West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)
| West Suffolk | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
 Boundary of West Suffolk in Suffolk | |
 Location of Suffolk within England | |
| County | Suffolk |
| Electorate | 76,158 (December 2010)[1] |
| Major settlements | Newmarket, Haverhill and Mildenhall |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | Matthew Hancock (Conservative) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Central Suffolk |
| 1832–1885 | |
| Seats | Two |
| Type of constituency | County constituency |
| Created from | Suffolk |
| Replaced by | Bury St Edmunds (also succeeded itself) North-Western or 'Stowmarket' Division South or 'Sudbury' Division |
West Suffolk is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Matthew Hancock, a Conservative.[n 2]
History
1832-1885
The seat saw a relatively long first existence under the Reform Act 1832 merely as a more representative division (with a total of four MPs) instead of two for the former entire county at large, which still allowed for double voting (or more) of those Forty Shilling Freeholders who also were householders or landlords of any particular boroughs within the county. This Act retained the four largest boroughs of the seven before 1832.
With two heirs to their title serving the seat were the Marquesses of Bristol, the Hervey family, major landowners in the county and the modern seat, at Ickworth, part of its grand house now being a luxury hotel.
Equally sweeping changes took place at the end of this period with the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which here saw the establishment of three single-member constituencies covering much of the former half-county by widening the narrow and underpopulated dual-member seat of Bury St Edmunds: the other two seats being named the North-Western or 'Stowmarket' Division and the South or 'Sudbury' Division.
1997-date
Its second creation occurred with Parliamentary approval of the Boundary Commission's third periodic review in time for the 1997 election (the first such review having been in 1945, following the Representation of the People Act 1918 review).
- Political history
The seat in this time has only been represented by Conservatives with the narrowest majority having been that of 1997 at only 3.8% of the vote, since which the majority has gradually increased to a level seen most commonly in safe seats.
For the 2010 general election, the transition was planned six months before, on 23 November 2009, when the incumbent announced he would not stand again.[2]
- Prominent frontbenchers
Richard Spring[n 3] was an opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs (2000-2004) (shadowing a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister) then Shadow Minister for the Treasury (2004-2005) before being a Vice-Chairman of his party and being elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Risby. Several of his ancestors had previously represented Suffolk in the House of Commons.
Boundaries
1997-2010: The District of Forest Heath, and the Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Barningham, Barrow, Cangle, Castle, Chalkstone, Chevington, Clements, Honington, Horringer, Hundon, Ixworth, Kedington, Risby, St Mary’s and Helions, Stanton, Wickhambrook, and Withersfield.
2010-present: The District of Forest Heath (the wards of All Saints, Brandon East, Brandon West, Eriswell and The Rows, Exning, Great Heath, Iceni, Lakenheath, Manor, Market, Red Lodge, St Mary’s, Severals, and South), and the Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Bardwell, Barningham, Barrow, Chedburgh, Haverhill East, Haverhill North, Haverhill South, Haverhill West, Hundon, Ixworth, Kedington, Risby, Stanton, Wickhambrook, and Withersfield.
The constituency includes the town of Newmarket, the world headquarters of horse racing as well as the towns of Haverhill and Mildenhall with a farmed landscape, interspersed with patches of forest[n 4] and small villages.
Constituency profile
This area includes a slightly older demographic profile than the national average, with a significant proportion of semi-detached and detached homes and a higher than average proportion or retired people.[3]
Major economic sectors include defence (RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath), agriculture/food (including for major products as well as regional specialities such as ales, Suffolk cider and cured meats), tourism and leisure (such as Newmarket racecourse) and particularly in Haverhill, a range of industries. These include chemicals (such as International Flavors and Fragrances), waste processing, transport, construction and pharmaceuticals.
Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[4]
Members of Parliament
MPs 1832–1885
MPs since 1997
| Election | Member[5] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 1997 | Richard Spring | Conservative |
| style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" | | 2010 | Matthew Hancock | Conservative |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Matthew Hancock | 25,684 | 52.2 | +1.6 | |
| UKIP | Julian Flood[9] | 10,700 | 21.7 | +15.3 | |
| Labour | Michael John Jefferys | 8,604 | 17.5 | +2.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Elfreda Tealby-Watson[10] | 2,465 | 5.0 | −18.4 | |
| Green | Niall Pettitt[11] | 1,779 | 3.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 14,984 | 30.4 | +3.3 | ||
| Turnout | 49,429 | 64.9 | +0.3 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -6.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Matthew Hancock | 24,312 | 50.6 | +1.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Belinda Brooks-Gordon | 11,262 | 23.4 | +6.2 | |
| Labour | Abul Monsur Ohid Ahmed | 7,089 | 14.7 | −14.2 | |
| UKIP | Ian Smith | 3,085 | 6.4 | +1.5 | |
| BNP | Ramon Johns | 1,428 | 3.0 | N/A | |
| Independent | Andrew Appleby | 540 | 1.1 | N/A | |
| CPA | Colin Young | 373 | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,050 | 27.1 | +6.9 | ||
| Turnout | 48,089 | 64.6 | +3.8 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | −2.3 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Richard Spring | 21,682 | 49.0 | +1.4 | |
| Labour | Michael John Jeffreys | 12,773 | 28.9 | −8.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Adrian P. Graves | 7,573 | 17.1 | +5.3 | |
| UKIP | Ian Smith | 2,177 | 4.9 | +1.8 | |
| Majority | 8,909 | 20.2 | +10.1 | ||
| Turnout | 44,205 | 60.7 | +0.2 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +5.0 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Richard Spring | 20,201 | 47.6 | +6.7 | |
| Labour | Michael John Jefferys | 15,906 | 37.5 | +0.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Robin Barry Martlew | 5,017 | 11.8 | −2.2 | |
| UKIP | Will Burrows | 1,321 | 3.1 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,295 | 10.1 | +6.3 | ||
| Turnout | 42,445 | 60.5 | −11.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +3.1 | |||
Elections in the 1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Richard Spring | 20,081 | 40.9 | N/A | |
| Labour | Michael John Jefferys | 18,214 | 37.1 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Adrian P. Graves | 6,892 | 14.0 | N/A | |
| Referendum | James J.T. Carver | 3,724 | 7.6 | N/A | |
| Natural Law | Alistair J.M. Shearer | 171 | 0.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,867 | 3.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 49,082 | 71.5 | N/A | ||
| Conservative win (new seat) | |||||
See also
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
- ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
- ^ Previously MP for the Bury St Edmunds seat
- ^ For example Thetford Forest, synonymous with Breckland.
- ^ This is the courtesy title given to the eldest son of the Marquess of Bristol as his main subsidiary title.
- References
- ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ So Long and Farewell, Richard Spring Blog
- ^ 2011 Census
- ^ Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
- ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
- ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 464–364. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001034/
- ^ http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Haverhill-councillor-reveals-hopes-West-Suffolk/story-25847199-detail/story.html
- ^ http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates
- ^ http://midsuffolk.greenparty.org.uk/news/parliamentary-candidates-for-suffolk.html
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
{{cite web}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 26 July 2013 suggested (help) - ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.