County Suffolk Major settlements Felixstowe Member of parliament Therese Coffey Number of members 1 Created from Eye | Electorate 76,932 (December 2010) European Parliament constituency East of England Major settlement Felixstowe Replaced by Eye Party Conservative Party | |
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Suffolk Coastal is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Therese Coffey, a Conservative.
Contents
Map of Suffolk Coastal District, UK
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.
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. 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.