Blackburn_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Blackburn is a 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.

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, the Boundary Commission for England made minor boundary changes to the existing constituency. No name change was proposed or made.

The electoral wards in the Blackburn seat to be fought at the next UK general election in either 2009 or 2010 are 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 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. 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.

Members of Parliament

Two-member constituency (1832-1950)

Year		1st Member	1st Party	2nd Member	2nd Party
1832	constituency created with two seats by the Great Reform Act
1832		William Feilden	Liberal	William Turner	Liberal
1841		William Feilden	Conservative	John Hornby	Conservative
1847		James Pilkington	Liberal	John Hornby	Conservative
1852				William Eccles	Liberal
1853				Montague Joseph Feilden	Liberal
1857				William Henry Hornby	Conservative
1865		Joseph Feilden	Conservative	William Henry Hornby	Conservative
1869		Henry Master Feilden	Conservative	Edward Kenworthy Hornby	Conservative
1874		Henry Master Feilden	Conservative	William Edward Briggs	Liberal
1875		Daniel Thwaites	Conservative
1880		Sir William Coddington	Conservative
1885				Sir Robert Peel	Conservative
1886				Sir William Henry Hornby	Conservative
1906		Philip Snowden	Labour	Sir William Henry Hornby	Conservative
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		Sir Sydney Herbert Holcroft Henn	Conservative	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