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
Boundary of Hyndburn in North West England
County	Lancashire
Electorate	71,145 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Accrington, Haslingden and Oswaldtwistle
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Sarah Smith (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Accrington and Clitheroe

History and profile

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, as well as Haslingden in Rossendale.

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

Map of present boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Hyndburn.

1997–2024: The Borough of Hyndburn, and the Borough of Rossendale wards of Greenfield and Worsley.

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]

2024–present: The 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, which was based on the ward structure in place on 1 December 2020, left the boundaries unchanged.^[9] However, following a local government boundary review in Rossendale which came into effect in May 2024,^[10] the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:

• The Borough of Hyndburn.
• The Borough of Rossendale wards or part wards of: Greenfield & Eden (part); Haslingden; Helmshore (small part).^[11]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[12]	Party
	1983	Ken Hargreaves	Conservative
	1992	Greg Pope	Labour
	2010	Graham Jones	Labour
	2019	Sara Britcliffe	Conservative
	2024	Sarah Smith	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Hyndburn^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Smith	12,186	33.5	−8.0
	Conservative	Sara Britcliffe	10,499	28.9	−19.6
	Reform UK	Richard Oakley	7,541	20.7	+15.6
	Green	Shabir Fazal	4,938	13.6	+11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Beth Waller-Slack	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

General election 2019: Hyndburn^[14]

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^[15]

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^[16]

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^[17]

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

General election 2005: Hyndburn^[18]

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^[19]

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

General election 1997: Hyndburn^[20]

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^[21][22]

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

General election 1987: Hyndburn^[23]

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^[24]

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

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Lancashire

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.
3. In local elections to date