The county of Suffolk, England is divided into 8 parliamentary constituencies (1 borough constituency and 7 county constituencies). Seven constituencies lie wholly within Suffolk while Waveney Valley straddles the county border between Suffolk and Norfolk.[nb 1]
Constituencies
† Conservative ‡ Labour ¥ Green
Constituency[nb 2] | Electorate[1] | Majority[2][nb 3] | Member of Parliament[2] | Nearest opposition[2] | Map | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket CC | 76,655 | 1,452 | Peter Prinsley ‡ | Will Tanner † | |||
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich CC | 71,020 | 4,290 | Patrick Spencer † | Kevin Craig ‡ | |||
Ipswich BC | 75,117 | 7,403 | Jack Abbott ‡ | Tom Hunt † | |||
Lowestoft CC | 73,967 | 2,016 | Jessica Asato ‡ | Peter Aldous † | |||
South Suffolk CC | 71,170 | 3,047 | James Cartlidge † | Emma Bishton ‡ | |||
Suffolk Coastal CC | 72,663 | 1,070 | Jenny Riddell-Carpenter ‡ | Thérèse Coffey † | |||
Waveney Valley CC | 70,540 | 5,593 | Adrian Ramsay ¥ | Richard Rout † | |||
West Suffolk CC | 76,243 | 3,247 | Nick Timothy † | Rebecca Denness ‡ |
Boundary changes
2024
For the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which redrew the constituency map ahead of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Boundary Commission for England opted to combine Suffolk with Norfolk as a sub-region of the East of England region, with the creation of the cross-county boundary constituency of Waveney Valley. The seat of Waveney reverted to its former name of Lowestoft, and Bury St Edmunds was renamed Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.[3][4][5]
Former name | Boundaries 2010–2024 | Current name | Boundaries 2024–present |
---|---|---|---|
2010
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 2010–2024 |
---|---|---|
Results history
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[6]
2024
The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Suffolk in the 2024 general election were as follows:[2]
Party | Votes | % | Change from 2019 | Seats | Change from 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | 115,953 | 30.8% | 29.3% | 3 | 4 |
Labour | 107,057 | 28.4% | 4.5% | 4 | 4 |
Reform | 69,230 | 18.4% | 18.0% | 0 | 0 |
Greens | 49,925 | 13.3% | 6.9% | 1 | 1 |
Liberal Democrats | 31,160 | 8.3% | - | 0 | 0 |
Others | 3,342 | 0.9% | - | 0 | 0 |
Total | 376,667 | 100.0 | 8 |
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% | 2.9% | 7 | 1 |
Labour | 91,339 | 23.9% | 8.7% | 0 | 1 |
Liberal Democrats | 31,633 | 8.3% | 3.8% | 0 | 0 |
Greens | 24,490 | 6.4% | 3.6% | 0 | 0 |
Brexit | 1,432 | 0.4% | new | 0 | 0 |
Others | 3,432 | 0.9% | 2.0% | 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 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 30.8 |
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 | 28.4 |
Reform2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.4 | 18.4 |
Green Party | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | * | * | * | * | * | 1.9 | 4.9 | 2.8 | 6.4 | 13.3 |
Liberal Democrat3# | 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 | 8.3 |
Coalition Liberal | 14.4 | 16.7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
UKIP | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | * | * | * | 5.3 | 15.3 | 2.3 | * | * |
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 | 0.9 |
1Includes National Liberal Party from 1931 - 1966
2As the Brexit Party in 2019
31918-1979 - 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 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Conservative1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
Greens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] |
Liberal Democrat2 | 1 | 0 | 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 | 8[a] |
1Includes National Liberal Party up to 1966
21950-1979 - Liberal; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance
- ^ a b Includes the constituency of Waveney Valley, which also lies partly in Norfolk.
Maps
1885-1910
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1885
-
1886
-
1892
-
1895
-
1900
-
1906
-
Jan 1910
-
Dec 1910
1918-1945
-
1918
-
1922
-
1923
-
1924
-
1929
-
1931
-
1935
-
1945
1950-1979
-
1950
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1951
-
1955
-
1959
-
1964
-
1966
-
1970
-
1974 Feb
-
1974 Oct
-
1979
1983-present
-
1983
-
1987
-
1992
-
1997
-
2001
-
2005
-
2010
-
2015
-
2017
-
2019
-
2024
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
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 Green Independent Labour
Constituency | 1983 | 1987 | 1992 | 1997 | 2001 | 01 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 22 | 24 | 2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bury St Edmunds / & Stowmarket ('24) | Griffiths | Spring | Ruffley | Churchill | Prinsley | |||||||||
Suffolk Coastal | Gummer | Coffey | Riddell-Carpenter | |||||||||||
Ipswich | Weetch | Irvine | Cann | Mole | Gummer | Martin | Hunt | Abbott | ||||||
Waveney / Lowestoft (2024) | Prior | Porter | Blizzard | Aldous | Asato | |||||||||
South Suffolk | Yeo | Cartlidge | ||||||||||||
Central Suffolk / & N Ipswich ('97) | Lord | Poulter | → | Spencer | ||||||||||
West Suffolk | Spring | Hancock | → | → | Timothy | |||||||||
Waveney Valley1 | Ramsay |
1parts also in Norfolk
See also
- Parliamentary constituencies in the East of England
- History of parliamentary constituencies and boundaries in Suffolk
Notes
- ^ Waveney Valley CC is a cross-county constituency between Suffolk and Norfolk, covering areas of East and Mid Suffolk, as well as electoral wards of South Norfolk.
- ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
- ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.
References
- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England - Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition - Eastern". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Parliamentary constituency changes affect Norfolk/Suffolk border". BBC News. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "Here's how political boundaries could change if new plans approved". Suffolk News. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report". Boundary Commission for England. paras 294-320. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".