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 (1997)
Member of Parliament Matthew Hancock (Conservative)
Number of members One
1832 (1832)–1885 (1885)
Number of members Two
Type of constituency County constituency
Created from Suffolk
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East of England

West Suffolk is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

Boundaries

The constituency includes the town of Newmarket, famous for being the world headquarters of horse-racing, as well as the towns of Haverhill and Mildenhall. It contains the whole of Forest Heath district and part of St Edmundsbury borough.

The seat was represented from 1997 to 2010 by the Conservative Richard Spring, previously MP for the Bury St Edmunds seat, who announced on his blog on 23 November 2009 that he would not be contesting the West Suffolk constituency at the 2010 General Election.[2] It was won in 2010 by Matthew Hancock, who increased the Conservative vote.

Boundary review

Following their review of parliamentary representation in Suffolk, the Boundary Commission for England has recommended minor alterations to the existing constituency arrangement. The electoral wards used in the creation of this seat are:

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election Member [3] Party Member Party [4]
1832 Charles Tyrrell Liberal Sir Hyde Parker, Bt Liberal
1835 Henry Wilson Liberal Robert Rushbrooke Conservative
1837 Robert Hart Logan Conservative
1838 by-election Harry Spencer Waddington Conservative
1845 by-election Philip Bennet Conservative
1859 The Earl Jermyn Conservative William Parker Conservative
1864 by-election Lord Augustus Henry Charles Hervey Conservative
June 1875 by-election Fuller Maitland Wilson Conservative
October 1875 by-election Thomas Thornhill Conservative
1880 William Biddell Conservative
1885 constituency abolished

MPs since 1997

Election Member [3] Party
1997 Richard Spring Conservative
2010 Matthew Hancock Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: West Suffolk [5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Matthew Hancock 24,312 50.6 +1.7
Liberal Democrat 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
Christian Peoples 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

General Election 2005: West Suffolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Spring 21,682 49.0 +1.4
Labour Michael Jeffreys 12,773 28.9 −8.6
Liberal Democrat Adrian 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
General Election 2001: West Suffolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Spring 20,201 47.6 +6.7
Labour Michael Jefferys 15,906 37.5 +0.4
Liberal Democrat Robin 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

General Election 1997: West Suffolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Richard Spring 20,081 40.9 N/A
Labour Michael Jefferys 18,214 37.1 N/A
Liberal Democrat Adrian Graves 6,892 14.0 N/A
Referendum Party J Carver 3,724 7.6 N/A
Natural Law A Shearer 171 0.3 N/A
Majority 1,867 3.8 N/A
Turnout 49,082 71.5 N/A

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ So Long and Farewell, Richard Spring Blog
  3. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  4. ^ 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. 
  5. ^ West Suffolk, UKPollingReport
  6. ^ Labour Party PPCs
Constituencies in the East of England (58)
Conservative (52)
Liberal Democrats (4)
Labour (2)