Hyndburn (UK Parliament constituency)

Hyndburn is a constituency[n 1] in Lancashire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sarah Smith of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Hyndburn
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Map of constituency
Boundary of Hyndburn in North West England
CountyLancashire
Electorate71,145 (2023)[1]
Major settlementsAccrington, Haslingden and Oswaldtwistle
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentSarah Smith (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromAccrington and Clitheroe

History and profile

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The seat was created in 1983, from parts of the former seats of Accrington and Clitheroe. In its ambit is much terraced (freehold) owner occupied housing[2] and surrounding villages, that may have helped to win the constituency for a Conservative in 1983, by 21 votes. The Conservative majority in 1983 was the second smallest achieved by any party in a seat in the United Kingdom at that election, only being beaten by the Conservatives 7 vote majority in Leicester South[3] In 1987, against the national trend, the Conservative vote share increased by 2.1% while Labour's vote share fell by 2.4%. Consequently, the Conservatives increased their majority to 2,220 votes, a higher majority than it achieved in 31 other seats.[4]

Labour won it in 1992, and chose a new candidate for 2010, Graham Jones, who was elected.[5] Part of Labour's Red Wall, the seat was won by the Conservatives in 2019, with the twenty-four year old Tory candidate Sara Britcliffe ousting Jones with a swing of 9.9%.[6] This was reversed in 2024, when Sarah Smith won it back for Labour.

In January 1996, Hyndburn Conservatives deselected Hugh Neil, after a six-week investigation into alleged bogus claims that he made about his background. Neil claimed to have a doctorate from Manchester Business School and Harvard Business School, to have been an adviser to Keith Joseph, and to be a member of the Institute of Directors. He would have been the party's first black MP.[7]

Boundaries

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Map of present boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Hyndburn.

1997–present: The Borough of Hyndburn, and the Borough of Rossendale wards of Greenfield and Worsley.

A mostly Labour inclined seat[n 3], based around the East Lancashire town of Accrington, it also includes Clayton-le-Moors, Great Harwood, Oswaldtwistle, and Rishton in Hyndburn, and Haslingden in Rossendale.

Following its review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire in the 2000s, the Boundary Commission made minor alterations to the existing Hyndburn constituency. Two Haslingden wards from Rossendale district had been added to the constituency in 1997. The Commission rejected a proposal to rename the constituency "Hyndburn and Haslingden", following the Assistant Commissioner's view that:

It is obviously right that constituency names should as far as possible reflect the geography and character of the constituency but equally they should be as succinct as reasonably possible[8]

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged.[9]

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[10] Party
1983 Ken Hargreaves Conservative
1992 Greg Pope Labour
2010 Graham Jones Labour
2019 Sara Britcliffe Conservative
2024 Sarah Smith Labour

Elections

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Elections in the 2020s

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General election 2024: Hyndburn[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sarah Smith[12] 12,186 33.5 −8.0
Conservative Sara Britcliffe[13] 10,499 28.9 −19.6
Reform UK Richard Oakley[14] 7,541 20.7 +15.6
Green Shabir Fazal[15] 4,938 13.6 +11.6
Liberal Democrats Beth Waller-Slack[16] 1,210 3.3 +0.4
Majority 1,687 4.6 N/A
Turnout 36,570 54.5 −5.3
Registered electors 67,147
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +5.8

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2019: Hyndburn[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sara Britcliffe 20,565 48.5 +8.0
Labour Graham Jones 17,614 41.5 ―11.9
Brexit Party Gregory Butt 2,156 5.1 New
Liberal Democrats Adam Waller-Slack 1,226 2.9 +1.1
Green Katrina Brockbank 845 2.0 New
Majority 2,951 7.0 N/A
Turnout 42,406 59.8 ―2.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +9.9
General election 2017: Hyndburn[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Graham Jones 24,120 53.4 +11.3
Conservative Kevin Horkin 18,305 40.5 +8.6
UKIP Janet Brown 1,953 4.3 ―17.0
Liberal Democrats Leslie Jones 824 1.8 ―0.2
Majority 5,815 12.9 +2.7
Turnout 45,307 61.8 ―1.0
Labour hold Swing +1.3
General election 2015: Hyndburn[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Graham Jones 18,076 42.1 +1.0
Conservative Kevin Horkin 13,676 31.9 ―1.9
UKIP Janet Brown 9,154 21.3 +17.8
Green Kerry Gormley 1,122 2.6 +1.5
Liberal Democrats Alison Firth 859 2.0 ―9.8
Majority 4,400 10.2 +3.0
Turnout 42,887 62.8 ―0.7
Labour hold Swing
General election 2010: Hyndburn[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Graham Jones 17,531 41.1 ―4.6
Conservative Karen Buckley 14,441 33.8 +1.9
Liberal Democrats Andrew Rankine 5,033 11.8 ―2.6
BNP Andrew Eccles 2,137 5.0 ―1.2
UKIP Granville Barker 1,481 3.5 +1.6
CPA Kevin Logan 795 1.9 New
Green Kerry Gormley 463 1.1 New
English Democrat Chris Reid 413 1.0 New
Independent Craig Hall 378 0.9 New
Majority 3,090 7.2 ―7.0
Turnout 42,672 63.5 +4.7
Labour hold Swing ―3.3

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2005: Hyndburn[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Greg Pope 18,136 46.0 ―8.7
Conservative James Mawdsley 12,549 31.8 ―1.4
Liberal Democrats Bill Greene 5,577 14.1 +4.5
BNP Christian Jackson 2,444 6.2 New
UKIP John Whittaker 743 1.9 ―0.7
Majority 5,587 14.2 ―7.3
Turnout 39,449 58.8 +1.3
Labour hold Swing ―3.7
General election 2001: Hyndburn[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Greg Pope 20,900 54.7 ―0.9
Conservative Peter Britcliffe 12,681 33.2 +1.3
Liberal Democrats Bill Greene 3,680 9.6 +1.0
UKIP John Tomlin 982 2.6 New
Majority 8,219 21.5 ―2.2
Turnout 38,243 57.5 ―14.8
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1997: Hyndburn[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Greg Pope 26,831 55.6 +8.7
Conservative Peter Britcliffe 15,383 31.9 ―11.0
Liberal Democrats Les Jones 4,141 8.6 ―1.3
Referendum Philip Congdon 1,627 3.4 New
Independent Anti-Corruption in Government (IAC) James Brown 290 0.4 New
Majority 11,548 23.7 +19.7
Turnout 48,272 72.3 ―11.6
Labour hold Swing +9.9
General election 1992: Hyndburn[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Greg Pope 23,042 46.9 +7.1
Conservative Ken Hargreaves 21,082 42.9 ―1.5
Liberal Democrats Yvonne Stars 4,886 9.9 ―5.3
Natural Law Stephen Whittle 150 0.3 New
Majority 1,960 4.0 N/A
Turnout 49,160 83.9 +3.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +4.3

Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1987: Hyndburn[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ken Hargreaves 21,606 44.4 +2.2
Labour Keva Christopher Coombes 19,386 39.8 ―2.4
SDP John Stark 7,423 15.2 +0.6
Green Frank Smith 297 0.6 0.0
Majority 2,220 4.6 +4.6
Turnout 48,712 80.5 +3.1
Conservative hold Swing +2.3
General election 1983: Hyndburn[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ken Hargreaves 19,405 42.2
Labour Arthur Davidson 19,384 42.2
SDP John Bridgen 6,716 14.6
Ecology Frank Smith 266 0.6
Independent Paul Gateson 169 0.4
Majority 21 0.0
Turnout 45,940 77.4
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

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Notes

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  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.
  3. ^ In local elections to date

References

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  1. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – North West". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  2. ^ "2011 census interactive maps". Archived from the original on 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ The Times Guide to the House of Commons June 1983. London: Times Books Ltd. 1983. p. 282. ISBN 0-7230-0255-X.
  4. ^ The Times Guide to the House of Commons June 1987. London: Times Books Ltd. 1987. pp. 142 & 280. ISBN 0-7230-0298-3.
  5. ^ "Hyndburn Labour successor to Greg Pope announced". lancashiretelegraph.co.uk. 22 November 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  6. ^ Deborah Mattinson (2020). Beyond The Red Wall. p. 35.
  7. ^ "Tories deselect black candidate". heraldscotland.com. 17 January 1996. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  8. ^ Commissioners Report, accessed 16 January 2006 Archived 14 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
  10. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 4)
  11. ^ "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Hyndburn Borough Council. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  12. ^ Labour North West [@LabourNorthWest] (29 May 2024). "Congratulations to Sarah Smith, who's been selected as Labour's candidate for Hyndburn!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "The Prime Minister has called a General Election and it will be held on the 4th July". Facebook. Sara Britcliffe. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Hyndburn Constituency". Reform UK. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Our Candidates". Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  17. ^ "Hyndburn Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2017". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Hyndburn". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  20. ^ "Election 2010: Constituency: Hyndburn". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  21. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ^ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  26. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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53°46′05″N 2°22′55″W / 53.768°N 2.382°W / 53.768; -2.382