List of parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk

The county of Suffolk, England is divided into 7 parliamentary constituencies – 1 borough constituency and 6 county constituencies.

Constituencies

  † Conservative   ‡ Labour

Constituency[nb 1] Electorate[1] Majority[2][nb 2] Member of Parliament[2] Nearest opposition[2] Map
Bury St Edmunds CC 89,644 24,988   Jo Churchill †   Cliff Waterman ‡
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich CC 80,037 23,391   Dan Poulter †   Emma Bonner-Morgan ‡
Ipswich BC 75,525 5,479   Tom Hunt †   Sandy Martin ‡
South Suffolk CC 76,201 22,897   James Cartlidge †   Elizabeth Hughes ‡
Suffolk Coastal CC 81,910 20,533   Thérèse Coffey †   Cameron Matthews ‡
Waveney CC 82,791 18,002   Peter Aldous †   Sonia Barker ‡
West Suffolk CC 80,193 23,194   Matthew Hancock †   Claire Unwin ‡

2010 boundary changes

In the Fifth Review the Boundary Commission for England recommended that Suffolk retained its current constituencies, with changes only to reflect revisions to local authority ward boundaries and to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies. The largest of these changes resulted in the effective transfer of one Borough of Ipswich ward from Central Suffolk and North Ipswich to the constituency of Ipswich.

Name Boundaries 1997-2010 Boundaries 2010–present
  1. Bury St Edmunds CC
  2. Central Suffolk and North Ipswich CC
  3. Ipswich BC
  4. South Suffolk CC
  5. Suffolk Coastal CC
  6. Waveney CC
  7. West Suffolk CC

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[3] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed that Suffolk be combined with Norfolk as a sub-region of the Eastern Region, with the creation of the cross-county boundary constituency of Waveney Valley. The current seat of Waveney would revert to its former name of Lowestoft, and Bury St Edmunds is to be renamed Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.[4][5][6]

The following constituencies are proposed:

Containing electoral wards from Babergh

Containing electoral wards from East Suffolk

Containing electoral wards from Ipswich

  • Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (part)

Containing electoral wards from Mid Suffolk

  • Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (part)
  • Waveney Valley (parts also in East Suffolk and South Norfolk)

Containing electoral wards from West Suffolk

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[7]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Suffolk in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party Votes % Change from 2017 Seats Change from 2017
Conservative 229,823 60.1% Increase2.9% 7 Increase1
Labour 91,339 23.9% Decrease8.7% 0 Decrease1
Liberal Democrats 31,633 8.3% Increase3.8% 0 0
Greens 24,490 6.4% Increase3.6% 0 0
Brexit 1,432 0.4% new 0 0
Others 3,432 0.9% Decrease2.0% 0 0
Total 382,149 100.0 7

Percentage votes

Election year 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative1 48.9 45.6 47.6 54.8 43.6 67.0 62.6 39.7 42.1 49.1 49.6 48.4 45.6 46.6 52.5 44.0 45.5 51.4 52.5 52.5 49.9 37.6 40.7 41.7 46.2 50.7 57.2 60.1
Labour 12.2 25.8 23.9 20.0 23.3 25.0 32.4 38.2 39.8 43.9 46.6 41.1 38.2 43.2 38.7 31.7 35.1 33.7 22.1 23.2 28.7 40.2 39.7 31.8 21.3 23.5 32.6 23.9
Liberal Democrat2# 24.5 11.9 28.5 25.2 33.1 8.0 4.9 22.1 18.0 7.0 3.8 10.5 16.0 9.9 8.0 23.7 19.4 14.4 25.3 23.6 20.4 17.6 16.0 20.6 24.1 5.6 4.5 8.3
Coalition Liberal 14.4 16.7 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Green Party - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * * * 1.9 4.9 2.8 6.4
UKIP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * 5.3 15.3 2.3 *
Brexit Party - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.4
Other - - - - - - - - 0.1 - - - 0.1 0.3 0.8 0.5 - 0.5 0.1 0.6 1.1 4.6 3.6 6.0 1.2 0.1 0.5 0.9

1Includes National Liberal Party from 1931 - 1966

21918-1979 - Liberal; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Seats

Election year 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative1 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 5 6 5 5 5 5 7 7 6 7
Labour 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 2 2 0 0 1 0
Liberal Democrat2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

1Includes National Liberal Party up to 1966

21950-1979 - Liberal; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

1885-1910

  • 1885
    1885
  • 1886
    1886
  • 1892
    1892
  • 1895
    1895
  • 1900
    1900
  • 1906
    1906
  • Jan 1910
    Jan 1910
  • Dec 1910
    Dec 1910

1918-1945

  • 1918
    1918
  • 1922
    1922
  • 1923
    1923
  • 1924
    1924
  • 1929
    1929
  • 1931
    1931
  • 1935
    1935
  • 1945
    1945

1950-1979

  • 1950
    1950
  • 1951
    1951
  • 1955
    1955
  • 1959
    1959
  • 1964
    1964
  • 1966
    1966
  • 1970
    1970
  • 1974 Feb
    1974 Feb
  • 1974 Oct
    1974 Oct
  • 1979
    1979

1983-present

  • 1983
    1983
  • 1987
    1987
  • 1992
    1992
  • 1997
    1997
  • 2001
    2001
  • 2005
    2005
  • 2010
    2010
  • 2015
    2015
  • 2017
    2017
  • 2019
    2019

Timeline

Constituency 1295-1298 1298-1529 1529-1559 1559-1571 1571-1614 1614-1832 1832-1844 1844-1885 1885-1918 1918-1950 1950-1983 1983-1997 1997-
Aldeburgh 1571-1832
Bury St Edmunds 1614-
Central Suffolk 1983-1997
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich 1997-
Dunwich 1298-1832
East Suffolk 1832-1885
Eye 1571-1983
Ipswich 1295-
Lowestoft 1885-1983
Orford 1529-1832
South Suffolk 1983-
Stowmarket 1885-1918
Sudbury 1559-1844 1885-1950
Sudbury and Woodbridge 1950-1983
Suffolk 1295-1832
Suffolk Coastal 1983-
Waveney 1983-
West Suffolk 1832-1885 1997-
Woodbridge 1885-1950

Historical representation by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1885 to 1918

  Conservative   Liberal   Liberal Unionist

Constituency 1885 86 1886 91 1892 92 1895 1900 1906 06 07 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 14
Bury St Edmunds F. Hervey Cadogan Greene F. W. Hervey Guinness
Eye Stevenson Pearson
Ipswich (Two members) West Charteris Goddard
Collings Dalrymple Cobbold Horne Ganzoni
Lowestoft Crossley → Foster Lucas Beauchamp Foster Beauchamp
Stowmarket Cobbold Greene Stern Malcolm Hardy Goldsmith
Sudbury W. Quilter → Heaton-Armstrong C. Quilter
Woodbridge Everett Lloyd-Anstruther Everett Pretyman Everett Peel

1918 to 1950

  Coalition Liberal (1918-22)   Conservative   Independent   Independent Liberal   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931-68)

Constituency 1918 20 1922 1923 1924 1929 31 1931 34 1935 38 42 44 1945
Bury St Edmunds Guinness Heilgers Keatinge Clifton-Brown
Eye Lyle-Samuel → Vanneck Granville → → →
Ipswich Ganzoni Jackson Ganzoni Stokes
Lowestoft Beauchamp Rentoul Loftus Evans
Sudbury Howard Mercer Loverseed Burton Hamilton
Woodbridge Peel Churchman Fison Ross-Taylor Hare

1950 to 1983

  Conservative   Labour   Liberal

Constituency 1950 1951 1955 57 1959 63 64 1964 1966 1970 Feb 74 Oct 74 1979
Bury St Edmunds Aitken Griffiths
Eye Granville Harrison Gummer
Ipswich Stokes Foot Money Weetch
Lowestoft Evans Prior
Sudbury & Woodbridge Hare Stainton

1983 to present

  Conservative   Labour

Constituency 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 01 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Bury St Edmunds Griffiths Spring Ruffley Churchill
Suffolk Coastal Gummer Coffey
Ipswich Weetch Irvine Cann Mole Gummer Martin Hunt
Waveney Prior Porter Blizzard Aldous
South Suffolk Yeo Cartlidge
Central Suffolk / C Suffolk & N Ipswich (1997) Lord Poulter
West Suffolk Spring Hancock

See also

Notes

  1. ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

References

  1. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ^ "2023 Review | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Parliamentary constituency changes affect Norfolk/Suffolk border". BBC News. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Here's how political boundaries could change if new plans approved". Suffolk News. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. paras 294-320. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  7. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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