List of parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk

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]

A medium county in the very east of the country.
The county of Suffolk in relation to England

Constituencies

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  † 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

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2024

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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
  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
 
  1. Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket CC
  2. Central Suffolk and North Ipswich CC
  3. Ipswich BC
  4. Lowestoft CC
  5. South Suffolk CC
  6. Suffolk Coastal CC
  7. Waveney Valley CC
  8. West Suffolk CC
 

2010

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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
  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
 
 

Results history

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Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[6]

2024

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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

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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

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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

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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

  1. ^ a b Includes the constituency of Waveney Valley, which also lies partly in Norfolk.

Maps

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1885-1910

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1918-1945

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1950-1979

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1983-present

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Timeline

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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

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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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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  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

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Notes

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

References

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ a b c d "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2014". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Parliamentary constituency changes affect Norfolk/Suffolk border". BBC News. 8 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Here's how political boundaries could change if new plans approved". Suffolk News. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report". Boundary Commission for England. paras 294-320. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  6. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".
  NODES
Note 5