Constituency view

South Shields

North East, England

Lab hold

Current MP

Current representation

Emma Lewell-Buck

Labour

Female

Majority6,653

Turnout53.9%

Electorate68,366

Valid votes36,824

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour15,122 - 41.1%

Reform8,469 - 23.0%

Green5,433 - 14.8%

Conservative4,128 - 11.2%

Other2,270 - 6.2%

Lib Dem1,402 - 3.8%

Reform UK policies →

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£277,640,047

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£3,070 total benefits bill per resident · 36% above average

South Shields: £3,070
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 77 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£277,640,047	181/575
Change over 2 years	+16.4%
Median local wage (2025)	£31,189	+12.9%

Universal Credit£150,424,694
£1,664 per resident · 13,484 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 5,247 · 1 in 10 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£70,794,111
£783 per resident · 9,758 claimants (+14.3% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 3,694 · 38% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 4,573
Housing Benefit£21,689,316
£240 per resident · 3,227 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£15,259,132
£169 per resident · 2,556 claimants
Carer's Allowance£10,292,865
£114 per resident · 2,376 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£9,179,929
£102 per resident · 1,474 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 92.8%White British 91.4%Asian 4.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.6%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.6%Other 1.0%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 94.7%White British 93.8%Asian 3.0%Black, African or Caribbean 0.4%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.1%Other 0.9%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 96.4%White British 95.6%Asian 2.3%Black, African or Caribbean 0.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.8%Other 0.2%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 97.9%White British N/AAsian 1.1%Black, African or Caribbean 0.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.7%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

South Shields (2021)

UK 94.8%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 3.8%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

South Shields (2011)

UK 95.8%Other EU 0.8%Other countries 3.3%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

South Shields (2001)

UK 96.8%Other EU 0.4%Other countries 2.8%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

South Shields (1991)

UK 98.0%Other EU 0.5%Other countries 1.5%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Inset map

South Shields

Loading constituency outline.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	South Shields	National	Difference	Rank
% White	92.8%	83.0%	+9.7pp	302/650
% White British	91.4%	74.4%	+17.0pp	173/632
% Asian	4.0%	8.6%	-4.6pp	316/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	0.6%	3.7%	-3.1pp	450/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	1.6%	2.7%	-1.1pp	406/650
% Other ethnic group	1.0%	2.0%	-0.9pp	295/650
% UK-born	94.8%	84.0%	+10.8pp	108/650
% Non-UK-born	5.2%	16.0%	-10.8pp	543/650
% Other EU-born	1.4%	6.0%	-4.5pp	636/650
% Other countries-born	3.8%	10.1%	-6.3pp	424/650
% Christian	51.4%	46.7%	+4.7pp	150/575
% Muslim	3.7%	6.3%	-2.6pp	213/575
% Hindu	0.2%	1.6%	-1.4pp	471/575
% Sikh	0.4%	0.9%	-0.5pp	184/575
% Jewish	0.0%	0.5%	-0.4pp	509/575
% Buddhist	0.2%	0.4%	-0.2pp	512/575
% Other religion	0.4%	0.6%	-0.2pp	499/575
% No religion	39.2%	37.0%	+2.2pp	277/575
% Religion not stated	4.6%	6.0%	-1.4pp	565/575
% Has any religion	56.3%	57.0%	-0.7pp	244/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around South Shields

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.