# Lancashire Central (European Parliament constituency)

Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each.
Created for the 1979 European Parliament elections in 1979, Lancashire Central was a single-member constituency formed from the grouping of numerous neighbouring UK Parliament constituencies.

## Boundaries

* 1979–1984: Blackpool North, Blackpool South, Chorley, Fylde South, Preston North, Preston South, Westhoughton, Wigan
* 1984–1994: Blackpool North, Blackpool South, Chorley, Fylde, Preston, Ribble Valley, South Ribble, West Lancashire
* 1994–1999: Blackpool North, Blackpool South, Burnley, Fylde, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Wyre

## Members of the European Parliament

| Elected | Elected | Member | Party |
| | 1979 | Michael Welsh | Conservative |
| | 1994 | Mark Hendrick | Labour |

## Election results

European Parliament election, 1979: Lancashire Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Welsh | 91,355 | 51.1 | |
| | Labour | I J Taylor | 63,709 | 37.7 | |
| | Liberal | A D (David) Sanders | 13,821 | 8.2 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 27,646 | 16.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 168,885 | 31.6 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |
European Parliament election, 1984: Lancashire Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Welsh | 82,370 | 50.4 | −0.7 |
| | Labour | Helen Jones | 56,175 | 34.4 | −3.3 |
| | SDP | Michael Gallagher | 24,936 | 15.2 | +7.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 26,195 | 16.0 | −0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 163,481 | 31.2 | −0.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
European Parliament election, 1989: Lancashire Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Michael Welsh | 81,125 | 42.1 | −8.3 |
| | Labour | Geoffrey Smith | 75,437 | 39.2 | +4.8 |
| | Green | Haldora Ingham | 28,777 | 14.9 | New |
| | SLD | Janet Ross-Mills | 7,378 | 3.8 | −9.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,688 | 2.9 | −13.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 192,717 | 35.8 | +4.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
European Parliament election, 1994: Lancashire Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Mark Hendrick | 73,420 | 43.9 | +4.7 |
| | Conservative | Michael Welsh | 61,229 | 36.6 | −5.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Janet Ross-Mills | 20,578 | 12.3 | +8.5 |
| | Independent British Home Rule | David Hill | 6,751 | 4.0 | New |
| | Green | Christopher Maile | 4,169 | 2.5 | −12.4 |
| | Natural Law | Janet Aycliffe | 1,127 | 0.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,191 | 7.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 93,854 | 33.2 | −2.6 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | | |