Suffolk Coastal (UK Parliament constituency)

Suffolk Coastal
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Suffolk Coastal in Suffolk.

Outline map

Location of Suffolk within England.
County Suffolk
Electorate 76,932 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Felixstowe
Current constituency
Created 1983
Member of parliament Therese Coffey (Conservative)
Number of members One
Created from Sudbury & Woodbridge, and Eye[2]
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency East of England

Suffolk Coastal is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Therese Coffey, a Conservative.[n 2]

History

This East Anglian constituency was created in 1983.

This seat was held from its creation until the 2010 election by the Conservative John Gummer who had previously represented the former seat of Eye from 1979. The current MP is the Conservative Therese Coffey.[3]

Prominent members

Lord Deben (as John Gummer) was the Secretary of State for the Environment for four years during the Second Major ministry and before that was for four years the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He was the only member for this seat to have achieved the front bench, until Therese Coffey was made Deputy Leader of the House of Commons in May 2015.

Boundaries

1983-1997: The District of Suffolk Coastal.

1997-2010: The District of Suffolk Coastal wards of Aldeburgh, Alderton and Sutton, Bramfield and Cratfield, Buxlow, Felixstowe Central, Felixstowe East, Felixstowe North, Felixstowe South, Felixstowe South East, Felixstowe West, Hollesley, Kelsale, Kirton, Leiston, Martlesham, Melton, Nacton, Orford, Saxmundham, Snape, Trimleys, Tunstall, Ufford, Walberswick, Westleton, Woodbridge Centre, Woodbridge Farlingaye, Woodbridge Kyson, Woodbridge Riverside, and Woodbridge Seckford and Yoxford, and the District of Waveney wards of Blything, Halesworth, and Southwold.

2010-present: The District of Suffolk Coastal wards of Aldeburgh, Farlingaye, Felixstowe East, Felixstowe North, Felixstowe South, Felixstowe South East, Felixstowe West, Hollesley with Eyke, Kyson, Leiston, Martlesham, Melton and Ufford, Nacton, Orford and Tunstall, Peasenhall, Rendlesham, Riverside, Saxmundham, Seckford, Snape, Sutton, Trimleys with Kirton, Walberswick and Wenhaston, and Yoxford, and the District of Waveney wards of Blything, Halesworth, Southwold and Reydon, and Wrentham.

Suffolk Coastal was created from parts of the earlier Sudbury and Woodbridge and Lowestoft constituencies. The main town of the constituency is Felixstowe. Woodbridge is considered part of the extended Ipswich urban area.

The current constituency area includes three former borough constituencies which sent their own MPs to Parliament until abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Great Reform Act, 1832 - Aldeburgh, Dunwich and Orford.

Constituency profile

The seat includes the seaside and folk music destination of Aldeburgh, also noted for artwork and the work of Benjamin Britten. Felixstowe is a commercial port for imports and exports. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[4] Since its inception Suffolk Coastal has been a safe seat for the Conservative Party typical of more rural districts of East Anglia. In the 1997 Labour national landslide the Conservative candidate held on by a margin of a few thousand votes.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[5]Party
1983 John Gummer Conservative
2010 Therese Coffey Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Suffolk Coastal[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Therese Coffey 28,855 51.9 +5.5
Labour Russell Whiting 10,013 18.0 +2.0
UKIP Daryll Pitcher 8,655 15.6 +9.8
Liberal Democrat James Sandbach 4,777 8.6 −21.2
Green Rachel Smith-Lyte 3,294 5.9 +3.9
Majority 18,842 33.9 +17.3
Turnout 55,594 70.6 −0.6
Conservative hold Swing +1.8
General Election 2010: Suffolk Coastal[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Therese Coffey 25,475 46.4 +1.8
Liberal Democrat Daisy Cooper 16,347 29.8 +7.7
Labour Adam Leeder 8,812 16.1 −10.1
UKIP Stephen Bush 3,156 5.7 +1.9
Green Rachel Fulcher 1,103 2.0 −1.3
Majority 9,128 16.6 −1.8
Turnout 54,893 71.2 +3.9
Conservative hold Swing −2.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Suffolk Coastal[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gummer 23,415 44.6 +1.3
Labour David John Rowe 13,730 26.1 −8.7
Liberal Democrat David Andrew Young 11,637 22.1 +3.9
UKIP Richard John Curtis 2,020 3.8 +0.1
Green Paul Michael Whitlow 1,755 3.3 N/A
Majority 9,685 18.4 +9.9
Turnout 52,557 67.9 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing +5.0
General Election 2001: Suffolk Coastal[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gummer 21,847 43.3 +4.8
Labour Nigel Robert Gardner 17,521 34.8 +2.0
Liberal Democrat Tony Schur 9,192 18.2 −3.2
UKIP Michael Burn 1,847 3.7 N/A
Majority 4,326 8.5 +2.7
Turnout 50,407 65.6 −10.2
Conservative hold Swing +1.4

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Suffolk Coastal[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gummer 21,696 38.6 −15.0
Labour Mark Campbell 18,442 32.8 +9.0
Liberal Democrat Miss Alexandra Jones 12,036 21.4 −2.4
Referendum Stephen Brian Caulfield 3,416 6.1 N/A
Green Anthony Charles Slade 514 0.9 −0.6
Natural Law Mrs. Felicity Brigid Kaplan 152 0.3 −0.1
Majority 3,254 5.8 −24.0
Turnout 56,256 75.8 −5.8
Conservative hold Swing −12.0
General Election 1992: Suffolk Coastal[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gummer 34,680 53.6 −2.1
Liberal Democrat Peter David Monk 15,395 23.8 −6.0
Labour Terence Edward Hodgson 13,508 20.9 +8.1
Green Anthony Charles Slade 943 1.5 −0.3
Natural Law Mrs. Felicity Brigid Kaplan 232 0.4 N/A
Majority 19,285 29.8 +3.9
Turnout 64,758 81.6 +3.7
Conservative hold Swing +1.9

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Suffolk Coastal[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gummer 32,834 55.7 −2.5
Social Democratic Mrs. Joan Margaret Miller 17,554 29.8 +0.7
Labour Mrs. Susan Ann Reeves 7,534 12.8 +0.2
Green James William Holloway 1,049 1.8 N/A
Majority 15,280 25.9
Turnout 58,971 77.9
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1983: Suffolk Coastal[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gummer 31,240 58.2 N/A
Social Democratic David Houseley 15,618 29.1 N/A
Labour Denis William George Ballantyne 6,780 12.6 N/A
Majority 15,622 29.1 N/A
Turnout 53,638 75.0 N/A
Conservative win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. 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.
References
  1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. "'Suffolk Coastal', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  3. "Therese Coffey". United Kingdom Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  4. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  6. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. "2015 Election Results". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  8. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
  14. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 52°09′N 1°30′E / 52.15°N 1.50°E / 52.15; 1.50

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