North East · England · 71,437Boundary · 2023

Hartlepool

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Dispatch
Apr 2026

A safe Lab seat, won with 46% of the vote in 2024. Centred on Hartlepool. Population 92,362. Recorded crime is 63% above the national average. Median income £25K (below average).

Hartlepool's MP made headlines for bucking his party on welfare reform -- one of the more visible Labour rebellions of the 2024 parliament. In July 2025, Jonathan Brash voted against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill at Third Reading and opposed key clauses in committee, while backing amendments to protect disabled people with fluctuating conditions and index-link payments for the most vulnerable claimants in Northern Ireland. His voting record places him 59 percentage points above his party average on disability benefits protection and 46 points below it on welfare reform -- a clear signal that he sided with the left-wing rebels who argued cuts were being rushed through ahead of the government's own review. More recently, he also broke with Labour on a procedural vote to allow a UK-EU customs union bill to be introduced, suggesting a degree of scepticism about closer EU alignment.

Beyond those rebellions, Brash is a 98.7% party-line voter who participates in 79% of divisions -- slightly below the Commons average. His speeches lean heavily on economy and jobs, local government, social care, crime, and fiscal policy, reflecting the bread-and-butter concerns of a North East constituency. He scores strongly on progressive taxation and housing development alignment, but low on pro-business and climate action stances. He holds no current committee positions.

384
Commons votes
This parliament
£25k
Median income
HMRC · 2024
71.4k
Electorate
2024 GE

Lab regained this seat from Con — last held it in 2019.

Current Member of Parliament

Jonathan Brash

Jonathan Brash

Labour Party

Mr Jonathan Brash is the Labour MP for Hartlepool, and has been an MP continually since 4 July 2024.

Notable Votes

MPs voted on whether to pass the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill at its final stage in the Commons. The Bill makes changes to welfare benefits, including a gradual increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance, and had been debated at length including proposed amendments to speed up or expand those increases.

MP voted NoAgainst party majorityLikely whipped

Vote on Amendment 38 to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which would have provided greater certainty and protections for disabled people with fluctuating conditions while the government's review of PIP assessments (the Timms review) is ongoing. Critics argued the Bill was putting cuts before the review, leaving vulnerable people uncertain about their entitlements.

MP voted YesAgainst party majorityLikely whipped

Vote on a technical amendment (New Clause 8) to ensure that Universal Credit payments for claimants in the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) group in Northern Ireland rise in line with inflation, supporting a separate duty on the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland. The amendment was backed by left-wing Labour rebels and crossbench MPs opposed to welfare cuts affecting the most vulnerable.

MP voted YesAgainst party majorityLikely whipped

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Voting at a Glance

A safe Lab seat, won with 46% of the vote in 2024. Centred on Hartlepool. Population 92,362. Recorded crime is 63% above the national average. Median income £25K (below average).

2024 General Election

§ 06This week in Westminster.Live · today’s sittingOrder Paper · refreshed daily

Brash’s scheduled Commons activity this week — whipped divisions, oral questions, debates — drawn from the House of Commons Order Paper.

§ 07The record, at a glance.385 divisions voted

Two readings of the same data. Issue volume shows where Brash has cast the most ballots — a proxy for engagement, not direction. Notable votes are the moments where the whip was free or where they broke ranks.

Issue volume
Top issues by total divisions voted · cumulative this Parliament
Taxation
82
Economy
78
Crime & Policing
34
Welfare and Benefits
29
Employment
29
Education
27
Notable votes
Free votes and rebellions — moments the MP’s own judgment matters more than the whip
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill: Third Reading09 Jul 2025
No
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill Committee: Amendment 3809 Jul 2025
Aye
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill Committee: New Clause 809 Jul 2025
Aye
§ 08The local picture.12 wards

Constituencies are not uniform. Below — the local council make-up, key facts worth knowing, and the neighbouring seats on either side.

WardCouncillorVotesParty
Burn ValleyCorinne Male919Labour P
De BruceMichael Jorgeson758Labour P
Fens GreathamJim Lindridge723Independ
Foggy FurzeCarole Thompson927Labour P
HartAaron Roy841Labour P
Headland HarbourJohn Nelson847Labour P
Manor HouseKatherine Fiona Cook625Labour P
RossmereQuewone Bailey-Fleet649Labour P
Rural WestScott Reeve1,197Conserva
SeatonSue Little1,078Independ
ThrostonMartin Neil Scarborough1,015Labour P
VictoriaChristopher Wallace879Labour P
Population (2021 Census)
92,362
Electorate 71,437 · 2024 register
Median income
£25,200
HMRC SPI 2024
Households renting privately
17.6%
England average 20.0%
Schools
43
30 primary · 5 secondary
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