Constituency profile

Whitehaven and Workington

North West · County constituency · Cumberland borough

Josh MacAlister MP
Sitting MP

Josh MacAlister

Labour

First elected July 2024

Current PollCheck projection

Region & type
North West
County constituency, Cumberland council
Last 5 GE winners
LLCCL
Labour 3/5, Conservative 2/5
EU referendum 2016
60.1% Leave
UK average 51.9%; +8.2pp above mean
Current outlook
Labour +11.6pp
vs Reform UK 32.0%
NorthernStrong Leave areaWorking-class profile

About the Whitehaven and Workington constituency

Whitehaven and Workington is a county constituency in the North West. The sitting MP is Josh MacAlister (Labour), first elected in July 2024. At the 2024 general election, Labour won with 53.0% to 21.2% for Reform UK, a majority of 13,286 votes on a 57.2% turnout. PollCheck's current projection, at the seven-poll average, has Labour on 43.5% and Reform UK on 32.0%, a margin of 11.6 points.

Who lives in Whitehaven and Workington? Constituency demographics

From the 2021 Census and 2016 EU referendum estimates. Constituency-level data on 2024 boundaries.

Leave vote 2016
60.1%
UK average ~52%
Degree or above
25.2%
UK average ~34%
No qualifications
21.6%
UK average ~18%
Owner-occupied
68.6%
UK average ~63%
Renting (social + private)
31.0%
UK average ~36%
Median age
46.0
UK median ~40
Age 65+
26.7%
UK average ~19%
Age 18-34
25.8%
UK average ~28%

How did Whitehaven and Workington vote in 2024 and how would it vote now?

2024 vote shares from the HoC Library. Current projection is at the 7-poll average.

2024 general election

Lab gain from Con · majority 13,286 votes (31.8pp) · turnout 57.2%

Current projection

If a general election were held today, at current poll average

Map of Whitehaven and Workington

Switch between GE2024 ward winners (modelled estimates, ~4pp average error) and a demographic view from the 2021 Census. Hover any area for detail. How the map is built ›

Council layer (not Westminster)

Whitehaven and Workington within Cumberland

Whitehaven and Workington sits entirely within Cumberland Council. Cumberland was not due to vote in 2026, so the figures below are the most recent ward results available. About this layer ›

Council overlap

CouncilShare of seat
Cumberland
62 LSOAs
100%

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward - May 2026 results where the council voted, otherwise the most recent available result. How this table is sourced ›

Ward GE2024 winner Latest council winner Shift since GE2024 Turnout
BranstyLabour 53.1%vs Conservative 22.7%2022 Labour 63.4%vs Conservative 28.0%-38.5%
Cleator Moor East and FrizingtonLabour 52.7%vs Reform 21.2%2022 Labour 58.9%vs Conservative 30.8%-34.0%
Cleator Moor WestLabour 64.5%vs Reform 15.0%2022 Labour 72.1%vs Conservative 22.8%-33.7%
Cockermouth SouthLabour 51.6%vs Conservative 27.8%2022 Labour 44.8%vs Conservative 36.9%-47.5%
EgremontLabour 54.1%vs Reform 21.1%2022 Labour 67.8%vs Conservative 26.6%-38.0%
Egremont North and St BeesLabour 49.8%vs Conservative 22.7%2022 Labour 50.5%vs Conservative 38.7%-34.3%
GosforthLabour 35.4%vs Reform 30.5%2022 Conservative 48.4%vs Labour 44.8%-43.3%
HarringtonLabour 50.7%vs Reform 25.5%2022 Labour 42.3%vs Independent 33.2%-29.6%
Hillcrest and HensinghamLabour 51.9%vs Reform 21.2%2022 Labour 51.6%vs Conservative 35.3%-37.6%
HowgateLabour 49.2%vs Reform 22.9%2022 Labour 45.5%vs Conservative 33.6%-33.7%
Kells and SandwithLabour 57.5%vs Reform 21.8%2022 Labour 73.6%vs Conservative 21.2%-29.0%
Maryport SouthLabour 47.0%vs Reform 21.4%2022 Labour 54.5%vs Independent 30.3%-26.9%
Millom WithoutLabour 37.6%vs Conservative 28.8%2022 Conservative 55.3%vs Labour 32.5%-40.3%
MirehouseLabour 56.7%vs Reform 20.8%2022 Independent 46.0%vs Labour 39.6%-33.5%
Moss Bay and MoorcloseLabour 52.3%vs Reform 26.7%2022 Independent 45.2%vs Labour 40.1%-27.7%
SeatonLabour 57.6%vs Conservative 26.0%2022 Labour 45.1%vs Conservative 31.5%-35.0%
St John's and Great CliftonLabour 54.1%vs Conservative 21.7%2022 Labour 44.4%vs Conservative 29.5%-38.0%
St Michael'sLabour 52.0%vs Reform 24.6%2022 Labour 48.6%vs Independent 26.0%-29.5%

Projection trajectory

PollCheck's projection for Whitehaven and Workington at each of the last 60 GB polls. Hover the chart for the underlying poll details.

Who has won Whitehaven and Workington at past general elections?

2024 and notional 2019 rows are on current boundaries; 2010-2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time. More on boundaries ›

Year Result MP Lab Con LD Right (Ref/UKIP) Green Other Majority Turnout
2010predecessorLab holdJamie Reed Copeland MP46.0%37.1%10.2%2.3% UKIP0.9%3.4%3,83367.8%
2015predecessorLab holdJamie Reed Copeland MP42.3%35.8%3.5%15.5% UKIP3.0%-2,56463.8%-4.0
2017predecessorCon gain from LabTrudy Harrison Copeland MP45.1%49.1%3.3%2.5% UKIP--1,69569.5%+5.7
2019notionalConservative winnerTrudy Harrison Copeland MP, pre-review boundary44.1%48.4%4.0%-1.2%2.3%2,14467.3%
2024Lab gain from ConJosh MacAlister53.0%20.2%2.7%21.2% Ref2.9%-13,28657.2%-10.1

Whitehaven and Workington was created or substantially redrawn by the 2023 boundary review. Pre-2024 rows below are for the predecessor seat Copeland (the seat that covered most of this area), so vote shares and majorities aren’t directly comparable to the post-2024 figures.

Constituencies most like Whitehaven and Workington

Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Whitehaven and Workington. Politics shown for context.

What would change this seat?

Move the sliders to set national vote shares. The per-seat projection updates live. Reset returns to the current 7-poll average.

Related

Sources

Every figure on this page is computed from the sources below. Read the full methodology ›

Show full source list
  • 2024 general election results · UK Parliament Election Results portal and House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10009.
  • Notional 2019 results on 2024 boundaries · UK Parliament Election Results portal. Recalculated by Parliament; carries assumptions about how 2019 voters would have distributed across the redrawn boundaries.
  • Historic general election results (2010-2017) · House of Commons Library historic results files (on the boundaries in force at the time).
  • Ward-level GE2024 estimates · Britain Elects / New Statesman - article by Ben Walker, underlying spreadsheet. Modelled from constituency totals; average ~4pp per-ward MoE.
  • May 2026 council ward results · Democracy Club via PollCheck's locals 2026 dataset.
  • Earlier council ward results (2014-2024) · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (Jason Leman, drawing on Andrew Teale's LEAP dataset and Democracy Club).
  • Demographics · ONS Census 2021 (England and Wales), aggregated to constituency level using the ONS LSOA21 -> PCON24 best-fit lookup.
  • EU referendum 2016 estimates · Constituency-level Leave vote estimates (Hanretty 2017 method).
  • MP details and Cabinet roles · UK Parliament Members API. MP photos are fetched live from the same source.
  • Boundary geometry and lookups · ONS Open Geography Portal (PCON24 boundaries, LSOA21 boundaries, LSOA21-WD24-LAD24 best-fit lookup).
  • Current projection and trajectory · PollCheck's demographic swingometer applied to the rolling 7-poll average from aggregated GB polls. Not a true MRP - vote-share movements are applied through per-constituency sensitivity multipliers derived from demographic regressions.

If you spot a data issue, please let us know.