result in the country, a feat it achieved in both 2017 and 2019, with rivals Sunderland announcing almost an hour and a half before the Newcastle Central and West seat was finally called at 12.40am.
Watching on as exit polls predicted Labour would win more than 400 seats nationwide, Ms Onwurah said she had “never felt so happy, so confident and so hopeful”.
She won a majority of more than 11,000 in Newcastle Central and West, while Reform UK’s Ashton Muncaster beat the Conservatives into second.
The shadow science minister’s share of the vote actually fell from the 57.6% she won in Newcastle Central in 2019 – possibly due to the presence of independents Habib Rahman and Yvonne Ridley, who both ran on a pro-Gaza platform in a constituency with a large Muslim population.
Ms Onwurah told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The message of change came from every doorstep in so many different ways – the cost of living, crime, scandal. That message of change was a unifying thing for our whole city.
“Yes it has been a noisy campaign… there have been unfortunate protests which have limited some people’s ability to be heard and be represented, I think. But I think now under a Labour government in the service of the people we can come together and the future for Newcastle and the North East… I have never felt so happy, so confident and so hopeful about the prospects for our future.”
All three women elected at Northumbria University’s Sport Central counting hall have been Labour MPs since 2010, without their party being in power until now.
Ms McKinnell claimed a commanding majority of almost 18,000 in Newcastle North.
Conservative Guy Renner-Thompson, who was previously the Tories’ candidate for North East mayor, finished second.
Close behind him were Liberal Democrat Aidan King, Reform UK’s Deborah Lorraine, and Green Sarah Peter.
King Teare, the crown and bright yellow cloak-wearing independent, polled 310 votes and lost his deposit.
Ms McKinnell said she believed that a Labour government would “give people their future back” and hailed the election as an “enormous opportunity” to deliver change on issues including the cost of living, the future of the NHS, and putting more teachers in schools.
She added: “The message that has come across so clearly on the doors is that people feel everything is broken. We cannot fix everything overnight.
“But we can start the work of putting our public services back together, giving that injection into our NHS, into our schools, into our economy.”
Mr Renner-Thompson said his party’s vote had collapsed and claimed that was a natural consequence of being in power 14 years, though admitted that dissatisfaction over ‘churn’ in Downing Street had been a factor in their downfall.
He added: “Now is the time to look forward, bring stability, and get some new leadership into the party. There is not a huge desire for Labour on the doorstep, they just don’t like the Conservative Party at the moment. I think we can turn that around in the next four years and put a good showing in.”
Mrs Glindon previous seat of North Tyneside was abolished under boundary changes at this election and she now takes on a new constituency made up of parts of her old seat and the former Newcastle East seat held for decades by the long-serving Nick Brown, who has stepped down at this election after quitting the Labour Party last year.
She told the LDRS she was in “disbelief” at the prospect of Labour returning to power.
Mrs Glindon, who said her main aim was to combat the levels of poverty and deprivation in her new constituency, added: “It is a win for the people. We talk about change but it is actually about giving people hope back. It is not going to be easy, I don’t think it is going to be easy at all.
“It is going to be difficult and we cannot do everything, people are going to stamp their feet and be angry maybe. But they have to give us a chance and it is up to us as local MPs to fight for things up here as well.”
She won a comfortable majority of almost 13,000, while Reform UK’s Janice Richardson was thrilled to take second place – saying this election had been “just the start” for her party and telling supporters and opponents alike to “watch this space because we have a 5-year plan”.
The Conservatives finished in fourth, behind Matt Williams of the Green Party.
With the constituencies of Hexham as well as Cramlington and Killingworth going red as well, it means every constituency which falls fully or partly within Newcastle’s borders will have a Labour MP.
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West:
Ali Avaei (LD) – 1,946
Frances Lasok (CON) – 4,228
Ashton Muncaster (REF) – 7,815
Chi Onwurah (LAB) – 18,875
John Pearson (G) – 3,228
Habib Rahman (IND) – 1,636
Yvonne Ridley (IND) – 3,627
Turnout: 52.9%
Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend:
Muhammad Ghori (Workers Party) – 430
Mary Glindon (LAB) – 21,200
Rosie Hanlon (CON) – 3,522
Robert Malyn (SDP) – 95
Liz Panton (Party of Women) – 283
Emma-Jane Phillips (COMM) – 186
Janice Richardson (REF) – 8,383
Mark Ridyard (LD) – 2,965
Matt Williams (G) – 5,257
Turnout: 55.7%
Newcastle upon Tyne North:
Martin Evison (SDP) – 285
Aidan King (LD) – 5,936
Deborah Lorraine (REF) – 5,933
Catherine McKinnell (LAB) – 24,440
Sarah Peters (G) – 5,035
Guy Renner-Thompson (CON) – 6,678
King Teare (IND) – 310
Turnout: 65.4%