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Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons
County	Northumberland
Major settlements	Newcastle upon Tyne
1283–1918
Seats	Two
Replaced by	Newcastle upon Tyne Central, Newcastle upon Tyne East, Newcastle upon Tyne North and Newcastle upon Tyne West

Newcastle-upon-Tyne was a parliamentary borough in the county of Northumberland of the House of Commons of England from 1283 to 1706, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc vote system.

Newcastle first sent Members to Parliament in 1283, although it was not always possible to act upon the writ of summons, which was disregarded on at least four occasions (1315, 1327, 1332 and 1337) because of warfare with the Scots.^[1]

The constituency was abolished in 1918, being split into four divisions; Newcastle upon Tyne Central, Newcastle upon Tyne East, Newcastle upon Tyne North and Newcastle upon Tyne West.^[2]

The constituency was based upon the town, later city, of Newcastle upon Tyne in the historic county of Northumberland in North East England. In 1848, the constituency boundaries were described in A Topographical Dictionary of England.^[3]

The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward the First, since which time it has returned two members to parliament: the present electoral limits are co-extensive with those of the county of the town, comprising 5730 acres; the old boundaries, which were abrogated in 1832, included 2700 acres only.

When the House of Commons debated the boundaries to be used from 1832, the Tory Party suggested including Gateshead (to the south) and South Shields (to the east) within the Newcastle-upon-Tyne constituency. The Whigs resisted this idea, so these two neighbouring settlements were not incorporated into this seat.^[4]

The contents of the parliamentary borough, as defined by the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 (2 and 3 Wm. 4, c. 64) were:

The Town and County of the Town of Newcastle and the several Townships of Byker, Heaton, Jesmond, Westgate, and Elswick.^[5][6]

The boundaries remained unchanged from 1832 until the area was divided into single member constituencies in 1918.^[7] These were not necessarily identical to the boundaries used for local government purposes.

In the period after 1885, the constituency was surrounded by Wansbeck to the west and north, Tyneside to the north east and east, Jarrow to the south east, Gateshead to the south, and Chester-le-Street to the south west.^[8]

Party affiliations are derived from Stook Smith and Craig (see reference section below). Tory is used prior to the 1835 general election and Conservative from that time. Liberal candidates (as listed by Craig) before the formal creation of the party, shortly after the 1859 general election, are listed as Whig or Radical if the information is available in the work by Stooks Smith.

MPs, who were known by the same name, are distinguished in the table below and the election results by a number in brackets after the name. It is not suggested that such numbers were used by contemporaries of the individuals so numbered.

Parliament	First member	Second member
1336	William Acton (senior)[9]
1378	William Bishopdale[10]
1381	William Bishopdale[10]
1386	John Howell	Laurence Acton[11]
1388 (February)	William Bishopdale	Sampson Hardyng[11]
1388 (September)	Henry Carlisle	Stephen Whitgray[11]
1390 (January)	William Bishopdale	Stephen Whitgray[11]
1390 (November)
1391	William Bishopdale	Laurence Acton[11]
1393	John Morton	Richard/William Langton[11]
1394	Henry Carlisle	Thomas Diringdon[11]
1395	John Morton	William Langton[11]
1397 (January)	William Redmarshall	Sampson Hardyng[11]
1397 (September)	William Redmarshall	Laurence Acton[11]
1399	Roger Thornton	Laurence Acton[11]
1401
1402	Robert Darcy	Richard Beverley[11]
1404 (January)
1404 (October)
1406	John Paulyn	Robert Hebburn[11]
1407	William Johnson	William Langton[11]
1410
1411	Roger Thornton	Roger Booth[11]
1413 (February)
1413 (May)	Richard Dalton	Robert Whelpington[11]
1414 (April)	William Middleton	Robert Swinburne[11]
1414 (November)	William Johnson	Robert Whelpington[11]
1415	Roger Booth	Robert Whelpington[11]
1416 (March)	Roger Booth	Thomas Hebburn[11]
1416 (October)
1417	Roger Thornton	John Strother[11]
1419	Roger Thornton	John Strother[11]
1420	Roger Booth	John Wall[11]
1421 (May)	Emericus Hering	John Strother[11]
1421 (December)	Roger Booth	William Ellerby[11]
1510-1523	No names known[12]
1529	Sir Thomas Tempest	Henry Anderson[12]
1536	?Sir Thomas Tempest	?[12]
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Sir Robert Bowes	Robert Brandling[12]
1547	Sir Francis Leke	Sir Robert Brandling[12]
1553 (March)	Robert Lewen	Bertram Anderson[12]
1553 (October)	Sir Robert Brandling	Edward Hall[12]
1554 (April)	Bertram Anderson	Cuthbert Horsley[12]
1554 (November)	Bertram Anderson	John Watson[12]
1555	Sir Robert Brandling	Cuthbert Blount[12]
1558	Bertram Anderson	Robert Lewen[12]
1559 (January)	Robert Lewen	Cuthbert Blount[13]
1562 (December)	Sir Robert Brandling	Bertram Anderson[13]
1571	William Carr	William Jenison I[13]
1572 (April)	William Jenison I	William Selby[13]
1584	William Jenison I	Henry Anderson[13]
1586	Henry Anderson	Edward Lewen[13]
1588 (October)	Henry Anderson	Henry Mitford[13]
1593	Henry Anderson	Henry Mitford[13]
1597 (October)	Henry Chapman	Henry Lindley[13]
1601 (October)	William Jenison II	George Selby[13]
1604	George Selby	Henry Chapman
1614	Henry Anderson	William Jenison II
1621	Henry Anderson	Sir Thomas Ridell
1624	Sir Peter Riddel	Sir Henry Anderson
1625	Sir Thomas Ridell	Sir Henry Anderson
1626	Sir Peter Riddel	Sir Henry Anderson
1628	Sir Peter Riddel	Sir Thomas Ridell
1629–1640	No Parliaments convened
1640 (April)	Sir Peter Riddel	Thomas Liddel
1640 (November)	Sir Henry Anderson, disabled 1643	John Blakiston
1645	Sir Henry Anderson	John Blakiston, replaced 1647 by Robert Ellison)
1648	Robert Ellison)	John Blakiston, died 1649
1654	Sir Arthur Hesilrige	(One seat only)
1656	Walter Strickland	(One seat only)
1659	Mark Shaftoe (of Newcastle)	Thomas Lilburne

Election	1st member		1st party	2nd member		2nd party
1660		Robert Ellison			Sir Francis Anderson
1661		Sir John Marlay
1673		Sir William Blackett, Bt (1)
1679					Sir Ralph Carr
1680		Sir Nathaniel Johnson
1685					Sir William Blackett, Bt (2)
1689		Sir Ralph Carr	Tory
1690					William Carr (1)	Tory
1695		Sir William Blackett, Bt (2)	Whig
1700		Sir Henry Liddell, Bt	Whig
1705		Sir William Blackett, Bt (2)	Whig
1706		Sir Henry Liddell, Bt	Whig
1710		Sir William Blackett, Bt (3) died 1728; declared not duly elected in 1727, in 1729			William Wrightson
1722					William Carr (2)
1727[14]					Nicholas Fenwick
1729 on petition		William Carr (2)
1734		Sir Walter Calverley-Blackett, Bt
1747[15]					Matthew Ridley
1774					Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt (1)
1777		Sir John Trevelyan, Bt
1780		Andrew Robinson Stoney
1784		Charles Brandling	Tory[16]			Whig[16]
1798 by-election		Charles John Brandling	Tory[16]
1812		Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bt (2)	Whig[16][17]		Cuthbert Ellison	Whig[16]
1830					John Hodgson	Tory[16]
1834						Conservative[16]
1835					William Ord	Whig[16][17][18][19][20]
1836 by-election		John Hodgson John Hodgson-Hinde from August 1836	Conservative[16]
1847		Thomas Emerson Headlam	Whig[21][22][23]
1852					John Blackett	Whig[24]
1856 by-election					George Ridley	Whig[25][26]
1859			Liberal			Liberal
1860					Somerset Beaumont	Liberal
1865					Sir Joseph Cowen (1)	Liberal
1874 by-election					Joseph Cowen (2)	Liberal
1874		Charles Frederick Hamond	Conservative
1880		Ashton Wentworth Dilke	Liberal
1883 by-election		John Morley	Liberal
1885						Independent Liberal
1886					James Craig	Liberal
1892					Sir Charles Frederick Hamond	Conservative
1895		William Cruddas	Conservative
1900		Sir Walter Richard Plummer	Conservative		George Renwick	Conservative
1906		Walter Hudson	Labour		Thomas Cairns	Liberal
1908 by-election					George Renwick	Conservative
1910 (January)					Edward Shortt	Liberal
1918	Constituency abolished

The bloc vote electoral system was used in elections to fill two seats and first past the post for single member by-elections. Each voter had up to as many votes as there were seats to be filled. Votes had to be cast by a spoken declaration, in public, at the hustings (until the secret ballot was introduced in 1872).

Note on percentage change calculations: Where there was only one candidate of a party in successive elections, for the same number of seats, change is calculated on the party percentage vote. Where there was more than one candidate, in one or both successive elections for the same number of seats, then change is calculated on the individual percentage vote (if applicable).

The reference to some candidates as Non Partisan does not, necessarily, mean that they did not have a party allegiance. It means that the sources consulted did not specify a party allegiance.

Before the Representation of the People Act 1832, the borough had an electorate limited to its freemen. There were about 2,500 voters in the second half of the 18th century.^[27]

• Death of Blackett, in 1728
• On petition Carr vice Blackett

• Death of Blackett

• Resignation of Brandling in December 1797

• Ridley succeeded as the 3rd Baronet, upon the death of his father (and predecessor as MP) in 1813

Ridley's death caused a by-election.

Blackett resigned due to ill health, causing a by-election.^[35]

Headlam was appointed Judge-Advocate General of the Armed Forces, requiring a by-election.

Ridley resigned after being appointed a Copyhold, Inclosure and Tithe Commissioner.

Cowen's death caused a by-election, at which his son was elected.

Dilke's resignation caused a by-election.

• Cowen lost the support of the local Liberal Association during the campaign period, and Liberal supporters were urged to only vote for Morley.

Morley was appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

Morley is appointed Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, requiring a by-election.

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Edward Shortt
• Labour: Walter Hudson
• Unionist: Walter Richard Plummer,^[45] Nicholas Grattan-Doyle^[46]

• History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Northumberland

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977)
• British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F. W. S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
• Electoral Reform in England and Wales, by Charles Seymour (David & Charles Reprints 1970)
• The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
• The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F. W. S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
• Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 1)