County Suffolk Created from East Suffolk Number of members 1 | Major settlements Lowestoft Major settlement Lowestoft | |
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Replaced by East Suffolk, Waveney, Great Yarmouth | ||
Lowestoft was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. It was more often won by the Conservative Party than not, although its representatives include two from the Liberal Party and one from the Labour Party.
Contents
History
The constituency was created for the 1885 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election.
Boundaries
1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Southwold, the Sessional Divisions of Beccles, Bungay, Lothingland, and Mutford, part of the Sessional Division of Blything, and the part of the Municipal Borough of Great Yarmouth in the county of Suffolk.
1918-1950: The Municipal Boroughs of Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southwold, the Urban Districts of Bungay and Oulton Broad, the Rural Districts of Mutford and Lothingland, and Wangford, and in the Rural District of Blything the civil parishes of Benacre, Covehithe, Easton Bavents, Frostenden, Henstead, Reydon, South Cove, and Wrentham.
1950-1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southwold, the Urban Districts of Bungay and Halesworth, and the Rural Districts of Lothingland and Wainford.
Throughout its existence, the Lowestoft constituency covered the North-Eastern corner of Suffolk and, although encompassing some rural areas, drew the majority of its voters from the towns of Lowestoft, a resort and fishing port, and Beccles; it also included the smaller towns of Bungay and Southwold, with its brewing interests.
Southwold is now in the Suffolk Coastal constituency.
The constituency established in 1885, which was formally named The Northern or Lowestoft Division of Suffolk (and was sometimes referred to simply as "Suffolk North"), also included the town of Halesworth and the rural areas in between. In the boundary changes of 1918, when the constituency became simply the "Lowestoft Division of Suffolk" or Suffolk, Lowestoft, Halesworth was transferred to the neighbouring Eye division.
At the 1950 general election, Halesworth was once more placed in the revised Lowestoft County Constituency, but it otherwise underwent only minor changes to reflect local government reorganisation. The boundaries were not altered in the boundary review implemented in 1974.
The constituency was revised in 1983 and renamed Waveney, as its new boundaries were now identical with those of the local government district of that name. The new constituency was very similar to the old Lowestoft one except that about 10,000 voters had been transferred to Norfolk by a movement of the county boundaries.
Elections in the 1910s
General Election 1914/15:
Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
Elections in the 1930s
General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;