Suffolk Coastal (UK Parliament constituency)

Suffolk Coastal is a parliamentary constituency in the county of Suffolk, England[n 1] which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Thérèse Coffey, a Conservative Member of Parliament. She is currently the Work and Pensions Secretary. [n 2] The constituency is in the far East of England, and borders the North Sea.

Suffolk Coastal
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Suffolk Coastal in Suffolk
Location of Suffolk within England
CountySuffolk
Electorate76,932 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsFelixstowe
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentThérèse Coffey (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
Created fromSudbury & Woodbridge, and Eye[2]

History

This East Anglian constituency was created for the 1983 general election from eastern parts of the abolished county constituencies of Eye, and Sudbury and Woodbridge, including the towns of Felixstowe and Woodbridge. Its initial boundaries were coterminous with the recently created District of Suffolk Coastal.

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.

The 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. He 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 stood down in 2010 and was elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Deben.

The current MP is the Conservative Thérèse Coffey,[3] who is currently serving in the Second Johnson ministry as Secretary of State of the Department for Work and Pensions.[4][5]

Constituency profile

The main town of the constituency is Felixstowe, which is a commercial port for imports and exports. Woodbridge is considered part of the extended Ipswich urban area (by whom). The seat includes the seaside destination of Aldeburgh, also noted for artwork and the work of Benjamin Britten.

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.[6] 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.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997: The District of Suffolk Coastal.[7]

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, Woodbridge Seckford, and Yoxford, and the District of Waveney wards of Blything, Halesworth, and Southwold.[8]

Westernmost areas included in the new constituency of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. Extended northwards to include three wards from the District of Waveney, transferred from the constituency of Waveney.

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.[9]

Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[10]Party
1983 John Gummer Conservative
2010 Therese Coffey Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Suffolk Coastal[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Therese Coffey 32,958 56.5 -1.6
Labour Cameron Matthews 12,425 21.3 -9.2
Liberal Democrats Julia Ewart 8,719 15.0 +8.0
Green Rachel Smith-Lyte 2,713 4.7 +1.6
Independent Tony Love 1,493 2.6 +2.6
Majority 20,533 35.2 +7.6
Turnout 58,308 71.2 -2.0
Conservative hold Swing +3.9

Tony Love was originally standing as the Brexit Party candidate for this constituency.[12]

General election 2017: Suffolk Coastal[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Therese Coffey 33,713 58.1 +6.1
Labour Cameron Matthews 17,701 30.5 +12.5
Liberal Democrats James Sandbach 4,048 7.0 -1.6
Green Eamonn O'Nolan 1,802 3.1 -2.8
Independent Philip Young 810 1.4 1.4
Majority 16,012 27.6 -6.3
Turnout 58,074 73.2 +2.6
Conservative hold Swing -3.2
General election 2015: Suffolk Coastal[14][15]
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 Democrats 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[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Therese Coffey 25,475 46.4 +1.8
Liberal Democrats 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[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gummer 23,415 44.6 +1.3
Labour David Rowe 13,730 26.1 −8.7
Liberal Democrats David Young 11,637 22.1 +3.9
UKIP Richard Curtis 2,020 3.8 +0.1
Green Paul Whitlow 1,755 3.3 N/A
Majority 9,685 18.5 +10.0
Turnout 52,557 67.9 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing +5.0
General election 2001: Suffolk Coastal[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gummer 21,847 43.3 +4.8
Labour Nigel Gardner 17,521 34.8 +2.0
Liberal Democrats 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[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gummer 21,696 38.6 −15.0
Labour Mark Campbell 18,442 32.8 +9.0
Liberal Democrats Alexandra Jones 12,036 21.4 −2.4
Referendum Stephen Caulfield 3,416 6.1 N/A
Green Anthony Slade 514 0.9 −0.6
Natural Law Felicity 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[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gummer 34,680 53.6 −2.1
Liberal Democrats Peter Monk 15,395 23.8 −6.0
Labour Terence Hodgson 13,508 20.9 +8.1
Green Anthony Slade 943 1.5 −0.3
Natural Law Felicity 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[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gummer 32,834 55.7 −2.5
SDP Joan Miller 17,554 29.8 +0.7
Labour Susan Reeves 7,534 12.8 +0.2
Green James Holloway 1,049 1.8 N/A
Majority 15,280 25.9 -3.2
Turnout 58,971 77.9 +2.9
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1983: Suffolk Coastal[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gummer 31,240 58.2 N/A
SDP David Houseley 15,618 29.1 N/A
Labour Denis 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. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. 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. Proctor, Kate; Mason, Rowena (12 February 2020). "Cabinet reshuffle: expected winners and losers in Johnson's new order". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. "Cabinet reshuffle: Who is in Boris Johnson's new cabinet?". BBC News. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  6. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
  7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  10. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  11. "Suffolk Coastal Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  12. Geater, Paul. "Who's standing in Suffolk in 2019 General Election? How you can take part". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  13. http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/assets/Elections/Election-notices-WDC/2017/Parliamentary-General-Election/Statement-of-Persons-Nominated-Notice-of-Poll-Suffolk-Coastal-Constituency.pdf
  14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "2015 Election Results". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  22. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.