Under the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832, the contents of the borough were defined as the Respective Townships of South Shields and Westoe.

[6] Minor changes to take account of ward boundaries of the newly formed metropolitan borough, including the transfer of Biddick Hall to Jarrow.

[8] Boundary changes for the 2010 general election transferred the community of Whitburn into the South Shields constituency from the neighbouring Jarrow seat.

On 26 March 2013 Miliband announced his resignation from Parliament in order to take up a post as the head of the International Rescue Committee in New York City.

[11] With two exceptions (Arthur Blenkinsop and Emma Lewell-Buck) every South Shields MP since 1929 has been a cabinet member at some point in their career.

The Open Spaces Society in 2013 observed that there has been a tradition of South Shields MPs, from Chuter Ede onwards, promoting the cause of public access and common land.