Burnley (constituency)

Burnley is a constituency centred on the town of Burnley in Lancashire which has been represented since 2024 by Oliver Ryan, who is a member of the Labour Party.

Constituency profile

The Burnley constituency is located in Lancashire. It contains the large town of Burnley and is roughly coterminous with the Borough of Burnley, but also includes the small town of Brierfield from the neighbouring Borough of Pendle. Burnley has an industrial heritage; it was once the largest producer of cotton cloth in the world and also has a history of coal mining

The constituency is in the 5% most-deprived in England. Compared to national averages, residents have low levels of income, education and professional employment, and house prices are very low. White people make up 78% of the population and Asians (predominantly Pakistani) are 20%. Most of the constituency is represented by Reform UK at county council level and by Labour Party and independent councillors at district council level, with some Conservative representation in the rural parts. Voters in Burnley strongly supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum; an estimated 66% voted in favour of Brexit, placing the Burnley in the top 10% of Brexit-supporting constituencies nationwide.

History

The seat was created in 1868. Except for 1931, it was won by Labour candidates from World War I until 2010, generally on safe, large majorities; Ann Widdecombe failed to take the seat from the Labour Party in 1979. The closest second place was to a Conservative Party candidate, Ian Bruce, who came 787 votes (1.6%) short of taking the seat in 1983.

Burnley saw strong opposition support for the Liberal Democrats in 2005, moving into second place; meanwhile a local independent pushed Yousuf Miah, a Conservative into fourth position. Following controversy regarding outgoing Labour MP Kitty Ussher's personal expenses, Gordon Birtwistle, who first contested the seat in 1992, gained the seat in 2010 with a heavy swing of 9.6%.

However, Birtwistle was one of the many casualties faced by the Liberal Democrats in the 2015 election, losing the seat to Julie Cooper, who had also stood as Labour's candidate in 2010, although the 6.2% swing away from Birtwistle was less than half the 15.2% national swing against his party. As in 2005, the Conservatives came fourth, behind UKIP, as well as Labour and the Lib Dems this time.

At the 2017 election, Labour held the seat with an increased majority. Birtwistle stood again, but saw his share of the vote halved; this was widely seen to be due to his party's stance on Brexit. This election saw one of the biggest increases in the share of the vote for the Conservatives in the whole country, who more than doubled their share of the vote. UKIP lost two-thirds of their vote from 2015, but did retain their deposit. This meant that Burnley was one of the few constituencies in England where four parties retained their deposits.

At the 2019 election, Antony Higginbotham won the seat for the Conservatives, thus becoming the first Conservative to represent Burnley in parliament for over 100 years. The Conservative vote share increased by over 9% compared with the previous election, while the Labour vote share declined by about 10%.

In 2024 Higginbotham's vote halved and the seat was regained for Labour by Oliver Ryan. Gordon Birtwistle, standing in his eighth election for the Liberal Democrats (every election since 1992, except 2001), improved his vote share threefold to come second, relegating the Conservatives to third place.

Boundaries

1868–1918: The townships of Burnley, and Habergham Eaves.

1918–1983: The County Borough of Burnley.

1983–1997: The Borough of Burnley.

1997–2024: As 1983 but with redrawn boundaries, due to local government boundary changes in the mid-1980s.

The review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire by the Boundary Commission for England in the 2000s proposed no change to the boundaries of the Burnley seat. The seat remained coterminous with the boundaries of the borough of Burnley (as it has been since 1983; before then, it was coterminous with the county borough of the same name).

2024–present: The Borough of Burnley, and the Borough of Pendle wards of: Brierfield East & Clover Hill; Brierfield West & Reedley.

:Constituency expanded to bring the electorate within the permitted range by transferring the community of Brierfield from the abolished constituency of Pendle.