Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Blackburn
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Blackburn in North West England
County	Lancashire
Population	107,246 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	70,586 (2023) [2]
Major settlements	Blackburn
Current constituency
Created	1955
Member of Parliament	Adnan Hussain (Independent)
Seats	One
Created from	Blackburn East and Blackburn West
1832–1950
Seats	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Created from	Lancashire
Replaced by	Blackburn East Blackburn West

Blackburn is a constituency ^{[n 1]} in Lancashire, England, which is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament ^{[n 2]} by independent politician Adnan Hussain. From 2015 to 2024 it was represented by Kate Hollern of the Labour Party and, from 1979 to 2015, by Jack Straw who served under the Labour leaders of Neil Kinnock and John Smith and the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Boundaries

Map of boundaries from 2024

Historic

1832–1885: The township of Blackburn. ^[3]

1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough, and so much of the municipal borough of Blackburn as was not already included in the parliamentary borough. ^[4]

1918–1950: the county borough of Blackburn. ^[5]

1955–1974: The county borough of Blackburn wards of Park, St. John's, St. Jude's, St. Luke's, St. Matthew's, St. Michael's, St. Paul's, St. Silas's, St. Stephen's, St. Thomas's and Trinity. ^[6]

2010–2024: The district of Blackburn with Darwen wards of 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.

Following the 2007 review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire in the run up to the 2010 United Kingdom general election, including the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen, the Boundary Commission for England made minor boundary changes to the existing constituency.

Current

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the following wards of the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• Audley & Queen’s Park; Bastwell & Daisyfield; Billinge & Beardwood; Blackburn Central; Blackburn South East; Ewood; Little Harwood & Whitebirk; Livesey with Pleasington; Mill Hill & Moorgate; Roe Lee; Shear Brow & Corporation Park; Wensley Fold. ^[7]

Minor changes to reflect changes to local authority ward structure.

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.

History

See also: Blackburn § Politics

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, replaced by two single member constituencies, Blackburn East and Blackburn West.

Blackburn was re-established as a single-member constituency for the 1955 general election, partially replacing Blackburn East and Blackburn West. After its re-establishment, the constituency was initially a marginal, but Blackburn was later considered to be a Labour Party stronghold prior to the 2024 general election—up until that point, it had only elected Labour MPs since its recreation in 1955. In 2024 Blackburn was won by Adnan Hussain, an independent candidate who campaigned largely on the issue of the genocide of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war. Three other previously safe Labour seats saw similar results at that election, all of which had large Muslim populations.

The constituency of Blackburn has been represented by two prominent frontbenchers in the Cabinet: Barbara Castle, a First Secretary of State (amongst other roles) who stood down from this seat to become a Member of the European Parliament, and Jack Straw, who served as Home Secretary and then Foreign Secretary in the Blair government.

1997 general election

Jack Straw's Conservative challenger in the 1997 general election, Geeta Sidhu-Robb, was filmed with a megaphone during the election campaign, exclaiming in Urdu or Gujarati: "Don't vote for a Jew, Jack Straw is a Jew. If you vote for him, you're voting for a Jew. Jews are the enemies of Muslims." Sidhu-Robb said that this was in response to racist campaigning by the Labour Party, who she accused of claiming that she was "against Islam". She felt that Labour were "making it personal", and she took particular umbrage as her husband was Muslim. Sidhu-Robb later said she wished she had not made those comments about Straw, saying she did so because she was "furious" and that she "didn't want racism and bigotry to play a part in anything that [she] had anything to do with." ^[8] Nonetheless, her comments regarding Straw's religion resurfaced over 20 years later, when Sidhu-Robb was competing to be nominated as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2021 London Mayoral election, causing the Liberal Democrats to remove her from consideration for their candidacy.

2005 general election

Blackburn's then MP, Straw, was primarily challenged in the 2005 general election by the Conservative Party, but the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, also stood for election in the seat as an Independent. 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. ^[9] The BNP had not stood in the previous two elections, but this time had a candidate, who polled 5.4% of the vote, and beat Murray to come fourth. Both were outperformed by the Liberal Democrats in third place, and the Conservatives, who remained second. Straw held on comfortably, albeit with a reduced majority; his winning vote share of 42% was the smallest since the seat became a single-member constituency until the 2024 result.

2015 general election

In August 2011, Jack Straw claimed that he had no plans to retire, despite turning 65 earlier that month. ^[10] Two years later, on 25 October 2013, Straw announced that he would stand down as Blackburn's MP at the next election. ^[11] 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		First member [12]	First party [13] [14] [15]		Second member [12]	Second party
1832		William Feilden	Whig [16] [17] [18]		William Turner	Whig [16] [19] [20]
1841			Conservative [16] [17] [18]		John Hornby	Conservative [16]
1847		James Pilkington	Whig [21] [22] [23]
1852					William Eccles	Radical [21]
1853 by-election					Montague Joseph Feilden	Whig [21]
1857					William Henry Hornby	Conservative
1859			Liberal
1865		Joseph Feilden	Conservative
1869 by-election		Henry 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 Dean	Coalition Conservative			Coalition Liberal
1922		Sir Sidney Henn	Conservative			National Liberal
1923					John Duckworth	Liberal
1929		Thomas Gill	Labour		Mary Hamilton	Labour
1931		Sir George Elliston	Conservative		Sir WD Smiles	Conservative
1945		John Edwards	Labour		Barbara Castle	Labour
1950	constituency abolished: see Blackburn East and Blackburn West

Single member constituency (1955–present)

Election		Member [12]	Party
	1955	Barbara Castle	Labour
	1979	Jack Straw	Labour
	2015		Independent
	2015	Kate Hollern	Labour
	2024	Adnan Hussain	Independent

Elections

Blackburn election results 1955-2019

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Blackburn ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Adnan Hussain	10,518	27.0	N/A
	Labour	Kate Hollern	10,386	26.7	−39.3
	Workers Party	Craig Murray	7,105	18.3	N/A
	Reform UK	Tommy Temperley	4,844	12.5	+6.6
	Conservative	Jamie McGowan	3,474	8.9	−14.4
	Green	Denise Morgan	1,416	3.6	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Waller-Slack	689	1.8	−0.6
	Independent	Altaf Patel	369	0.9	N/A
	Independent	Natasha Shah	86	0.2	N/A
Majority			132	0.3
Turnout			38,887	53.1
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Blackburn ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kate Hollern	29,040	64.9	―4.9
	Conservative	Claire Gill	10,736	24.0	―2.9
	Brexit Party	Rick Moore	2,770	6.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Beth Waller-Slack	1,130	2.5	+1.0
	Green	Reza Hossain	741	1.7	New
	Independent	Rizwan Shah	319	0.7	New
Majority			18,304	40.9	―2.0
Turnout			44,736	62.8	―4.4
	Labour hold		Swing	―1.0

General election 2017: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kate Hollern	33,148	69.8	+13.5
	Conservative	Bob Eastwood	12,780	26.9	―0.4
	Independent	Duncan Miller	875	1.8	New
	Liberal Democrats	Irfan Ahmed	709	1.5	―0.7
Majority			20,368	42.9	+13.9
Turnout			47,512	67.2	+7.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.9

General election 2015: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kate Hollern	24,762	56.3	+8.5
	Conservative	Bob Eastwood	12,002	27.3	+1.2
	UKIP	Dayle Taylor	6,280	14.3	+12.2
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Lishman	955	2.2	―13.0
Majority			12,760	29.0	+8.3
Turnout			43,999	60.1	―1.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.7

General election 2010: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	21,751	47.8	+5.7
	Conservative	Michael Law-Riding	11,895	26.1	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Paul English	6,918	15.2	―5.4
	BNP	Robin Evans	2,158	4.7	―0.7
	Independent	Bushra Irfan	1,424	3.1	New
	UKIP	Bobby Anwar	942	2.1	―0.2
	Independent	Grace Astley	238	0.5	New
	Independent	Janis Sharp	173	0.4	New
Majority			9,856	21.7	+2.2
Turnout			45,499	62.9	+5.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	17,562	42.0	―12.1
	Conservative	Imtiaz Ameen	9,553	22.9	―8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Melia	8,608	20.6	+12.5
	BNP	Nicholas Holt	2,263	5.4	New
	Independent	Craig Murray	2,082	5.0	New
	UKIP	Dorothy Baxter	954	2.3	―0.6
	Green	Graham Carter	783	1.9	New
Majority			8,009	19.1	―3.8
Turnout			41,805	56.9	+1.4
	Labour hold		Swing	―1.4

General election 2001: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	21,808	54.1	―0.9
	Conservative	John Cotton	12,559	31.2	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Imtiaz Patel	3,264	8.1	―2.4
	UKIP	Dorothy Baxter	1,185	2.9	New
	Socialist Labour	Terry Cullen	559	1.4	+0.1
	Socialist Alliance	Jim Nichol	532	1.3	New
	Independent	Paul Morris	377	0.9	New
Majority			9,249	22.9	―7.5
Turnout			40,284	55.5	―9.5
	Labour hold		Swing	―2.9

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	26,141	55.0	+6.6
	Conservative	Geeta Sidhu Robb	11,690	24.6	―12.9
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Fenn	4,990	10.5	―1.0
	Referendum	David Bradshaw	1,892	4.0	New
	National Democrats	Tina Wingfield	671	1.4	New
	Socialist Labour	Helen Drummond	635	1.3	New
	Green	Robin Field	608	1.3	―0.3
	Keep Britain Free and Independent Party	Margo Carmichael-Grimshaw	506	1.1	New
	Common Sense Sick of Politicians	John Batchelor	362	0.8	New
Majority			14,451	30.4	+19.5
Turnout			47,495	65.0	―10.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+9.7

General election 1992: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	26,633	48.4	―1.5
	Conservative	Ross M. Coates	20,606	37.5	―2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Mann	6,332	11.5	+1.5
	Green	Robin Field	878	1.6	New
	Lodestar Party	Margo Carmichael-Grimshaw	334	0.6	New
	Natural Law	William Ayliffe	195	0.4	New
Majority			6,027	10.9	+1.1
Turnout			54,978	75.1	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	27,965	49.9	+5.2
	Conservative	Anne Cheetham	22,468	40.1	+0.7
	SDP	Mohammed Ali	5,602	10.0	―4.4
Majority			5,497	9.8	+4.5
Turnout			56,035	74.9	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

General election 1983: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	25,400	44.7	―6.0
	Conservative	Graham Mather	22,345	39.4	+2.8
	SDP	Eric B. Fairbrother	8,174	14.4	+2.7
	National Front	David A. Riley	864	1.5	0.0
Majority			3,055	5.3	―8.8
Turnout			56,784	74.6	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	―4.4

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack Straw	19,683	50.7	―0.8
	Conservative	Ian D. McGaw	14,193	36.6	+4.5
	Liberal	Frank J. Beetham	4,371	11.3	―0.7
	National Front	Edward Adamson	565	1.5	―3.0
Majority			5,490	14.1	―5.3
Turnout			38,813	74.0	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	―2.6

General election October 1974: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	20,344	51.5	+3.1
	Conservative	Ian D. McGaw	12,692	32.1	―1.3
	Liberal	Frank J. Beetham	4,741	12.0	―2.0
	National Front	John Kingsley Read	1,758	4.5	+0.3
Majority			7,652	19.4	+4.4
Turnout			39,537	72.9	―6.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.2

General election February 1974: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	20,340	48.4	―4.8
	Conservative	Ian D. McGaw	14,040	33.4	―13.4
	Liberal	Frank J. Beetham	5,891	14.0	New
	National Front	John Kingsley Read	1,778	4.2	New
Majority			6,300	15.0	+8.6
Turnout			42,049	78.3	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

General election 1970: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	22,473	53.2	―6.1
	Conservative	Trixie Gardner	19,737	46.8	+6.1
Majority			2,736	6.4	―10.2
Turnout			42,210	75.5	―3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	―6.1

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	25,381	58.3	+0.8
	Conservative	Thomas Marsden	18,133	41.7	―0.8
Majority			7,248	16.6	+1.6
Turnout			43,514	79.2	―1.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.6

General election 1964: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	26,543	57.5	+4.7
	Conservative	John Maurice Armstrong Yerburgh	19,650	42.5	―4.7
Majority			6,893	15.0	+9.4
Turnout			46,193	81.0	―4.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	27,356	52.8	+2.3
	Conservative	John Maurice Armstrong Yerburgh	24,490	47.2	―2.3
Majority			2,866	5.6	+4.6
Turnout			51,846	85.9	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

General election 1955: Blackburn ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Barbara Castle	26,241	50.5
	Conservative	Thomas Marsden	25,752	49.5
Majority			489	1.0
Turnout			51,993	83.1
	Labour win (new seat)

Back to elections

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Blackburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Edwards	35,182	26.0	+2.1
	Labour	Barbara Castle	35,145	26.0	+2.2
	Conservative	Douglas Glover	26,325	19.5	−6.7
	Conservative	Robert Goulborne Parker	25,807	19.1	−7.0
	Liberal	Robert Shackleton	6,587	4.9	New
	Liberal	Marjorie Annie Macinerney	6,096	4.5	New
Turnout			135,142	82.6	−2.3
Majority			8,857	6.5	N/A
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
Majority			9,338	6.9	N/A
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

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: W. D. Smiles, George Elliston
• Labour: James Bell, William John Tout

Back to elections

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Blackburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Elliston	37,932	26.2	−6.9
	Conservative	W. D. Smiles	37,769	26.1	−7.0
	Labour	James Bell	34,571	23.9	+6.9
	Labour	George Walker	34,423	23.8	+7.2
Turnout			144,695	84.9	−2.5
Majority			3,509	2.4	−13.2
	Conservative hold		Swing
Majority			3,198	2.2	−13.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1931: Blackburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. D. Smiles	50,105	33.2
	Conservative	George Elliston	49,953	33.1
	Labour	Mary Hamilton	25,643	17.0
	Labour	Thomas Gill	25,030	16.6
Turnout			150,551	87.4
Majority			25,075	15.6	N/A
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
Majority			24,923	16.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Back to elections

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Blackburn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Hamilton	37,256	26.1	+4.3
	Labour	Thomas Gill	35,723	25.0	+3.2
	Unionist	Sydney Henn	35,249	24.7	−3.4
	Liberal	Gerald Isaacs	34,504	24.2	−4.1
Turnout			142,732	87.8	−0.4
Majority			2,752	1.9	N/A
Majority			474	0.3	N/A
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1924: Blackburn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Duckworth	31,612	28.3	−0.8
	Conservative	Sydney Henn	31,347	28.1	+1.5
	Labour	Mary Hamilton	24,330	21.8	−2.0
	Labour	Thomas Gill	24,317	21.8	+1.3
Turnout			111,606	88.2	+3.2
Majority			7,017	6.3	+0.2
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			7,295	6.5	+1.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1923: Blackburn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Duckworth	31,117	29.1	−5.3
	Unionist	Sydney Henn	28,505	26.6	+1.1
	Labour	John Davies	25,428	23.8	+2.1
	Labour	Edward Porter	21,903	20.5	−0.6
Turnout			106,953	85.0	−3.4
Majority			6,602	6.1	+2.8
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			5,689	5.3	+1.5
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1922: Blackburn (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sydney Henn	28,280	25.5	−13.4
	National Liberal	Henry Norman	27,071	24.4	−17.0
	Labour	John Davies	24,049	21.7
	Labour	Edward Porter	23,402	21.1
	Liberal	Thomas Meech	8,141	7.3	N/A
Turnout			110,943	88.4	+13.6
Majority			3,669	3.3	−15.9
	Unionist hold		Swing
Majority			4,231	3.8	−17.9
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Back to elections

Elections in the 1910s

Henry Norman

General election 1918: Blackburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Henry Norman	32,076	41.4	+15.1
C	Unionist	Percy Dean	30,158	38.9	−8.4
	Labour	Philip Snowden	15,274	19.7	−6.7
Turnout			77,510	74.8	−17.6
Majority			14,884	19.2	N/A
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	−0.9
Majority			16,802	21.7	+19.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+11.8
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election December 1910: Blackburn (two seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Snowden	10,762	26.4	−1.7
	Liberal	Henry Norman	10,754	26.3	−2.1
	Conservative	W.B. Boyd-Carpenter	9,814	24.0	+2.0
	Conservative	H.L. Riley	9,500	23.3	+1.8
Turnout			40,830	92.4	−3.6
Registered electors			22,572
Majority			948	2.4	−3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.9
Majority			940	2.3	−4.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.1

General election January 1910: Blackburn (two seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Henry Norman	12,064	28.4	+4.8
	Labour	Philip Snowden	11,916	28.1	+1.4
	Conservative	Robert Cecil	9,307	22.0	−4.8
	Conservative	G.F.S. Bowles	9,112	21.5	−1.8
Turnout			42,399	96.0	+0.6
Registered electors			22,572
Majority			2,757	6.4	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.9
Majority			2,609	6.1	+2.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.6

Back to elections

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1906: Blackburn (two seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Hornby	10,291	26.8	−13.7
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Philip Snowden	10,282	26.7	+2.1
	Conservative	Geoffrey Drage	8,932	23.3	−10.6
	Liberal	Edwin Hamer [28]	8,892	23.2	New
Turnout			38,397	95.4	+9.6
Registered electors			21,127
Majority			1,399	3.6	−4.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.9
Majority			1,350	3.4	N/A
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.4

General election 1900: Blackburn (two seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Hornby	11,247	40.5	+3.1
	Conservative	William Coddington	9,415	33.9	−1.9
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Philip Snowden	7,096	25.6	New
Turnout			27,758	85.8	−1.8
Registered electors			19,496
Majority			2,319	8.3	−0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

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Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: Blackburn (two seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Hornby	9,553	37.4	+8.6
	Conservative	William Coddington	9,150	35.8	+7.8
	Liberal	Thomas Ritzema	6,840	26.8	−16.4
Turnout			25,543	87.6	−4.5
Registered electors			18,275
Majority			2,310	9.0	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.1

General election 1892: Blackburn (two seats) ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Hornby	9,265	28.8	N/A
	Conservative	William Coddington	9,046	28.0	N/A
	Liberal	W. Taylor	7,272	22.5	New
	Liberal	Eli Heyworth [29]	6,694	20.7	New
Turnout			32,277	92.1	N/A
Registered electors			17,661
Majority			1,774	5.5	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

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Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: Blackburn (two seats) ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Coddington	Unopposed
	Conservative	Harry Hornby	Unopposed
	Conservative hold
	Conservative hold

Coddington

Briggs

General election 1885: Blackburn (two seats) ^{[30] [31] [32]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Coddington	9,168	30.9	+5.5
	Conservative	Robert Peel	8,425	28.4	+3.5
	Liberal	William Edward Briggs	6,740	22.7	−3.3
	Liberal	James Nuttall Boothman [33]	5,341	18.0	−5.6
Majority			1,685	5.7	N/A
Turnout			15,656	95.9	+2.5 (est)
Registered electors			16,329
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.4

General election 1880: Blackburn (two seats) ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Edward Briggs	6,349	26.0	+0.6
	Conservative	William Coddington	6,207	25.4	−0.9
	Conservative	Daniel Thwaites	6,088	24.9	−0.4
	Liberal	George Molesworth	5,760	23.6	+0.5
Turnout			12,202 (est)	93.4 (est)	−0.6
Registered electors			13,062
Majority			261	1.1	+1.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.5
Majority			447	1.8	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

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Elections in the 1870s

By-election, 2 Oct 1875 ^{[35] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Daniel Thwaites	5,792	54.5	+2.9
	Liberal	J. T. Hibbert [36]	4,832	45.5	−3.0
Majority			960	9.0	+8.1
Turnout			10,624	90.6	−3.4
Registered electors			11,721
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.0

• Caused by Feilden's death.

General election 1874: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Feilden	5,532	26.3	−0.1
	Liberal	William Edward Briggs	5,338	25.4	+1.4
	Conservative	Daniel Thwaites	5,323	25.3	−1.5
	Liberal	Richard Shackleton [37]	4,851	23.1	+0.3
Turnout			10,522 (est)	94.0 (est)	−5.6
Registered electors			11,195
Majority			194	0.9	−1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.2
Majority			15	0.1	N/A
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.5

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Elections in the 1860s

By-election, 30 March 1869: Blackburn ^{[34] [38]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Hornby	4,738	27.5	+0.7
	Conservative	Henry Feilden	4,697	27.3	+0.9
	Liberal	John Gerald Potter	3,964	23.0	−1.0
	Liberal	John Morley	3,804	22.1	−0.7
Majority			733	4.3	+1.9
Turnout			8,602 (est)	93.7 (est)	−5.9
Registered electors			9,183
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

• Caused by the 1868 election being declared void on petition after "undue influence by those who held the position of agents in the canvass". ^[39]

General election, 1868: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Hornby	4,907	26.8	−5.0
	Conservative	Joseph Feilden	4,826	26.4	−1.9
	Liberal	John Gerald Potter	4,399	24.0	+6.6
	Liberal	Montague Joseph Feilden	4,164	22.8	+0.3
Majority			427	2.4	−3.4
Turnout			9,148 (est)	99.6 (est)	+12.2
Registered electors			9,183
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.1

General election, 1865: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Hornby	1,053	31.8
	Conservative	Joseph Feilden	938	28.3
	Liberal	James Pilkington	744	22.5
	Liberal	John Gerald Potter	577	17.4
Majority			194	5.8	+2.0
Turnout			1,656 (est)	87.4 (est)	−4.8
Registered electors			1,894
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

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Elections in the 1850s

General election, 1859: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Hornby	832	38.7	N/A
	Liberal	James Pilkington	750	34.9	N/A
	Liberal	John Patrick Murrough [40]	567	26.4	N/A
Majority			82	3.8	N/A
Turnout			1,491 (est)	92.2 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			1,617
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election, 1857: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Hornby	Unopposed
	Whig	James Pilkington	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,518
	Conservative gain from Radical
	Whig hold

By-election, 24 March 1853: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Montague Joseph Feilden	631	52.4	+8.7
	Conservative	William Hornby	574	47.6	+21.3
Majority			57	4.8	−8.9
Turnout			1,205	90.9	+14.0
Registered electors			1,325
	Whig gain from Radical		Swing	−6.3

• Caused by Eccles' election being declared void on petition, due to bribery. ^[41]

General election, 1852: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Pilkington	846	43.7	+8.4
	Radical	William Eccles	580	30.0	+26.0
	Conservative	John Hornby	509	26.3	−11.3
Turnout			968 (est)	76.9 (est)	+0.9
Registered electors			1,258
Majority			266	13.7	−17.6
	Whig hold		Swing	+7.0
Majority			71	3.7	N/A
	Radical gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.8

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Elections in the 1840s

General election, 1847: Blackburn ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hornby	641	37.6	−28.5
	Whig	James Pilkington	602	35.3	+18.8
	Whig	William Hargreaves [42] [43]	392	23.0	+6.5
	Chartist	William Prowting Roberts [44]	68	4.0	New
Turnout			852 (est)	76.0 (est)	−12.9
Registered electors			1,121
Majority			39	2.3	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−26.9
Majority			534	31.3	N/A
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+16.5

General election, 1841: Blackburn ^{[34] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Feilden	441	34.1	New
	Conservative	John Hornby	427	33.0	New
	Whig	William Turner	426	32.9	−21.9
Turnout			805	88.9	+18.9
Registered electors			906
Majority			15	1.2	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−20.7
Majority			1	0.1	N/A
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	−11.3

Back to elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election, 1837: Blackburn ^{[34] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Turner	515	54.8	+13.7
	Whig	William Feilden	416	44.3	+14.2
	Radical	John Benjamin Smith	9	1.0	−27.8
Turnout			589	70.0	−11.2
Registered electors			842
Majority			99	10.5	−0.5
	Whig hold		Swing	+13.8
Majority			407	43.3	+42.0
	Whig hold		Swing	+14.1

General election, 1835: Blackburn ^{[34] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Turner	432	41.1	+8.3
	Whig	William Feilden	316	30.1	−5.5
	Radical	John Bowring	303	28.8	−2.8
Turnout			618	81.2	−15.8
Registered electors			761
Majority			116	11.0	+9.8
	Whig hold		Swing	+4.9
Majority			13	1.3	−1.5
	Whig hold		Swing	−2.1

General election, 1832: Blackburn ^{[34] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Feilden	376	35.6
	Whig	William Turner	346	32.8
	Radical	John Bowring	334	31.6
Turnout			607	97.0
Registered electors			626
Majority			30	2.8
	Whig win (new seat)
Majority			12	1.2
	Whig win (new seat)

Back to elections

See also

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

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. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
3. "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV. An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament". London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300–383. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
4. "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp.  111–198.
5. Mayer, Sylvain (1918). Representation of the People Act 1918 and the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918. London: Waterlow and Sons Limited. p. 152.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Blackburn, Chorley and Darwen) Order 1955", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 5 January 1955, SI 1955/14, retrieved 6 February 2022
7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
8. https://web.archive.org/web/20200914112402/https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/geeta-sidhu-robb-jack-straw-jew
9. Could the election be won by fraud?, Robert Winnett and Abul Taher, The Sunday Times , 10 April 2005
10. "Jack Straw has no plans to retire despite hitting 65". Lancashire Telegraph. 14 August 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
11. "Jack Straw to step down as Labour MP for Blackburn". BBC News. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
12. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
13. Craig, FWS (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 49–50. ISBN   0-900178-26-4.
14. Craig, FWS (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 76. ISBN   0-900178-27-2.
15. Craig, FWS (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 92. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
16. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, FWS (ed.). The parliaments of England, from 1715 to 1847 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  175–176. ISBN   0-900178-13-2 – via Archive.org.
17. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 88.
18. Dutton, HI; King, JE (1981). Ten Per Cent and No Surrender: The Preston Strike 1853–1854. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 92. ISBN   0-521-23620-7.
19. "Scandal gripped the nation". Lancashire Telegraph. 19 June 2003. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
20. Lewis, Brian (2001). The Middlemost and the Milltowns: Bourgeois Culture and Politics in Early Industrial England. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 544. ISBN   0-8047-4174-3.
21. Pink, William Dumcombe; Beavan, Alfred B. (1889). The Parliamentary Representation of Lancashire (County and Borough) 1258–1885 with Biographical and Genealogical Notices of the Members. London: Henry Gray. p. 317. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
22. "The General Election". The Spectator. 31 July 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 14 April 2018.(subscription required)
23. "The Diary of Charles Tiplady". Cotton Town. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
24. "Blackburn - General election results 2024". BBC News.
25. "Blackburn Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
26. "Blackburn parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
27. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
28. "Edwin Hamer, Mayor of Blackburn 1899–1900". Cotton Town. Blackburn with Darwen. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
29. "Late 19th Century". Cotton Town. Blackburn with Darwen Council. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
30. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, FWS Craig
31. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
32. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
33. "Blackburn". Preston Herald. 2 January 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
34. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
35. "Blackburn Election" . Jersey Independent and Daily Telegraph. 2 October 1875 – via British Newspaper Archive.
36. "Election of Blackburn" . Preston Herald. 25 September 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 27 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
37. "The General Election" . Western Daily Mercury. 28 January 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 27 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
38. "Election Intelligence. Blackburn". The Times. London. 31 March 1869. p. 4, col F.
39. "Blackburn Election Petition" . Preston Chronicle. 20 March 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 28 January 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
40. "Representation of Blackburn" . Preston Chronicle. 23 April 1859. p. 5. Retrieved 14 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
41. "Blackburn Election" . Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 26 March 1853. p. 5. Retrieved 14 April 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
42. "Durham Chronicle" . 6 August 1847. p. 6. Retrieved 27 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
43. "Blackburn Election" . Preston Chronicle. 24 July 1847. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 27 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
44. "Blackburn" . Bell's Weekly Messenger. 31 July 1847. p. 2. Retrieved 27 October 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile
• Blackburn Labour Party
• Blackburn Liberal Democrats
• Janis Sharp Campaign Site
• Bushra Irfan Campaign Site ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
• Blackburn UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Blackburn UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Blackburn UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK