Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)

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Blackburn
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Blackburn in Lancashire.
Outline map
Location of Lancashire within England.
County Lancashire
Electorate 72,112 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Blackburn
Current constituency
Created 1955 (1955)
Member of Parliament Jack Straw (Labour)
Number of members One
Created from Blackburn East and Blackburn West
1832 (1832)–1950 (1950)
Number of members Two
Type of constituency Borough constituency
Replaced by Blackburn East
Blackburn West
Created from Lancashire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency North West England

Blackburn is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The town currently elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its re-creation in 1955.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency encompasses the town of Blackburn in the North West of England. It borders four other constituencies: Ribble Valley to the north, Hyndburn to the east, Rossendale and Darwen to the south and Chorley to the west.

Following the review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire, including the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen in the run-up to the United Kingdom general election, 2010 the Boundary Commission for England made minor boundary changes to the existing constituency.

The electoral wards in the Blackburn seat fought at the UK general election in 2010 were entirely within the district of Blackburn with Darwen.

[edit] Proposed changes

As part of the nation-wide Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies the Boundary Commission for England has proposed a minor change to the existing Blackburn constituency, namely the addition of the Fernhurst electoral ward[2].

[edit] History

For more details, see the Politics section of the Blackburn article.

Blackburn was first enfranchised by the Reform Act 1832, as a two-member constituency, and was first used at the 1832 general election. It was abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was then replaced by two new single-member constituencies, Blackburn East and Blackburn West.

Blackburn was re-established as a single-member constituency for the 1955 general election, partially replacing the Blackburn East and Blackburn West constituencies which had been created only five years earlier. After its re-establishment in 1955, the constituency was initially a marginal, but Blackburn is now considered to be a Labour Party stronghold.

[edit] 2005 General election

Blackburn's MP, Jack Straw, was challenged in the 2005 general election by a former Foreign Office subordinate, the ex-British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray. Murray stood for election in Blackburn on a platform of opposition to the war in Iraq and electoral corruption. Murray described the constituency as a "Labour rotten borough" and said of the build up to the election, "I've been approached by several people in the Asian community who are under huge pressure from Labour activists to apply for a postal vote rather than a ballot vote and then hand their postal vote over to the Labour party." Over 50% more people used postal votes in the 2005 general election in Blackburn than in 2001.[3] The anti-Straw vote was split, however, and the incumbent was returned with a comfortable majority of over 8,000. Although Murray's campaign piqued the interest of the national media, he was forced into fifth place by the British National Party, a result reflective of somewhat poor race relations in the town going back decades.

[edit] Members of Parliament

The seat has been represented since 1979 by former Cabinet minister Jack Straw.

[edit] Two-member constituency (1832–1950)

Election 1st Member[4] 1st Party[5]

[6][7]

 2nd Member[4] 2nd Party
1832 William Feilden Liberal William Turner Liberal
1841 Conservative John Hornby Conservative
1847 James Pilkington Liberal
1852 William Eccles Liberal
1853 by-election Montague Joseph Feilden Liberal
1857 William Henry Hornby Conservative
1865 Joseph Feilden Conservative
1869 by-election Henry Master Feilden Conservative Edward Hornby Conservative
1874 William Edward Briggs Liberal
1875 by-election Daniel Thwaites Conservative
1880 Sir William Coddington Conservative
1885 Sir Robert Peel Conservative
1886 William Hornby Conservative
1906 Philip Snowden Labour
1910 Sir Thomas Barclay Liberal
1910 Sir Henry Norman Liberal
1918 Percy Thompson Dean Coalition Conservative Coalition Liberal
1922 Sir Sydney Herbert Holcroft Henn Conservative National Liberal
1923 John Duckworth Liberal
1929 Thomas Harry Gill Labour Mary Agnes Hamilton Labour
1931 Sir George Sampson Elliston Conservative Sir Walter Dorling Smiles Conservative
1945 Lewis John Edwards Labour Barbara Castle Labour
1950 constituency abolished: see Blackburn East and Blackburn West

[edit] Single member constituency (1955–present)

Election Member[4] Party
1955 constituency re-established
1955 Barbara Castle Labour
1979 Jack Straw Labour

[edit] Elections

[edit] Elections since 1979

Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
General Election 2010 [8][9]
Electorate: 72,331
Turnout: 45,499 (62.9%) +5.2		 Labour hold
Majority: 9,856 (21.7%) +2.2
Swing: +1.1% from Con to Lab		 Jack Straw Labour 21,571 47.8 +5.7
Michael Law-Riding Conservative 11,895 26.1 +3.5
Paul English Liberal Democrat 6,918 15.2 -5.4
Robin Evans BNP 2,158 4.7 −0.7
Bushra Irfan Independent 1,424 3.1 N/A
Bobby Anwar UKIP 942 2.1 −0.2
Grace Astley Independent 238 0.5 N/A
Janis Sharp Independent 173 0.4 N/A
General Election 2005 [10]
Electorate: 72,707
Turnout: 41,805 (56.9%) +1.4		 Labour hold
Majority: 8,009 (19.2%) −3.7
Swing: 1.9% from Lab to Con		 Jack Straw Labour 17,562 42.0 −12.1
Imtiaz Ameen Conservative 9,553 22.9 −8.3
Tony Melia Liberal Democrat 8,608 20.6 +12.5
Nicholas Holt BNP 2,263 5.4 N/A
Craig Murray Independent 2,082 5.0 N/A
Dorothy Baxter UKIP 954 2.3 −0.6
Graham Carter Green 783 1.9 N/A
General Election 2001 [11]
Electorate: 72,611
Turnout: 40,284 (55.5%) −9.5		 Labour hold
Majority: 9,249 (22.9%) −7.5
Swing: 2.9% from Lab to Con		 Jack Straw Labour 21,808 54.1 −0.9
John Cotton Conservative 12,559 31.2 +6.6
Imtiaz Patel Liberal Democrat 3,264 8.1 −2.4
Dorothy Baxter UKIP 1,185 2.9 N/A
Terry Cullen Socialist Labour 559 1.4 +0.1
Jim Nichol Socialist Alliance 532 1.3 N/A
Paul Morris Independent 377 0.9 −0.1
General Election 1997 [11]
Electorate: 73,132
Turnout: 73,132 (65.0%) −10.1		 Labour hold
Majority: 14,445 (30.4%) +19.4
Swing: 9.7% from Con to Lab		 Jack Straw Labour 26,141 55.0 +6.6
Sangheeta Kaur Sidhu Conservative 11,696 24.6 −12.9
Stephen Fenn Liberal Democrat 4,990 10.5 −1.0
David Bradshaw Referendum Party 1,892 4.0 N/A
Tina Wingfield National Democrats 671 1.4 +1.4
Helen Drummond Socialist Labour 635 1.3
Robin Field Green 608 1.3
Margo Carmichael-Grimshaw Keep Britain Free and Independent Party 506 1.1
John Batchelor Common Sense Sick of Politicians 362 0.8
General Election 1992 [12]
Electorate: 73,251
Turnout: 54,978 (75.1%) +0.2		 Labour hold
Majority: 6,027 (11.0%) +0.2
Swing: 0.6% from Con to Lab		 Jack Straw Labour 26,633 48.4 −1.5
Ross M. Coates Conservative 20,606 37.5 −2.6
Derek Mann Liberal Democrat 6,332 11.5 +1.1
Robin Field Green 878 1.6 N/A
Margo Carmichael-Grimshaw Lodestar Party 334 0.6 N/A
William Ayliffe Natural Law 195 0.4 N/A
General Election 1987 [13]
Electorate: 74,801
Turnout: 56,035 (74.9%) −0.3		 Labour hold
Majority: 5,497 (9.8%) +3.4
Swing: 2.3% from Con to Lab		 Jack Straw Labour 27,965 49.9 +5.2
A. C. Cheetham Conservative 22,468 40.1 +0.7
M. A. Ali SDP–Liberal Alliance 5,602 10.0 −4.4
General Election 1983 [14]
Electorate: 76,078
Turnout: 56,784 (74.6%) +0.5		 Labour hold
Majority: 3,055 (5.4%) −8.8
Swing: 4.4% from Lab to Con		 Jack Straw Labour 25,400 44.7 −6.0
G. Mather Conservative 22,345 39.4 +2.8
E. Fairbrother SDP–Liberal Alliance 8,174 14.4 +2.7
D. A. Riley National Front 864 1.5 0.0

[edit] Elections 1955–1979

Election Political result Candidate Party Votes % ±%
General Election 1979 [15]
Electorate: 52,479
Turnout: 38,813 (73.96%) +1.03		 Labour hold
Majority: 5,490 (14.15%) −5.2
Swing: 2.6% from Lab to Con		 Jack Straw Labour 19,683 50.71 −0.75
I. D. McGaw Conservative 14,193 36.57 +4.5
F. J. Beetham Liberal 4,371 11.26 −0.7
E. Adamson National Front 565 1.46 −3.0
General Election October 1974 [16]
Electorate: 54,213
Turnout: 39,537 (72.93%) −6.3		 Labour hold
Majority: 7,652 (19.36%) +4.4
Swing: 0.9% from Con to Lab		 Barbara Castle Labour 20,344 51.46 +3.1
I. D. McGaw Conservative 12,692 32.10 −1.3
F.J. Beetham Liberal 4,741 11.99 −2.0
John Kingsley Read National Front 1,758 4.45 +.04
General Election February 1974 [17]
Electorate: 53,767
Turnout: 42,049 (78.21%) +2.7		 Labour hold
Majority: 6,300 (14.98%) +8.5
Swing: 4.3% from Con to Lab		 Barbara Castle Labour 20,340 48.37 −4.9
I. D. McGaw Conservative 14,040 33.39 −13.4
F. J. Beetham Liberal 5,891 14.01 N/A
John Kingsley Read National Front 1,778 4.23 N/A
General Election 1970 [18]
Electorate: 55,875
Turnout: 42,210 (75.54%) −3.8		 Labour hold
Majority: 2,736 (6.48%) −10.1
Swing: 6.1% from Lab to Con		 Barbara Castle Labour 22,473 53.24 −6.1
R. T. Gartner Conservative 19,737 46.76 +6.1
General election, 1966 [19]
Electorate: 54,911
Turnout: 43,514 (79.2%) −1.8		 Labour hold
Majority: 7,248 (16.6%) +1.6
Swing: 1.6% from Con to Lab		 Barbara Castle Labour 25,381 58.3 +1.6
Thomas Marsden Conservative 18,133 41.7 −1.6
General election, 1964 [20]
Electorate: 57,034
Turnout: 46,193 (81.0%)		 Labour hold
Majority: 6,893 (15.0%) +9.4
Swing: 4.7% from Con to Lab		 Barbara Castle Labour 26,543 57.5 +4.7
John Maurice Armstrong Yerburgh Conservative 19,650 42.5 −4.7
General election, 1959 [21]
Electorate: 60,362
Turnout: 51,846 (85.89%) +2.8		 Labour hold
Majority: 2,866 (5.6%) +4.6
Swing: 2.3% from Con to Lab		 Barbara Castle Labour 27,356 52.8 +2.3
John Maurice Armstrong Yerburgh Conservative 24,490 47.2 −2.3
General Election 1955 [22]
Electorate: 62,548
Turnout: 51,993 (83.1%)		 Labour win
Majority: 489 (1.0%)		 Barbara Castle Labour 26,241 50.5 N/A
Thomas Marsden Conservative 25,752 49.5 N/A

[edit] Elections in the 1860s

By-election, 31 March 1869 Blackburn[23][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Edward Hornby 4,738
Conservative Henry Master Feilden 4,697
Liberal J. G. Potter 3,964
Liberal John Morley 3,804
General election, 1868: Blackburn[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Henry Hornby 4,907
Conservative Joseph Feilden 4,826
Liberal J. G. Potter 4,399
Liberal Montague Joseph Feilden 4,164

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ Lancashire provisional recommendations Boundary Commission for England
  3. ^ Could the election be won by fraud?, Robert Winnett and Abul Taher, The Sunday Times, 10 April 2005
  4. ^ a b c Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
  5. ^ a b c Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 49–50. ISBN 0-900178-26-4. 
  6. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 76. ISBN 0-900178-27-2. 
  7. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 92. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. 
  8. ^ "UK General Election results May 2010". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge10/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  9. ^ ukpollingreport
  10. ^ "UK General Election results May 2005". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge05/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  11. ^ a b "UK General Election results May 1997 and June 2001: Blackburn". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/constit/093.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  12. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  13. ^ "UK General Election results June 1987". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge87/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  14. ^ "UK General Election results June 1983". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge83/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  15. ^ "UK General Election results May 1979". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge79/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  16. ^ "UK General Election results October 1974". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74b/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  17. ^ "UK General Election results February 1974". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  18. ^ "UK General Election results 1970". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge70/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  19. ^ "UK General Election results March 1966". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge66/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  20. ^ "UK General Election results October 1964". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge64/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  21. ^ "UK General Election results October 1959". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge59/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  22. ^ "UK General Election results May 1955". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge55/i03.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  23. ^ "Election Intelligence. Blackburn". The Times (London): p. 4, col F. 31 March 1869. 

[edit] External links

Constituencies in North West England (75)
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