Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox
Name = Barrow in Furness
Map1 = BarrowFurness
Map2 = Cumbria
Entity = Cumbria
Type = County
County = Cumbria
Year = 1885
MP = John Hutton
Party = Labour
EP = North West England

Barrow and Furness (previously Barrow-in-Furness) is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

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

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Cumbria, the Boundary Commission for England has created a modified Barrow and Furness constituency, which takes the seat further north than currently into a lobster-claw shape taking Lake District areas to the north.

The newly shaped seat will be fought at the UK general election of 2009 or 2010, and is formed from the following electoral wards:

*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

History

The seat of Barrow & Furness, tucked away in the west of Cumbria beyond the Lake District, is 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 ship building industry and is now the site of the BAE Systems nuclear submarine and ship building 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 but suffered a shock defeat in 1983. Many put this down 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. The Conservative Party Member of Parliament through the eighties was a Manchester lawyer, Cecil Franks.

As Labour moved back towards the retention of Britain's nuclear capability and following massive job losses in the town's ship building industry, Labour's fortunes revived in Barrow. John Hutton took the seat back for Labour in 1992 and has retained it ever since. In 2001 he had the support of more than half of all those who voted. There are other industries in the constituency including 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, peaks and coast, including the towns of Ulverston and Dalton-in-Furness.

Members of Parliament

The current MP is John Hutton of the Labour Party, a former lecturer. He took the seat from Cecil Franks of the Conservative Party in the 1992 general election. Since 27 July 2007 he has been the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. He has also held the cabinet posts of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Previous MPs were:

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = John Hutton
votes = 17,360
percentage = 47.6
change = -8.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = William Dorman
votes = 11,323
percentage = 31.0
change = +0.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Barry Rabone
votes = 6,130
percentage = 16.8
change = +4.6Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Alan Beach
votes = 758
percentage = 2.1
change = +0.3Election box candidate
party = Build Duddon and Morecambe Bridges
candidate = Timothey Bell
votes = 409
percentage = 1.1
change = +1.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Veritas (political party)
candidate = Brian Greaves
votes = 306
percentage = 0.8
change = +0.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Helene Young
votes = 207
percentage = 0.6
change = +0.6Election box majority
votes = 6,037
percentage = 16.5
change = Election box turnout
votes = 36,493
percentage = 59.0
change = -1.3Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing = -4.4

Election box begin
title=General Election 2001: Barrow & FurnessElection box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = John Hutton
votes = 21,724
percentage = 55.7
change = -1.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = James Airey
votes = 11,835
percentage = 30.3
change = +3.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Barry Rabone
votes = 4,750
percentage = 12.2
change = +3.3Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = John Smith
votes = 711
percentage = 1.8
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 9,889
percentage = 25.4
change = Election box turnout
votes = 39,020
percentage = 60.3
change = -11.7

ee also

*List of Parliamentary constituencies in Cumbria