Tyne Bridge by-election, 1985

The Tyne Bridge by-election, 1985 was a parliamentary by-election held on 5 December 1985 for the British House of Commons constituency of Tyne Bridge.

The seat fell vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Harry Lowes Cowans (19 December 1932 - 3 October 1985) died.

Cowans was elected MP for Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central at a 1976 by-election. After boundary changes, he was elected for Tyne Bridge in 1983.

Six candidates were nominated. The list below is set out in descending order of the number of votes received at the by-election.

1. Representing the Labour Party was David Gordon Clelland (born June 27, 1943), who was 42 years old at the time of the by-election. He was a member of the Engineering Union, who had worked on the shop floor for 22 years before being made redundant. He was secretary of a local government association and was leader of Gateshead Council at the time of the by-election.

Clelland was the Member of Parliament for Tyne Bridge until 2010.

Following boundary changes the seat of Tyne Bridge will be abolished and replaced by a new seat of Gateshead at the next Parliamentary election. Following a close fought contest with Sharon Hodgson, the MP for Gateshead East and Washington West, Clelland was chosen to fight the election for the Labour Party.

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