BBC Profile:
The connection between miners and politicians has traditionally been strong in this seat. Labour has received loyal and strong support since 1945, and the seat has been held by several MPs who have been backed by the National Union of Miners, such as George Grant and Jack Thompson.

When Denis Murphy succeeded Thompson in the Labour landslide of 1997. He was a former miner, having worked in the Ashington-Ellington pit. In November 2009 he announced that he would not stand in the general election.

Murphy's share of the vote dropped in 2001 by almost 10,000 votes as turnout fell 11% from 1997. Although Murphy suffered a swing of 3.1% against him at the 2005 election, it was only half of that experienced across the North East.

There are no boundary changes affecting this seat.

The constituency was formerly known as Morpeth, after the market and commuting town, which makes up only a small percentage of the overall population. In 1983 the seat was renamed Wansbeck, after the river which runs through it. The new name better represents this industrial constituency, lying as it does in the heart of the former Northumberland coalfield.

Wansbeck constituency is a mixture of social groups from the middle-class commuter town of Morpeth to the former mining communities of Ashington, Bedlington, Newbiggin and Pegswood.,p>All these towns are industrial in nature, and were originally mining communities until the demise of the local coal industry. The last remaini

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BBC Profile:
The connection between miners and politicians has traditionally been strong in this seat. Labour has received loyal and strong support since 1945, and the seat has been held by several MPs who have been backed by the National Union of Miners, such as George Grant and Jack Thompson.

When Denis Murphy succeeded Thompson in the Labour landslide of 1997. He was a former miner, having worked in the Ashington-Ellington pit. In November 2009 he announced that he would not stand in the general election.

Murphy's share of the vote dropped in 2001 by almost 10,000 votes as turnout fell 11% from 1997. Although Murphy suffered a swing of 3.1% against him at the 2005 election, it was only half of that experienced across the North East.

There are no boundary changes affecting this seat.

The constituency was formerly known as Morpeth, after the market and commuting town, which makes up only a small percentage of the overall population. In 1983 the seat was renamed Wansbeck, after the river which runs through it. The new name better represents this industrial constituency, lying as it does in the heart of the former Northumberland coalfield.

Wansbeck constituency is a mixture of social groups from the middle-class commuter town of Morpeth to the former mining communities of Ashington, Bedlington, Newbiggin and Pegswood.,p>All these towns are industrial in nature, and were originally mining communities until the demise of the local coal industry. The last remaining pit in the North East at Ellington, employing 340 people, closed in January 2005.

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
No Boundary Changes

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