General election 2024: Labour hold both seats in South Tyneside

Voters headed to the polls on Thursday, July 4, to choose their next Members of Parliament for the South Shields and Jarrow and Gateshead East constituencies.

The polls closed at 10pm with the ballot count taking place at the Temple Park Leisure Centre, in South Shields, in the hours that followed.

The final results came in the early hours of Friday morning (July 5) with both Emma Lewell-Buck and Kate Osborne maintaining their seats in South Tyneside.

In the South Shields constituency, Ms Lewell-Buck received a total of 15,122 votes - a majority of 6,653 over the second placed candidate.

For the newly formed Jarrow and Gateshead East constituency, Kate Osborne received 18,856 votes - a majority of 8,964.

Speaking after retaining her seat, Emma Lewell-Buck thanked residents in South Tyneside for putting their faith back in her.

She said: “This is the fifth time you have out your faith in me to be voice in parliament.

“And if the polls are to be believed, the first time in 14 years, you've put your faith in my party to form the next government.

“A government that will restore trust in public services and transform every bit of our country so that it works for all of us.

“People have voted for change - they have voted for an end to the chaos and the decline. No longer will the people be at the mercy of Tory cruelty, division and greed.

“It is because of you, we may at long last have a Labour government.”

Kate Osborne also thanked voters for their faith and vowed that the Labour Party will change the country “for the better”.

She commented: “Thanks to the voters who voted for me, for this brilliant victory and for voting for Labour nationally. And in putting trust in us to fix the mess of the last 14 years. We will not let you down.

“Hard work will be rewarded when Labour change this country for the better.

“The people of Jarrow and East Gateshead are desperate for a government who actually cares about people and who actually cares about our North East communities.

“We will not be able to fix things overnight but we will start work straight away.

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“We will look to build a new deal for workers, try to tackle inequalities, end the scandal of child poverty.

“We need to fix social care, the NHS. We need to deliver for WASPI women and post office victims. A huge task but we will do it.

“Isn't it great to see tory after tory lose their seat? But their vote moving further to the right should concern us all.

“This government needs to put an end to the lurch to right from people who are angry at the state of their public services, their lack of housing, of jobs.

“As MP I will stand up for workers' rights, for the LGBTQ+ community, especially our trans siblings who have been used as political pawns in this election.”