The clumsy name of Newcastle-upon-Tyne East and Wallsend suggests that it is something of a hybrid seat, and this is largely true. The bulk of the seat comprises the eastern parts of the city, but the redistribution of its western fringes into the Central constituency meant that its own reach extended further east, beyond the formal limits of the city: it accordingly picked up two wards from North Tyneside.
Sitting MP Nick Brown increased his majority to more than 23,000 at the last election. The last time that seat fell out of Labour hands was when Mike Thomas defected to the SDP in the early 1980s, an act which was rewarded by the electorate with his prompt removal in 1983.
The area has been for many years largely dependent on heavy industry in the form of shipbuilding, an industry which is still in steep decline. Even now, the seat is best known nationally for being home to a large council estate, the architecturally noteworthy Byker Wall and setting for the long-running children’s drama Byker Grove.