The constituency lies to the west and north of the City. It is made up of eight Electoral Wards: Castle, Denton, Fawdon, Grange, Lemington, Newburn, Westerhope and Woolsington. There are 65,357 electors. The constituency stretches from the River Tyne, north to the airport and west from Newburn to Gosforth Park in the east. It is a mixture of urban and rural communities with large areas of farmland, informal green space and other leisure areas. It includes Newburn Riverside Country Park, Big Waters, and the Race Course and has many walkways and bridle paths.

In the two centuries until the mid 1960's the area was dominated by Mining, Glass, Engineering and the 20th century saw the development of two major power stations- both of which are now obsolete.

There are now three new major industrial and business areas in the constituency, Newburn Riverside Park - Newcastle Great Park and Newcastle Airport Industrial Estate. Major employers in the constituency include British Bakeries, Nestle Rowntree and Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. There are also a number of other industrial estates with a wide variety of light industry, wholesaling and retailing activities.

Although the two City Universities and Newcastle College are based outside the constituency, many of the students and staff live in the constituency, which ensures we have a close link with the major educational establishments.