Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Blackburn
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Blackburn in Lancashire.
Location of Lancashire within England.
County	Lancashire
Population	107,246 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	72,112 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Blackburn
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of parliament	Kate Hollern (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Blackburn East and Blackburn West
1832–1950
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 constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kate Hollern of the Labour Party.^{[n 2]}

Constituency profile

It has elected Labour MPs since its re-creation in 1955.

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.

• Audley, Bastwell, Beardwood and Lammack, Corporation Park, Ewood, Higher Croft, Little Harwood, Livesey with Pleasington, Meadowhead, Mill Hill, Queen's Park, Roe Lee, Shadsworth with Whitebirk, Shear Brow and Wensley Fold.

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.

2005 General election

Blackburn's MP, Jack Straw, was challenged in the 2005 General Election primarily again by the Conservative Party but the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray also stood for election in Blackburn. Murray said: "I've been approached by several people in the Asian community who are under huge pressure from Labour activists [talking up the BNP's chances] 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] Unlike in 1997 and 2001, the BNP had a candidate, who polled 5.4% of the vote.

2015 General Election

In August 2011, Jack Straw announced he had no plans to retire, despite hitting 65 earlier that month.^[4]

On 25 October 2013, Straw announced that he would stand down as Blackburn's MP at the next election.^[5] In March 2014, Kate Hollern was selected, via an all women shortlist, as the candidate for Labour for the 2015 General Election, and held the seat.

Members of Parliament

Two-member constituency (1832–1950)

Election		1st Member[6]	1st Party[7] [8][9]		2nd Member[6]	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

Single member constituency (1955–present)

Election		Member[6]	Party
1955		constituency re-established
	1955	Barbara Castle	Labour
	1979	Jack Straw	Labour
	2015		Independent
	2015	Kate Hollern	Labour

Elections

Elections since 1955

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
General Election 2015 [10][11] Electorate: 73,251 Turnout: 43,999 (60.1%) –1.8		Labour hold Majority: 12,760 (29.0%) +8.3 Swing: +3.7% from Con to Lab		Kate Hollern	Labour	24,762	56.3	+8.5
				Bob Eastwood	Conservative	12,002	27.3	+1.1
				Dayle Taylor	UKIP	6,280	14.3	+12.2
				Gordon Lishman	Liberal Democrat	955	2.2	−13.0
General Election 2010 [12][13] 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	21,751	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 [14][15] 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 [16][17] 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 [17][18] Electorate: 47,501 Turnout: 47,501 (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 G. Kaur Sidhu	Conservative	11,696	24.6	−12.9
				Stephen J. Fenn	Liberal Democrat	4,990	10.5	−1.0
				David P. Bradshaw	Referendum	1,892	4.0	N/A
				Tina Wingfield	National Democrats	671	1.4	+1.4
				Helen Drummond	Socialist Labour	635	1.3	N/A
				Robin Field	Green	608	1.3	−0.3
				Margo Carmichael-Grimshaw	Keep Britain Free and Independent Party	506	1.1	N/A
				William John Batchelor	Common Sense Sick of Politicians	362	0.8	N/A
General Election 1992 [19][20] 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 [21][22] 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
				Anne Cartner Cheetham	Conservative	22,468	40.1	+0.7
				Mohammed Akbar Ali	Social Democratic	5,602	10.0	−4.4
General Election 1983 [23][24] 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
				Graham C.S. Mather	Conservative	22,345	39.4	+2.8
				Eric B. Fairbrother	Social Democratic	8,174	14.4	+2.7
				David A. Riley	National Front	864	1.5	0.0
General Election 1979 [25] 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
				Ian D. McGaw	Conservative	14,193	36.57	+4.5
				Frank J. Beetham	Liberal	4,371	11.26	−0.7
				Edward Adamson	National Front	565	1.46	−3.0
General Election October 1974 [26] 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
				Ian D. McGaw	Conservative	12,692	32.10	−1.3
				Frank J. Beetham	Liberal	4,741	11.99	−2.0
				John Kingsley Read	National Front	1,758	4.45	+.04
General Election February 1974 [27] 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
				Ian D. McGaw	Conservative	14,040	33.39	−13.4
				Frank J. Beetham	Liberal	5,891	14.01	N/A
				John Kingsley Read	National Front	1,778	4.23	N/A
General Election 1970 [28] 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
				Trixie Gardner	Conservative	19,737	46.76	+6.1
General election, 1966 [29] 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 [30] 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 [31] 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 [32] 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

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. 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;

• Conservative: Walter Dorling Smiles, George Sampson Elliston
• Labour: James Bell, William John Tout

General Election 1945

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Edwards	35,182	26.0
	Labour	Barbara Castle	35,145	26.0
	Conservative	Douglas Glover	26,325	19.5
	Conservative	RG Parker	25,807	19.1
	Liberal	Robert Shackleton	6,587	4.9
	Liberal	Marjorie Annie Macinerney	6,096	4.5
Turnout				82.6
Majority
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
Majority			8,820	6.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935 Electorate 85,818

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	George Sampson Elliston	37,932	26.2
	Conservative	Walter Dorling Smiles	37,769	26.1
	Labour	James Bell	34,571	23.9
	Labour	G H Walker	34,423	23.8
Turnout			144,695	84.9
Majority
	Conservative hold		Swing
Majority			3,198	2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931 Electorate 86,824

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter Dorling Smiles	50,105	33.2
	Conservative	George Sampson Elliston	49,953	33.1
	Labour	Mary Agnes Hamilton	25,643	17.0
	Labour	Thomas Harry Gill	25,030	16.6
Turnout			150,731	87.4
Majority
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
Majority			24,310	16.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Blackburn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Mary Agnes Hamilton	37,256	26.1	+4.3
	Labour	Thomas Harry Gill	35,723	25.0	+3.2
	Unionist	Sir Sydney Herbert Holcroft Henn	35,249	24.7	-3.4
	Liberal	Gerald Rufus Isaacs	34,504	24.2	-4.1
Turnout				87.8	-0.4
Majority			474	0.3
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1924

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Duckworth	31,612	28.3
	Conservative	Sydney Henn	31,347	28.1
	Labour	Mary Agnes Hamilton	24,330	21.8
	Labour	Thomas Harry Gill	24,317	21.8
Turnout			111,606	88.2
Majority			7,017	6.3
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			7,282	6.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Blackburn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Duckworth	31,117	29.1	n/a
	Unionist	Sydney Herbert Holcroft Henn	28,505	26.6	+1.1
	Labour	John Percival Davies	25,428	23.8	+2.1
	Labour	Edward Porter	21,903	20.5	-0.6
Turnout				85.0	-3.4
Majority			3,077	2.8	+0.1
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			5,689	5.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1922

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sydney Henn	28,280	25.5
	National Liberal	Henry Norman	27,071	24.4
	Labour	John Davies	24,049	21.7
	Labour	Edward Porter	23,402	21.1
	Liberal	Thomas Meech	8,141	7.3
Turnout				88.4
Majority			3,022	2.7
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			4,231	3.8
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

Henry Norman

General Election 1918: Blackburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Henry Norman	32,078	41.4
	Unionist	Percy Dean	30,158	38.9
	Labour	Philip Snowden	15,274	19.7
Turnout				74.8
Majority			14,884	19.2
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing
Majority			16,802	21.7
	Liberal hold		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government

Elections in the 1870s

Blackburn by-election, 1875^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Daniel Thwaites	5,792
	Liberal	Mr Hibbert	4,832

Elections in the 1860s

By-election, 31 March 1869 Blackburn^[7][34]

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^[7]

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

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire
• Blackburn East (UK Parliament constituency) 1950–1955
• Blackburn West (UK Parliament constituency) 1950–1955

Notes and references

Notes

1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

1. "Blackburn: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
2. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. Could the election be won by fraud?, Robert Winnett and Abul Taher, The Sunday Times, 10 April 2005
4. "Jack Straw has no plans to retire despite hitting 65". Lancashire Telegraph. 14 August 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
5. "Jack Straw to step down as Labour MP for Blackburn". BBC News. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Blackburn". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. "UK General Election results May 2010". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
14. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "UK General Election results May 2005". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
16. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. "UK General Election results May 1997 and June 2001: Blackburn". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
18. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "UK General Election results June 1987". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "UK General Election results June 1983". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
25. "UK General Election results May 1979". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
26. "UK General Election results October 1974". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
27. "UK General Election results February 1974". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
28. "UK General Election results 1970". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
29. "UK General Election results March 1966". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
30. "UK General Election results October 1964". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
31. "UK General Election results October 1959". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
32. "UK General Election results May 1955". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
33. "Blackburn Election". Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph. 2 October 1875 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
34. "Election Intelligence. Blackburn". The Times. London. 31 March 1869. p. 4, col F.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile
• Blackburn Labour Party
• Blackburn Liberal Democrats
• Janis Sharp Campaign Site
• Bushra Irfan Campaign Site