Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 54°06′43″N 3°10′41″W / 54.112°N 3.178°W / 54.112; -3.178

Barrow and Furness
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Barrow and Furness in Cumbria for the 2007 general election.
Location of Cumbria within England.
County	Cumbria (Lancashire until 1974)
Population	88,826 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	69,148 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	John Woodcock (Labour Co-op)
Number of members	One
Created from	North Lancashire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	North West England

Barrow and Furness (previously Barrow-in-Furness) is a constituency^{[n 1]} in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by John Woodcock of the Labour Party who is also a member of the Co-operative Party.^{[n 2]}

History and profile

The seat of Barrow and Furness was established by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and is located in the SW of Cumbria beyond the Lake District, the location for one of Britain's most important industrial centres. The largest town in the constituency, Barrow-in-Furness, grew on the back of the shipbuilding industry and is now the site of the BAE Systems nuclear submarine and shipbuilding operation. This reliance on a single industry associated with controversial defence policies has, in the past, proved politically volatile in a constituency the Labour Party would consider its own backyard. Labour Cabinet member Albert Booth represented Barrow from 1966 for many years but was defeated in 1983, in the aftermath of the Falklands War, by a Manchester lawyer, Cecil Franks of the Conservative Party, who retained the seat until 1992. Local media attributed this to widespread fears of job losses because the Labour Party was then signed up to doing away with all its nuclear capabilities including the submarines.^{[n 3]}

As Labour reverted its policies towards the retention of Britain's nuclear capability, and following massive job losses in the town's shipbuilding industry, Labour's fortunes revived in Barrow. John Hutton took the seat back for Labour in 1992 and retained it until the 2010 General Election, when he was replaced by John Woodcock, also of Labour. In 2001 Hutton had the support of more than half of all those who voted. Other industries in the constituency currently include engineering and chemicals and more than a quarter of all jobs are in manufacturing. Surrounding this industrial mass is some wild and beautiful countryside, a sweeping mix of moors, hills, mountains and coast, including the towns of Ulverston and Dalton-in-Furness.

Boundaries

This constituency contains the southern half of the Furness peninsula, South Cumbria in the north-west of England.

The newly shaped seat is formed from the following electoral wards, were first contested in 2010:

• From South Lakeland: Broughton, Crake Valley, Low Furness & Swarthmoor, Ulverston Central, Ulverston East, Ulverston North, Ulverston South, Ulverston Town and Ulverston West
• The entire district of Barrow-in-Furness

Members of Parliament

The current MP is John Woodcock of the Labour and Co-operative Parties. He replaced John Hutton, a former lecturer. Hutton had taken the seat from Cecil Franks of the Conservative Party in the 1992 general election. He held the cabinet posts of Secretary of State for Defence, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1885	David Duncan	Liberal
	1886 by-election	William Sproston Caine	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1890 by-election	James Duncan	Liberal
	1892	Sir Charles Cayzer, Bt	Conservative
	1906	Charles Duncan	Labour
	1918	Robert Chadwick	Conservative
	1922	Daniel Somerville	Conservative
	1924	John Bromley	Labour
	1931	Sir Jonah Walker-Smith	Conservative
	1945	Walter Monslow	Labour
	1966	Albert Booth	Labour
	1983	Constituency renamed "Barrow and Furness"
	1983	Cecil Franks	Conservative
	1992	John Hutton	Labour
	2010	John Woodcock	Labour Co-operative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Barrow and Furness[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Simon Fell
	UKIP	Nigel Cecil[5]
	Green	Robert O'Hara
	Liberal Democrat	Clive Jonathan Peaple
	Labour Co-op	John Woodcock
	Independent	Ian Jackson

UKIP previously announced Noel Matthews as candidate.^[6]

General Election 2010: Barrow and Furness[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John Woodcock	21,226	48.1	+2.9
	Conservative	John Gough	16,018	36.3	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Barry Rabone	4,424	10.0	−7.9
	UKIP	John Smith	841	1.9	−0.2
	BNP	Mike Ashburner	840	1.9	N/A
	Green	Chris Loynes	530	1.2	N/A
	Independent	Brian Greaves	245	0.6	N/A
Majority			5,208	11.8
Turnout			44,124	63.7	+4.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.4

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Barrow and Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Hutton	17,360	47.6	−8.1
	Conservative	William Dorman	11,323	31.0	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	Barry Rabone	6,130	16.8	+4.6
	UKIP	Alan Beach	758	2.1	+0.3
	Build Duddon and Morecambe Bridges	Timothey Bell	409	1.1	+1.1
	Veritas	Brian Greaves	306	0.8	+0.8
	Independent	Helene Young	207	0.6	+0.6
Majority			6,037	16.5
Turnout			36,493	59.0	−1.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.4

General Election 2001: Barrow and Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Hutton	21,724	55.7	−1.6
	Conservative	James Airey	11,835	30.3	+3.1
	Liberal Democrat	Barry Rabone	4,750	12.2	+3.3
	UKIP	John Smith	711	1.8	N/A
Majority			9,889	25.4
Turnout			39,020	60.3	−11.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.4

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Barrow and Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Hutton	27,630	57.3	+9.6
	Conservative	Richard Hunt	13,133	27.2	−14.1
	Liberal Democrat	Anne A. Metcalfe	4,264	8.8	−2.1
	Independent	Jim Hamezeian	1,995	4.1	N/A
	Referendum Party	David Y. Mitchell	1,208	2.5	N/A
Majority			14,497	30.1
Turnout			48,230	72.0	−10.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.9

General Election 1992: Barrow and Furness[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Hutton	26,568	47.7	+8.5
	Conservative	Cecil Franks	22,990	41.3	−5.1
	Liberal Democrat	Clive J. Crane	6,089	10.9	−3.3
Majority			3,578	6.4	−0.7
Turnout			55,647	82.0	+3.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Barrow and Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Franks	25,431	46.5	+2.9
	Labour	Peter Phizacklea	21,504	39.3	+4.6
	Social Democratic	Richard Wintour Phelps	7,799	14.3	−7.4
Majority			3,927	7.2
Turnout			54,731	79.0	+3.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.9

General Election 1983: Barrow and Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cecil Franks	22,284	43.6
	Labour	Albert Booth	17,707	34.7
	Social Democratic	D. Cottier	11,079	21.7
Majority			4,577	9.0
Turnout			51,070	75.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Booth	22,687	53.24
	Conservative	Patrick Thompson	14,946	35.07
	Liberal	G. Thompson	4,983	11.69
Majority			7,741	18.16
Turnout				78.26
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Booth	21,607	51.41
	Conservative	Lord Richard Cecil	14,253	33.91
	Liberal	M.A. Benjamin	5,788	13.77
	Independent	V. Moore	384	0.91
Majority			7,354	17.50
Turnout				77.06
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Booth	19,925	46.11
	Conservative	D.G.P. Bloomer	14,818	34.29
	Liberal	M. Benjamin	8,470	19.60
Majority			5,107	11.82
Turnout				79.97
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Booth	22,400	56.09
	Conservative	Hal Miller	17,536	43.91
Majority			4,864	12.18
Turnout				73.69
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert Booth	23,485	60.31
	Conservative	R.W. Rollins	15,453	39.69
Majority			8,032	20.63
Turnout				76.78
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Monslow	22,197	55.13
	Conservative	P. Davies	18,068	44.87
Majority			4,129	10.25
Turnout				78.03
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Monslow	23,194	54.68
	Conservative	M. Metcalf	19,220	45.32
Majority			3,974	9.37
Turnout				81.72
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Monslow	22,792	53.22
	Conservative	Edward du Cann	20,033	46.78
Majority			2,759	6.44
Turnout				80.69
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Monslow	26,709	56.91
	Conservative	K.F. Lawton	20,225	43.09
Majority			6,484	13.82
Turnout				86.18
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Monslow	26,342	56.27
	Conservative	Sir Wilfrid Hart Sugden	16,793	35.87
	Liberal	Herbert Alexander Anderson Jardine	3,678	7.86
Majority			9,549	20.40
Turnout				87.83
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Walter Monslow	25,939	65.5
	Conservative	Sir Jonah Walker-Smith	13,648	34.5
Majority			12,291	31.0
Turnout				79.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Jonah Walker-Smith	18,136	50.30
	Labour	P.G. Barstow	17,919	49.70
Majority			217	0.60
Turnout				85.41
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Barrow in Furness
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Jonah Walker-Smith	20,794	56.8
	Labour	D Adams	15,835	43.2
Majority			4,959	13.5
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cumbria

Notes and references

Notes

References

Constituencies in North West England (75) Labour (47) Ashton-under-Lyne Barrow and Furness Birkenhead Blackburn Blackley and Broughton Blackpool South Bolton North East Bolton South East Bolton West Bootle Bury South Chorley Copeland Denton and Reddish Ellesmere Port and Neston Garston and Halewood Halton Heywood and Middleton Hyndburn Knowsley Leigh Liverpool Riverside Liverpool Walton Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool West Derby Makerfield Manchester Central Manchester Gorton Oldham East and Saddleworth Oldham West and Royton Preston Rochdale St Helens North St Helens South and Whiston Salford and Eccles Sefton Central Stalybridge and Hyde Stockport Stretford and Urmston Wallasey Warrington North West Lancashire Wigan Wirral South Workington Worsley and Eccles South Wythenshawe and Sale East Conservative (22) Altrincham and Sale West Blackpool North and Cleveleys Bury North Carlisle City of Chester Congleton Crewe and Nantwich Eddisbury Fylde Lancaster and Fleetwood Macclesfield Morecambe and Lunesdale Pendle Penrith and The Border Ribble Valley Rossendale and Darwen South Ribble Tatton Warrington South Weaver Vale Wirral West Wyre and Preston North Liberal Democrats (6) Burnley Cheadle Hazel Grove Manchester Withington Southport Westmorland and Lonsdale North West England European constituency: Conservative (2) Labour (3) UKIP (3)