Who is the MP for Whitehaven and Workington?

Josh MacAlister (Labour) is the MP for Whitehaven and Workington. They were first elected in July 2024.

Who won Whitehaven and Workington at the 2024 general election?

The 2024 general election in Whitehaven and Workington was won by Labour with 53.0% of the vote, ahead of Reform UK on 21.2%.

Who is projected to win the next election in Whitehaven and Workington?

PollCheck's current projection has Reform UK on 36.8% and Labour on 30.4% if a general election were held today. The projection updates as new polling is added.

What council is Whitehaven and Workington in?

Whitehaven and Workington sits within Cumberland council. Westminster constituencies and local councils are separate units, but Cumberland covers most or all of the Whitehaven and Workington area.

What is the demographic profile of Whitehaven and Workington?

Whitehaven and Workington is in North West. The seat is Leave-voting (Leave vote estimated at 60.1% in 2016). Around 25.2% of residents have a degree, a median age of 46, and 68.6% of homes are owner-occupied (Census 2021).

When was the last general election in Whitehaven and Workington?

The most recent general election was held on 4 July 2024. In Whitehaven and Workington, Labour won with 53.0% of the vote. The next general election must be held by August 2029.

Which parties have won Whitehaven and Workington in recent elections?

Recent general election winners in Whitehaven and Workington: 2010 Labour, 2015 Labour, 2017 Conservative, 2019 Conservative, 2024 Labour.

Constituency profile

Whitehaven and Workington

North West · County constituency · Cumberland borough

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

Reform UK +6.4pp

Vulnerability score 7/10 (Labour projected to lose)

NorthernStrong Leave areaWorking-class profile

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 ward-level 2024 election winners and a demographic view. Ward winners are Britain Elects' / New Statesman modelled estimates with an average ~4pp margin of error per ward. The demographic view splits the seat into small neighbourhoods (around 1,500 residents each, from the 2021 Census). Hover any area for detail.

Council layer (not Westminster)

Whitehaven and Workington within Cumberland

The Westminster constituency of Whitehaven and Workington sits entirely within Cumberland Council. Local council elections are a separate ballot from Westminster general elections - the figures below are from the council elections held on Thursday 7 May 2026.

Council overlap

Council	Share of seat
Cumberland 62 LSOAs	100%

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward. Where May 2026 elections happened, those are shown; otherwise the most recent year on the ward’s pre-2026 boundary (via DCLEAPIL, 2014-2024). The "Shift since GE2024" column is only computed for May 2026 results - earlier council votes pre-date the GE, so no directional shift is shown.

Loading ward results...

Ward	GE2024 winner	Latest council winner	Shift since GE2024	Turnout

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 result is on current boundaries. The 2019 row is the UK Parliament's notional recalculation onto the 2024 boundaries (directly comparable to 2024). The 2010, 2015 and 2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time and aren't directly comparable.

Year	Result	MP	Lab	Con	LD	Right (Ref/UKIP)	Green	Other	Majority	Turnout
2010predecessor	Lab hold	Jamie Reed Copeland MP	46.0%	37.1%	10.2%	2.3% UKIP	0.9%	3.4%	3,833	67.8%
2015predecessor	Lab hold	Jamie Reed Copeland MP	42.3%	35.8%	3.5%	15.5% UKIP	3.0%	-	2,564	63.8%
2017predecessor	Con gain from Lab	Trudy Harrison Copeland MP	45.1%	49.1%	3.3%	2.5% UKIP	-	-	1,695	69.5%
2019notional	Conservative winner	Trudy Harrison Copeland MP, pre-review boundary	44.1%	48.4%	4.0%	-	1.2%	2.3%	2,144	67.3%
2024	Lab gain from Con	Josh MacAlister	53.0%	20.2%	2.7%	21.2% Ref	2.9%	-	13,286	57.2%

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.

Sources

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.