General Election 2024: 10 battleground North East seats

But what are the key seats that will decide the fortunes of Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer?

The Northern Echo can highlight ten key battlegrounds where the story of the election will be won and lost, potentially holding the key to Mr Sunak returning to power or Mr Starmer securing Labour's first victory since 2005.

Darlington

This seat was won by the Conservatives in 2019, and saw Peter Gibson defeat key Starmer ally Jenny Chapman. Darlington has been a place of note in both major party leader’s plans so far with Sunak visiting local civil service buildings often and Starmer being grilled by the Echo recently.

It was held by Labour from 1992-2019 and Labour candidate Lola McEvoy is looking to overturn a 3,294 majority.

Interestingly, the seat has hovered around the 3,000 majority mark in each election from 2015-2019.

2019 result: CON Majority: 3,294

Polling suggests: LAB win

Redcar

The coastal seat will feature a re-run of the 2019 election in terms of both major party’s candidates after Labour confirmed former MP Anna Turley would stand again in the seat.

It will be an interesting battle of personalities after Turley was beaten five years ago by current MP Jacob Young. Young is seen as a rising star among the Conservative Party and has been a government minister since 2023.

In the 2019 General Election, Redcar was the largest Labour majority overturned by the Conservatives, with a swing of 15.4%.

2019 result: CON Majority: 3,527

Polling suggests: LAB win

Bishop Auckland

It is another ‘red wall’ seat that was won by the Conservatives in 2019, however the current MP Dehenna Davison will not be standing again in the coming election.

This is a seat that has undergone changes to its boundaries after a review by the boundary commission, with Spennymoor and Tudhoe becoming part of the new Newton Aycliffe & Spennymoor constituency, with Crook, Tow Law and Weardale becoming part of the constituency.

2019 result: CON Majority: 7,962

Polling suggests: LAB win

Blaydon & Consett

Another seat where boundaries have changed has seen the North West Durham constituency abolished and Consett based wards merged with some wards from Blaydon.

It could be a fascinating one to watch as Blaydon was held by Labour in 2019 while North West Durham was won by the Conservatives for the first time in history.

Current MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden, is the Conservative Chairman and cabinet member, however he will not be standing in the seat at the election - and currently has not been successful in a bid to stand elsewhere.

Meanwhile the current MP for Blaydon, Liz Twist, will be standing again in the new seat.

2019 result: N/A Majority: N/A

Polling suggests: LAB win

Cramlington & Killingworth

Another new seat which has been created from what currently is known as Blyth Valley constituency (minus Blyth which will become part of the new Blyth & Ashington constituency).

Blyth Valley was one of the earliest indicators of the scale of the Conservative win in 2019 as Ian Levy defeated the late Ronnie Campbell with a small majority of 712.

The new constituency will therefore be seen as a litmus test of the scale of any victory by any party. If either party does well here, then it may indicate wider trends across the country.

2019 result: N/A Majority: N/A

Polling suggests: LAB win

Newton Aycliffe & Spennymoor

The new seat of Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor spans the majority of the old seat of Sedgefield, which was the seat of former PM Tony Blair.

It was another seat that fell to the Conservatives at the last election and became symbolic of the scale of the defeat suffered by Labour. Former PM Boris Johnson attended a victory rally in the seat, won with a 4,513 majority, on the morning after the 2019 election.

The majority of the wards of the new constituency will be taken from the Sedgefield constituency. Spennymoor and Tudhoe from Bishop Auckland and Coxhoe from City of Durham are becoming part of the new boundaries.

2019 result: N/A Majority: N/A

Polling suggests: LAB win

Hartlepool

It was the byelection that sent Starmer to the edge of resigning when the Conservatives won in 2021 on the crest of a wave of support for Johnson.

The seat was Labour held from 1945-2021, but the local council was won by Labour at the most recent local elections. It will be a seat that would mean a lot to the Labour leader to win, given the circumstances surrounding the byelection defeat three years ago.

2019 result: LAB Majority: 3,595 (2021 by-election result: CON Majority: 9,6940)

Polling suggests: LAB win

Stockton West

This is another new seat in the region which has been created from the old Stockton South seat and including a couple of wards from Darlington.

Interestingly, there has been no indication from incumbent MP Matt Vickers that he will stand again at the election and the current Deputy Chairman of the Conservatives has not tweeted in the last five days.

With a majority of over 5,000 it will be a target for Labour.

2019 result: CON Majority: 5,260

Polling suggests: LAB win

Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland

Former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke was vocal in his disagreement with the PM, calling for him to resign earlier this year.

The seat has been held by Sir Simon since 2017 and he increased his majority in 2019. However, polling from Britain Elects earlier this year had the Tories trailing by over 10 points.

With a majority of over 11,000 it will be a one to watch over the course of the campaign, which will include associate editor of the Spectator, Rod Liddle, on the ballot paper as a candidate for the SDP.

2019 result: CON Majority: 11,626

Polling suggests: TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Richmond and Northallerton

This is the seat of PM Rishi Sunak who announced the election on Wednesday. The constituency has seen a name change along with some slight boundary changes.

Voters in the constituency should expect a LONG ballot paper as it has become a tradition that the seat of the incumbent PM sees a whole host of costumed candidates to challenge them.

Previous years have seen candidates such as Count Binface and Elmo standing against the PM.

It is a massive majority to overturn and no incumbent PM has ever lost their seat before.

2019 result: CON Majority: 27,210 

Polling suggests: CON hold

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