It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the British House of Commons, using the first past the post voting system.

The franchise was initially restricted, and extended on several occasions: The Cleveland constituency was created when the North Riding of Yorkshire constituency was divided by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and Cleveland then covered the northern tip of the North Riding.

In 1948 it was redefined again to cover Eston, Guisborough, Loftus, Redcar, Saltburn and Marske by the Sea and Skelton and Brotton; the new boundaries were first used for the 1950 general election.

It returned its last Member of Parliament in 1970, by which time Cleveland district of Yorkshire's North Riding had been abolished in 1967, to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until it was abolished leading up to the February 1974 general election.

The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected; Craig, F. W. S. (1983).