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Darwen — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Darwen was won by Conservative at the 1979 general election, with a majority of 13,026 votes over Labour. This page covers every general election in Darwen from 1885 to 1979.

Full Election History, 1885–1979

Election Elected Votes Vote Share Runner-up Majority Turnout
1885 James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil (Conservative) 5,878 50.0% John Gerald Potter (Liberal) 5 (0.0 pts) 93.0%
1886 James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil (Conservative) 6,085 53.2% John Slagg (Liberal) 726 (6.3 pts) 90.6%
1892 Charles Philip Huntington (Liberal) 6,637 50.8% James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil (Conservative) 214 (1.6 pts) 94.3%
1895 John Rutherford (Conservative) 7,058 53.2% Charles Philip Huntington (Liberal) 841 (6.3 pts) 93.4%
1900 John Rutherford (Conservative) 7,228 51.7% Charles Philip Huntington (Liberal) 470 (3.4 pts) 91.4%
1906 John Rutherford (Conservative) 7,792 50.1% Frederick George Hindle (Liberal) 25 (0.2 pts) 94.0%
Jan 1910 Frederick George Hindle (Liberal) 8,639 50.6% John Rutherford (Conservative) 211 (1.2 pts) 96.2%
Dec 1910 John Rutherford (Conservative) 8,384 50.6% Frederick George Hindle (Liberal) 215 (1.3 pts) 93.3%
1918 John Rutherford (Unionist) 9,014 40.5% Frederick Hindle (Liberal) 983 (4.4 pts) 71.3%
1922 Frank Bernard Sanderson (Unionist) 12,218 42.6% Frederick Hindle (Liberal) 274 (1.0 pts) 91.4%
1923 Frederick Hindle (Liberal) 14,242 48.8% Frank Bernard Sanderson (Unionist) 2,810 (9.6 pts) 90.6%
1924 Frank Bernard Sanderson (Unionist) 13,017 43.0% Frederick Hindle (Liberal) 935 (3.1 pts) 92.7%
1929 Herbert Louis Samuel (Liberal) 15,714 40.8% Frank Bernard Sanderson (Unionist) 462 (1.2 pts) 92.3%
1931 Herbert Louis Samuel (Liberal) 18,923 48.8% Alan Crosland Graham (Conservative) 4,287 (11.1 pts) 92.2%
1935 Stuart Hugh Minto Russell (Conservative) 15,299 41.1% Herbert Louis Samuel (Liberal) 1,164 (3.1 pts) 89.9%
1945 William Robert Stanley Prescott (Conservative) 13,623 41.4% Ronald Haines (Labour) 2,341 (7.1 pts) 82.7%
1950 William Robert Stanley Prescott (Conservative) 17,903 48.5% Ronald Haines (Labour) 4,569 (12.4 pts) 89.6%
1951 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 17,785 48.6% Ronald Haines (Labour) 3,180 (8.7 pts) 88.6%
1955 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 26,729 58.7% Ronald Haines (Labour) 7,916 (17.4 pts) 82.3%
1959 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 27,483 58.9% Joseph Trevor Park (Labour) 8,342 (17.9 pts) 84.1%
1964 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 20,343 41.9% George Robert Cryer (Labour) 4,784 (9.9 pts) 83.7%
1966 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 20,598 42.2% Brian Whittam (Labour) 1,735 (3.6 pts) 82.6%
1970 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 26,728 52.4% Brian Whittam (Labour) 9,094 (17.8 pts) 76.7%
Feb 1974 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 25,495 44.9% Dale Campbell-Savours (Labour) 9,310 (16.4 pts) 81.0%
Oct 1974 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 23,577 43.6% Dale Campbell-Savours (Labour) 5,651 (10.4 pts) 76.6%
1979 Charles Fletcher-Cooke (Conservative) 30,789 52.6% Louise Ellman (Labour) 13,026 (22.3 pts) 78.0%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1885

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil Conservative 5,87850.0% Yes
John Gerald Potter Liberal 5,87350.0% No

1886

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil Conservative 6,08553.2% Yes
John Slagg Liberal 5,35946.8% No

1892

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Philip Huntington Liberal 6,63750.8% Yes
James Edward Hubert Gascoyne-Cecil Conservative 6,42349.2% No

1895

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Rutherford Conservative 7,05853.2% Yes
Charles Philip Huntington Liberal 6,21746.8% No

1900

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Rutherford Conservative 7,22851.7% Yes
Charles Philip Huntington Liberal 6,75848.3% No

1906

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Rutherford Conservative 7,79250.1% Yes
Frederick George Hindle Liberal 7,76749.9% No

Jan 1910

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Frederick George Hindle Liberal 8,63950.6% Yes
John Rutherford Conservative 8,42849.4% No

Dec 1910

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Rutherford Conservative 8,38450.6% Yes
Frederick George Hindle Liberal 8,16949.4% No

1918

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Rutherford Unionist 9,01440.5% Yes
Frederick Hindle Liberal 8,03136.1% No
John McGurk Labour 5,21123.4% No

1922

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Frank Bernard Sanderson Unionist 12,21842.6% Yes
Frederick Hindle Liberal 11,94441.6% No
John McGurk Labour 4,52815.8% No

1923

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Frederick Hindle Liberal 14,24248.8% Yes
Frank Bernard Sanderson Unionist 11,43239.1% No
George Thompson Labour 3,52712.1% No

1924

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Frank Bernard Sanderson Unionist 13,01743.0% Yes
Frederick Hindle Liberal 12,08239.9% No
Thomas Ramsden Labour 5,18817.1% No

1929

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Herbert Louis Samuel Liberal 15,71440.8% Yes
Frank Bernard Sanderson Unionist 15,25239.6% No
Thomas Ramsden Labour 7,50419.5% No

1931

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Herbert Louis Samuel Liberal 18,92348.8% Yes
Alan Crosland Graham Conservative 14,63637.8% No
Charles Rothwell Labour 5,18413.4% No

1935

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Stuart Hugh Minto Russell Conservative 15,29941.1% Yes
Herbert Louis Samuel Liberal 14,13538.0% No
Frances Kerby Labour 7,77820.9% No

1945

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Robert Stanley Prescott Conservative 13,62341.4% Yes
Ronald Haines Labour 11,28234.3% No
Honor Catherine Mary Balfour Liberal 7,97924.3% No

1950

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
William Robert Stanley Prescott Conservative 17,90348.5% Yes
Ronald Haines Labour 13,33436.1% No
James Booth Liberal 5,65615.3% No

1951

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 17,78548.6% Yes
Ronald Haines Labour 14,60539.9% No
Roy Francis Leslie Liberal 4,23611.6% No

1955

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 26,72958.7% Yes
Ronald Haines Labour 18,81341.3% No

1959

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 27,48358.9% Yes
Joseph Trevor Park Labour 19,14141.1% No

1964

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 20,34341.9% Yes
George Robert Cryer Labour 15,55932.1% No
Stephen Holt Liberal 12,64126.0% No

1966

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 20,59842.2% Yes
Brian Whittam Labour 18,86338.7% No
Stephen Holt Liberal 9,33919.1% No

1970

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 26,72852.4% Yes
Brian Whittam Labour 17,63434.6% No
Alan Cooper Liberal 6,66313.1% No

Feb 1974

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 25,49544.9% Yes
Dale Campbell-Savours Labour 16,18528.5% No
Alan Cooper Liberal 15,06026.5% No

Oct 1974

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 23,57743.6% Yes
Dale Campbell-Savours Labour 17,92633.2% No
Alan Cooper Liberal 12,57223.2% No

1979

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Charles Fletcher-Cooke Conservative 30,78952.6% Yes
Louise Ellman Labour 17,76330.4% No
Alan Cooper Liberal 9,92817.0% No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

1885: Conservative margin 0.0 pts 1886: Conservative margin 6.3 pts 1892: Liberal margin 1.6 pts 1895: Conservative margin 6.3 pts 1900: Conservative margin 3.4 pts 1906: Conservative margin 0.2 pts Jan 1910: Liberal margin 1.2 pts Dec 1910: Conservative margin 1.3 pts 1918: Unionist margin 4.4 pts 1922: Unionist margin 1.0 pts 1923: Liberal margin 9.6 pts 1924: Unionist margin 3.1 pts 1929: Liberal margin 1.2 pts 1931: Liberal margin 11.1 pts 1935: Conservative margin 3.1 pts 1945: Conservative margin 7.1 pts 1950: Conservative margin 12.4 pts 1951: Conservative margin 8.7 pts 1955: Conservative margin 17.4 pts 1959: Conservative margin 17.9 pts 1964: Conservative margin 9.9 pts 1966: Conservative margin 3.6 pts 1970: Conservative margin 17.8 pts Feb 1974: Conservative margin 16.4 pts Oct 1974: Conservative margin 10.4 pts 1979: Conservative margin 22.3 pts 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979

Trend

Darwen has been contested at 26 general elections on record since 1885. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Conservative, Liberal, Unionist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Darwen in the 1979 general election?

Conservative won Darwen in 1979 with 30,789 votes (52.6%), a majority of 13,026 votes over Labour in second place.

Which parties have won Darwen since 1885?

Since 1885, Darwen has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Unionist.

What was the closest result in Darwen?

The closest result on record for Darwen was 1885, when Conservative beat Liberal by just 5 votes (0.0 percentage points).

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