Rossendale and Darwen (UK Parliament constituency)

Rossendale and Darwen
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire.
Location of Lancashire within England.
County	Lancashire
Electorate	73,443 (December 2010)
Current constituency
Created	1983 (1983)
Member of Parliament	Jake Berry (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Rossendale and Darwen is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Since 2010 the Member of Parliament for the constituency is the Conservative Jake Berry, who defeated Janet Anderson, the Labour incumbent since 1992.

Boundaries

The current constituency is made up as follows:

• The whole of the districts of Bacup and Rawtenstall
• The whole of the district of Darwen
• Part of the district of Haslingden (Grane, Helmshore & Ewood Bridge)
• Part of the district of Ramsbottom (Buckhurst, Deeply Vale, Edenfield, Stubbins & Turn)
• The Belmont, Chapeltown, Edgworth and Entwistle areas of Turton

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire in the run-up to the United Kingdom general election, 2010 including the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen, the Boundary Commission for England have created a re-shaped Rossendale and Darwen constituency.

• From the borough of Rossendale, twelve wards are used to create the new seat - Cribden, Eden, Facit and Shawforth, Goodshaw, Hareholme, Healey and Whitworth, Helmshore, Irwell, Longholme, Stacksteads and Whitewell.
• Eight wards are taken from the Blackburn with Darwen district - Earcroft, East Rural, Fernhurst, Marsh House, North Turton with Tockholes, Sudell, Sunnyhurst and Whitehall.

Proposed abolition

As part of the nation-wide Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies the Boundary Commission for England has proposed replacing the existing seat with two new constituencies.

The two new recommended seats 'Darwen and Haslingden' and 'Rochdale North and Rawtenstall' would cover the Rossendale council area.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	David Trippier	Conservative
	1992	Janet Anderson	Labour
	2010	Jake Berry	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Rossendale and Darwen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jake Berry	19,691	41.8	+7.1
	Labour	Janet Anderson	15,198	32.2	-10.7
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Sheffield	8,541	18.1	+3.2
	UKIP	David Duthie	1,617	3.4	+1.8
	National Front	Kevin Bryan	1,062	2.3	N/A
	English Democrats	Michael Johnson	663	1.4	N/A
	Impact	Tony Melia	243	0.5	N/A
	Independent	Mike Siveri	113	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,493	9.5
Turnout			47,128	64.6	+3.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	8.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Rossendale and Darwen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	19,073	42.9	-5.8
	Conservative	Nigel Adams	15,397	34.6	-2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Carr	6,670	15.0	+0.4
	BNP	Anthony Wentworth	1,736	3.9	+3.9
	Green	Graeme McIver	821	1.8	+1.8
	UKIP	David Duthie	740	1.7	+1.7
Majority			3,676	8.3
Turnout			44,437	61.5	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.9

General Election 2001: Rossendale and Darwen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	20,251	48.7	-5.0
	Conservative	George Lee	15,281	36.7	+4.5
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Dunning	6,079	14.6	+4.0
Majority			4,970	12.0
Turnout			41,611	58.7	-14.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Rossendale and Darwen
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	28,028	43.9	+5.6
	Conservative	DA Trippier	27,908	43.7	−2.9
	Liberal Democrat	K Connor	7,226	11.3	−3.8
	Green	JE Gaffney	596	0.9	N/A
	Natural Law	PN Gorrod	125	0.2	N/A
Majority			120	0.2	−8.1
Turnout			63,883	83.0	+2.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.2

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire