Burnley is a borough constituency centred on the town of Burnley

Burnley

Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....

 in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

The seat was created in 1868. Since the Second World War, it was generally a safe Labour seat, but the Conservative Party came within 770 votes of taking the seat in 1983

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

, and it swung heavily to the Liberal Democrats in 2005

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, and following controversy regarding outgoing MP Kitty Ussher

Kitty Ussher

Katharine Anne "Kitty" Ussher is a British economist and former Labour Party politician.After training as an economist, she was elected Member of Parliament for Burnley from 2005 until 2010, succeeding Peter Pike. Ussher formerly held the position of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in Gordon...

's personal expenses, they gained the seat in 2010.

Boundary review

The review of parliamentary representation in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 by the Boundary Commission for England in the 2000s proposed no change to the boundaries of the Burnley seat. The seat remains coterminous with the boundaries of the borough of Burnley

Burnley (borough)

Burnley is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a non-metropolitan district and borough. It has an area of and a population of , and is named for its largest town, Burnley. The borough is bounded by Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Pendle, Rossendale — all in Lancashire...

.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1868 United Kingdom general election, 1868 The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...	Richard Shaw Richard Shaw (MP) Richard Shaw was a British Liberal Party politician.-Early life:Shaw was born in Burnley, Lancashire and educated at Burnley Grammar School and St Peter's School, York-Career:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1876 by-election	Peter Rylands Peter Rylands Peter Rylands was an English wire-manufacturer in Lancashire and a Liberal politician who was active in local government and sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1868 and 1887....	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1886		Liberal Unionist Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
	1887 by-election	John Slagg John Slagg John Slagg was a British businessman and Liberal politician.He was the eldest son of John Slagg, a justice of the peace at Manchester, and his wife Jane née Crighton. John Slagg senior was a commission agent and merchant in the city...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1889 by-election	Jabez Spencer Balfour	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1893 by-election	Hon. Philip Stanhope	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1900 United Kingdom general election, 1900 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...	William Mitchell William Mitchell (Lancashire politician) William Mitchell was a British Conservative Party politician in Lancashire.Mitchell was born in Waterfoot, Rossendale and Educated at Burnley Grammar School and Liverpool Collegiate Institute....	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	1906 United Kingdom general election, 1906 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...	Frederick Maddison Frederick Maddison Frederick Maddison was a British trade unionist and politician.Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, Maddison studied in Kingston upon Hull before becoming a compositor. He joined the Typographical Association and soon rose in prominence, becoming President of the Trades Union Congress in 1886...	Lib-Lab
	Jan. 1910	Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot Gerald Archibald Arbuthnot was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician.The son of Major General William Arbuthnot and Selina Moncreiffe, he was Vice-Chancellor of the Primrose League...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
	Dec. 1910	Philip Morrell Philip Morrell Philip Edward Morrell, was a British statesman and Liberal politician.He was the son of Frederic Morrell, solicitor, of Black Hall, Oxford, by his wife Harriette Anne, daughter of the President of St John's College, Oxford and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, the Rev. Philip Wynter DD...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...	Dan Irving Dan Irving David Daniel Irving, known as Dan Irving was a British socialist activist and Labour Party Member of Parliament....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1924 by-election	Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and he served three short terms as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1908–1910, 1914–1917 and 1931-1932....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...	Gordon Campbell, VC Gordon Campbell, VC Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell VC, DSO & Two Bars was an English naval officer, later a writer and politician, who was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces...	National Liberal National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) The National Liberal Party, known until 1948 as the Liberal National Party, was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1931 to 1968...
	1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...	Wilfrid Burke Wilfrid Burke Wilfrid Andrew Burke was a British Trade union organiser and politician who achieved high office in the Labour Party and served as Member of Parliament for Burnley for 24 years. He was briefly in the Attlee government as Assistant Postmaster-General...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1959 United Kingdom general election, 1959 This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...	Dan Jones Dan Jones (politician) Daniel Jones was a British Labour Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Burnley from 1959 to 1983....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...	Peter Pike Peter Pike Peter Leslie Pike is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Parliament for Burnley from 1983 until 2005.- External links :...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....	Kitty Ussher Kitty Ussher Katharine Anne "Kitty" Ussher is a British economist and former Labour Party politician.After training as an economist, she was elected Member of Parliament for Burnley from 2005 until 2010, succeeding Peter Pike. Ussher formerly held the position of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in Gordon...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	2010	Gordon Birtwistle Gordon Birtwistle Gordon Birtwistle is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Burnley, England, from May 2010. He currently serves as PPS to Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury...	Liberal Democrats

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

At the Burnley by-election, 1889, Jabez Spencer Balfour was elected unopposed.