Want the top news headlines sent to your inbox daily? Sign up to our FREE newsletter below Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The North East is to lose four MPs as part of plans to cut numbers in the House of Commons.

It means the number of MPs representing the region will go down from 29 MPs to 25.

And some MPs will find themselves representing people in more than one town, city or county.

Newcastle, which currently has three dedicated MPs, will now have only two - representing the seats of Newcastle East and Newcastle North West.

Around 37,000 Newcastle residents will be part of the Blaydon constituency, which will also include parts of Gateshead and the Durham ward of Burnopfield and Dipton.

Other constituencies to cross local authority boundaries include the new seat of Houghton and Seaham, which will cover parts of Durham and parts of Sunderland.

A revised Jarrow seat will include parts of Gateshead and parts of South Tyneside.

There will be three Northumberland seats, named Berwick and Morpeth; Blyth and Ashington, and Hexham and Cramlington.

The new constituencies have been drawn up by the Boundary Commission for England, which has been told by the Government to find a way of reducing the number of constituencies in the UK to 600 from 650, and to ensure that the number of electors in each constituency is roughly equal.

It says that the only way to achieve this is to create constituencies which cross local authority boundaries. In the past, constituencies have tended to coincide with the area covered by councils.

Residents who find themselves in a new constituency won’t change their address or postcode.

An initial 12-week consultation on earlier plans held in the autumn last year, followed by a second consultation in the Spring of this year. Over 25,000 public responses were received during these consultations.

A third and final consultation has now begun, but the new plans are likely to be put into practice.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Sam Hartley, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “The new map of the country we publish today is, we think, close to the best set of Parliamentary constituencies we can achieve, based on the rules to which we work and the evidence given to us by local citizens.”

Labour argues the changes will not improve the way voters are represented.

Newcastle East Labour MP, Nick Brown, said: “The Boundary Commission’s latest proposals represent a major rethink on their part from the earlier proposals that they put forward.

“The Boundary Commission have been put in an impossible position by the Government.

“Their new proposals exacerbate an already difficult situation.

“They have made matters worse. These farcical suggestions should be voted down by Parliament.”

The Government’s plan to cut the number of MPs is designed partly to save money and make the Commons more efficient according to Ministers, and also to deal with historical anomalies which mean some constituencies have a much larger population than others.