Editing Tyne and Wear (section)

== Governance ==
{{update|section|date=July 2024}}
{{See also|List of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear}}
Although [[Tyne and Wear County Council]] was abolished in 1986, several [[Local Government in the United Kingdom#Joint-boards|''joint bodies'']] exist to run certain services on a county-wide basis. Most notable is the [[Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority]], which co-ordinates transport policy. Through its [[passenger transport executive]], known as '''Nexus''', it owns and operates the [[Tyne and Wear Metro]] [[light rail]] system, the [[Shields Ferry]] service and the [[Tyne Tunnel]], linking communities on either side of the River Tyne. Also through Nexus, the authority subsidises socially necessary transport services (including taxis) and operates a concessionary fares scheme for the elderly and disabled.  Nexus was an executive body of the [[North East Joint Transport Committee]] from November 2018 and now administers funds on behalf of the Joint Transport Committee of the [[North East Combined Authority]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is Nexus? |url=https://www.nexus.org.uk/what-nexus |access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref>

Other joint bodies include the [[Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service]] and [[Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums]], which was created from the merger of the [[Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums|Tyne and Wear Archives Service]] and [[Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums|Tyne and Wear Museums]]. These joint bodies are administered by representatives of all five of the constituent councils. In addition the [[Northumbria Police]] force covers [[Northumberland]] and Tyne and Wear.

There have been occasional calls for Tyne and Wear to be abolished and the traditional border between Northumberland and County Durham to be restored.<ref>{{cite news |date=19 March 2016 |title=Call to return the county to its historic status |url=https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/call-return-county-its-historic-status-406847 |work=[[Northumberland Gazette]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Henderson |first1=Tony |date=3 January 2019 |title=Are there signs that our traditional county boundaries are set to return? |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/signs-traditional-county-boundaries-set-15619069 |work=[[Evening Chronicle]] }}</ref>

Tyne and Wear is divided into 12 [[parliamentary]] [[constituencies]]. Historically, the area has been a Labour stronghold; South Shields is the only Parliamentary constituency that has never returned a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Member of Parliament (MP) to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] since the [[Reform Act 1832|Reform Act of 1832]].

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
|+ General Election 2019 : Tyne and Wear
|-
! Labour !!  Liberal Democrats !! Conservative !!  Brexit !! Others !!  Green !! ''Turnout''
|-
| '''247,317'''<br />
| 36,417<br />
| 160,155<br />
| 47,142<br />
| 10,504<br />
| 16,010<br />
| ''517,545''<br />
|}

{| class=wikitable
|+ Overall Number of seats as of 2019
|-
!  Labour !! Liberal Democrats !!  Conservative !! BNP !!  UKIP !! Others !!  Green
|- style="text-align:center;"
|| '''12'''
|| 0
|| 0
|| 0
|| 0
|| 0
|| 0
|}

At the level of [[local government]], all of the region's five [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]] were controlled by Labour in 2019.

Newcastle and Sunderland are known for declaring their election results early on election night.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/why-sunderland-newcastle-declare-first-13159041|title=Why Sunderland and Newcastle always declare election results first|first=James|last=Rodger|date=8 June 2017|website=birminghammail}}</ref> Therefore, they frequently give the first indication of nationwide trends. An example of this was at the 2016 European Union referendum. Newcastle was the first large city to declare, and 50.6% of voters voted to Remain; this proportion was far lower than predicted by experts. Sunderland declared soon after and gave a 62% vote to Leave, much higher than expected. These two results were seen as an early sign that the United Kingdom had voted to Leave.