UK Explained

South Shields

Represented in Parliament by Emma Lewell (Labour). Here is who won the last general election here, and a few numbers about the area.

Your MP at a glance

Emma Lewell, Labour. Open their full page →

These describe the record. They do not say why an MP voted or claimed as they did.

How South Shields compares

Every dot is one of the 631 areas that have figures. The large red dot is this area; green dots are areas like it.

TYPICAL FULL-TIME PAY, A WEEK

This area is 597 of 631 for pay, counting from the highest.

UK £767This area £650£400£1,100
PEOPLE CLAIMING UNEMPLOYMENT-RELATED BENEFITS

Higher than 538 areas and lower than 110.

UK 3.9%This area 5.1%0.0%12.0%

Areas like this one

The three areas with the closest pay and claimant rate. This says nothing about politics or geography.

AreaWeekly payClaimants
South Shields£6505.1%
Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes£6565.1%
Stoke-on-Trent North£6485.0%
Doncaster Central£6685.2%
United Kingdom£7673.9%

Printable one-page briefing

Who lives in South Shields

From the 2021 Census, next to the figure for England and Wales as a whole. Census day was 21 March 2021, so some things will have changed.

About the areaThis areaEngland and WalesCompared
Number of people88,77459,597,740 in total
Aged under 1617%18%1 points lower
Aged 65 and over22%19%3 points higher
Adults with a degree or higher27%34%7 points lower
Households that own their home58%62%4 points lower
Households renting from a council or housing association27%17%10 points higher
Households renting privately14%20%6 points lower

Source: ONS, Census 2021 (England and Wales), via the UK Data Service statistics portal. Fetched 2026-10-04. These describe who lives here. They do not explain how anyone votes.

WINNER, 2024
Emma Lewell-Buck

Labour

MAJORITY
6,653

votes ahead of second place

TURNOUT
54%

of people who could vote did

Emma Lewell-Buck won with 41% of the votes, and Stephen Holt (Reform UK) came second with 23%. The seat has a different MP now: Emma Lewell (Labour).

Votes for each party

Labour41% · 15,122
Reform UK23% · 8,469
Green Party15% · 5,433
Conservative11% · 4,128
Independent6% · 2,270
Liberal Democrat4% · 1,402
Every candidate
CandidatePartyVotesShare
Emma Lewell-BuckLabour15,12241.1%
Stephen HoltReform UK8,46923.0%
David FrancisGreen Party5,43314.8%
Craig RobinsonConservative4,12811.2%
Ahmed KhanIndependent2,2706.2%
Jonathan AibiLiberal Democrat1,4023.8%

2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.

Your area at a glance

Typical pay for full-time workers who live here
£650 a week
This areaUK: £767 a week

Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

Working-age people claiming unemployment-related benefits
5.1%
This areaUK: 3.9%

Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.

At a general election each area elects one MP, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half. The area figures describe the people who live here. They do not show whether any MP or vote is the cause.

Updated 4 Oct 2026