New name for Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency while Wansbeck and North Tyneside seats to be abolished

North Tyneside and Wansbeck will cease to exist, while new constituencies will be created elsewhere to reflect population changes.

The BCE is under a legal obligation to propose constituencies within 5% of the electoral quota, meaning the number of registered voters for each constituency in the country must be between 69,724 and 77,062.

The new proposals have taken more two years to put together and finalise. However, the final proposals are mostly unchanged from those published in November, with only some of the constituency names changing in the final draft.

The number of constituencies in Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside will drop from nine to eight. Tynemouth will remain similar to its existing form, but Mary Glindon’s existing North Tyneside seat will be abolished.

The constituency’s wards will be split between Tynemouth, Newcastle North as well as two new constituencies – Newcastle East and Wallsend, and Cramlington and Killingworth.

Ian Levy’s Blyth Valley seat will be divided up between the aforementioned Cramlington and Killingworth seat as well as a new Blyth and Ashington seat, which also incorporates the majority of Ian Lavery’s current Wansbeck constituency.

Morpeth would move from the current Wansbeck seat to the new North Northumberland constituency, along with the former Berwick constituency. This was previously named Berwick and Morpeth, but was given a new name after consultation.

The Hexham constituency is set to expand, gaining the villages of Callerton and Throckley as well as Newcastle International Airport. Also included will be the Northumberland ward of Longhorsley along with parts of Ponteland North.

A new Newcastle Central and West seat will be created, including the Arthur’s Hill ward which was controversially shifted to Newcastle East in earlier drafts. The much-revised Newcastle North seat will take in Benton and Longbenton from North Tyneside, as well as Jesmond and South Gosforth.

The Boundary Commission had previously said that just six of the North East’s 29 existing constituencies were within the permitted electoral range, with 21 below and just two above.

The plans will now go before parliament for approval.