The geographically remote seat of Barrow & Furness which is tucked away in the west of Cumbria beyond the Lake District may seem an unlikely location for one of Britain's most important industrial centres. The largest town in the constituency, the isolated Barrow-in-Furness, grew on the back of the ship building industry and is now the site of Vickers' nuclear submarine building plant. With over a quarter of its constituents working in manufacturing, Barrow would normally provide a very safe haven for Labour. However, the reliance on a single industry associated with controversial defence policies has, in the past, proved perilous for the party. Labour Cabinet member Albert Booth represented Barrow from 1966 but suffered a shock defeat in 1983. Some saw this as a result of the job loss fears that followed Labour's embrace of unilateral nuclear disarmament. As Labour moved back towards multilateral policies and the retention of Britain's nuclear capability, support for Labour revived in Barrow. And John Hutton was able to win back the seat in 1992 and have retained it ever since. In 2001 his majority was almost 10,000 or 25.3%. However, new industries have been introduced to Barrow in recent years, including electronics, engineering, chemicals, construction and footwear. Twenty-seven and a half percent of those employed are in manufacturing and almost 23% are part-time workers. Owner-occupation runs at 77% and more than 99% of the population are white. Surrounding this industr

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The geographically remote seat of Barrow & Furness which is tucked away in the west of Cumbria beyond the Lake District may seem an unlikely location for one of Britain's most important industrial centres. The largest town in the constituency, the isolated Barrow-in-Furness, grew on the back of the ship building industry and is now the site of Vickers' nuclear submarine building plant. With over a quarter of its constituents working in manufacturing, Barrow would normally provide a very safe haven for Labour. However, the reliance on a single industry associated with controversial defence policies has, in the past, proved perilous for the party. Labour Cabinet member Albert Booth represented Barrow from 1966 but suffered a shock defeat in 1983. Some saw this as a result of the job loss fears that followed Labour's embrace of unilateral nuclear disarmament. As Labour moved back towards multilateral policies and the retention of Britain's nuclear capability, support for Labour revived in Barrow. And John Hutton was able to win back the seat in 1992 and have retained it ever since. In 2001 his majority was almost 10,000 or 25.3%. However, new industries have been introduced to Barrow in recent years, including electronics, engineering, chemicals, construction and footwear. Twenty-seven and a half percent of those employed are in manufacturing and almost 23% are part-time workers. Owner-occupation runs at 77% and more than 99% of the population are white. 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.

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