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) [1]
Major settlements	Darwen, Entwistle, Rossendale
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Jake Berry (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Rossendale, Darwen and Heywood & Royton [2]

Rossendale and Darwen is a constituency ^{[n 1]} in Lancashire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Jake Berry, the former Chairman of the Conservative Party. ^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1983 to 1997: The Borough of Rossendale, and the Borough of Blackburn wards of Earcroft, Marsh House, North Turton, Sudell, Sunnyhurst, and Whitehall.

1997 to 2010: All the wards of the Borough of Rossendale except the Greenfield and Worsley wards, and the Borough of Blackburn wards of Earcroft, Marsh House, North Turton, Sudell, Sunnyhurst, and Whitehall.

2010 to present: The Borough of Rossendale wards of Cribden, Eden, Facit and Shawforth, Goodshaw, Greensclough, Hareholme, Healey and Whitworth, Helmshore, Irwell, Longholme, Stacksteads, and Whitewell, and the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen wards of Earcroft, East Rural, Fernhurst, Marsh House, North Turton with Tockholes, Sudell, Sunnyhurst, and Whitehall.

Darwen Ward Changes At the 2018 local elections the Darwen electoral wards were changed and re named. They are now known as Darwen West, Darwen East, Darwen South and West Pennine. Fernhurst ward is now part of Blackburn South and Lower Darwen which is part of the Blackburn constituency.

Proposed

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The Borough of Blackburn with Darwen wards of: Blackburn South & Lower Darwen; Darwen East; Darwen South; Darwen West; West Pennine.
• The Borough of Rossendale wards of: Cribden; Eden; Facit and Shawforth; Goodshaw; Greensclough; Hareholme; Healey and Whitworth; Helmshore; Irwell; Longholme; Stacksteads; Whitewell. ^[3]

Minor changes to align with the revised ward boundaries in Blackburn with Darwen.

Constituency profile

The constituency consists of Census Output Areas of two local government districts with similar characteristics: a working population whose income is close to the national average but varying reliance upon social housing in relative terms to the national average. ^[4] At the end of 2012 the unemployment rate in the constituency stood as 3.5% of the population claiming jobseekers allowance, compared to the regional average of 4.2%. ^[5]

The borough of Rossendale that contributes to the bulk of the population has a 21.5% of its population without a car, whereas this is 30.5% in Blackburn and outside of the seat in Burnley is 32.3%. A relatively high 24% of Rossendale's population were in 2001 without qualifications and a high 25.1% were with level 4 qualifications or above. A higher share, 28.7% of Blackburn's population lacked qualifications, however 19.8% of its population had Level 4 qualifications or above.

In terms of tenure 69.6% of homes are owned outright or on a mortgage as at the 2011 census across the Rossendale district; this compares to a similar 63.7% across Blackburn. Whereas in Ribble Valley to the north 76.6% of homes fall within this category, in Leeds the figure is 58.2% and in Manchester just 37.8%. ^[6]

History

This constituency was created in 1983 and has alternated between the two largest parties' MPs during this time; since 1997 the constituency has been a bellwether of the national result.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [7]	Party
	1983	David Trippier	Conservative
	1992	Janet Anderson	Labour
	2010	Jake Berry	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Rossendale and Darwen

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Bob Bauld [8]
	Conservative	Jake Berry [9]
	Liberal Democrats	Rowan Fitton [10]
	Labour	Andy MacNae [11]
	Reform UK	Daniel Matchett [12]
Majority
Turnout
			Swing

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Rossendale and Darwen ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jake Berry	27,570	56.5	+5.7
	Labour	Alyson Barnes	18,048	37.0	―7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Valentine	2,011	4.1	+1.0
	Green	Sarah Hall	1,193	2.4	+0.8
Majority			9,522	19.5	+13.1
Turnout			48,822	67.1	―2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.5

General election 2017: Rossendale and Darwen ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jake Berry	25,499	50.8	+4.2
	Labour	Alyson Barnes	22,283	44.4	+9.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sean Bonner	1,550	3.1	+1.5
	Green	John Payne	824	1.6	―0.5
Majority			3,216	6.4	―5.1
Turnout			50,156	69.2	+2.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	―2.6

General election 2015: Rossendale and Darwen ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jake Berry	22,847	46.6	+4.8
	Labour	Will Straw	17,193	35.1	+2.9
	UKIP	Clive Balchin	6,862	14.0	+10.6
	Green	Karen Pollard-Rylance	1,046	2.1	New
	Liberal Democrats	Afzal Anwar	806	1.6	―16.5
	Independent	Kevin Scranage	122	0.2	New
	TUSC	Simon Thomas	103	0.2	New
	Northern	Shaun Hargreaves	45	0.1	New
Majority			5,654	11.5	+2.0
Turnout			49,024	66.4	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

General election 2010: Rossendale and Darwen ^[17]

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

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Rossendale and Darwen ^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	19,073	42.9	―5.9
	Conservative	Nigel Adams	15,397	34.6	―1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Carr	6,670	15.0	+0.3
	BNP	Anthony Wentworth	1,736	3.9	New
	Green	Kenneth McIver	821	1.8	New
	UKIP	David Duthie	740	1.7	New
Majority			3,676	8.3	―4.4
Turnout			44,437	61.5	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	―1.9

General election 2001: Rossendale and Darwen ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	20,251	49.0	―4.6
	Conservative	George Lee	15,281	36.7	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Dunning	6,079	14.7	+4.1
Majority			5,223	12.7	―8.6
Turnout			41,358	58.7	―14.3
	Labour hold		Swing	―4.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Rossendale and Darwen ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	27,470	53.6	+9.7
	Conservative	Patricia Buzzard	16,521	32.3	―11.4
	Liberal Democrats	Brian Dunning	5,435	10.6	―0.7
	Referendum	Roy Newstead	1,108	2.2	New
	BNP	Andrew Wearden	674	1.3	New
Majority			10,949	21.3	+21.1
Turnout			51,208	73.0	―10.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.6

General election 1992: Rossendale and Darwen ^{[21] [22]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Janet Anderson	28,028	43.9	+5.6
	Conservative	David Trippier	27,908	43.7	―2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Connor	7,226	11.3	―3.8
	Green	James Gaffney	596	0.9	New
	Natural Law	Peter Gorrod	125	0.2	New
Majority			120	0.2	N/A
Turnout			63,883	83.0	+2.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.2

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Rossendale and Darwen ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Trippier	28,056	46.6	―0.4
	Labour	Janet Anderson	23,074	38.3	+6.5
	Liberal	Peter John Hulse	9,097	15.1	―6.1
Majority			4,982	8.3	―6.9
Turnout			60,227	80.3	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	―3.5

General election 1983: Rossendale and Darwen ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Trippier	27,214	47.0
	Labour	Christopher Robinson	18,393	31.8
	Liberal	Michael Taylor	12,246	21.2
Majority			8,821	15.2
Turnout			57,853	77.8
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire

Notes

1. A county 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. "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.
2. "'Rossendale and Darwen', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 13 March 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 1 Part 5 North West region.
4. 2001 Census
5. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
6. 2011 census interactive maps Archived 29 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
8. "Full list of all Green Party candidates at the next general election". Bright Green. 17 September 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
9. "It's the first day of the campaign and I've already been out and about - luckily remembering my umbrella!". Jake Berry MP on Facebook. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
10. "Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidates". Mark Pack. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
11. "Biking Rossendale councillor with regeneration background chosen for Westminster election battle". LancsLive. December 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
12. "Rossendale and Darwen Constituency". Reform UK . Retrieved 31 January 2024.
13. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF).
14. "Rossendale & Darwen parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
15. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Rossendale & Darwen". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
17. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
18. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
23. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

53°42′29″N2°14′24″W / 53.708°N 2.240°W / 53.708; -2.240