County Suffolk Number of members One Type of constituency County constituency Member of parliament Matthew Hancock Replaced by Stowmarket, Sudbury | Electorate 76,158 (December 2010) Number of members Two European Parliament constituency East of England Party Conservative Party Created from Central Suffolk, Suffolk | |
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Major settlements Newmarket, Suffolk, Haverhill, Mildenhall | ||
West Suffolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Matthew Hancock, a Conservative. Between 1832 and 1885 there had also been a constituency, the Western Division of Suffolk that had also been called West Suffolk.
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History
Between the 1832 Reform Act and 1885 there had been a constituency, the Western Division of Suffolk known as West Suffolk, although on different boundaries. Its second creation occurred with Parliamentary approval of the Boundary Commission's third periodic review in time for the 1997 election (the first such review having been in 1945, following the Representation of the People Act 1918 review).
The seat in this time has only been represented by Conservatives with the narrowest majority having been that of 1997 at only 3.8% of the vote, since which the majority has gradually increased to a level seen most commonly in safe seats.
For the 2010 general election, the transition was planned six months before, on 23 November 2009, when the incumbent announced he would not stand again.
Richard Spring was an opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs (2000-2004) (shadowing a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister) then Shadow Minister for the Treasury (2004-2005) before being a Vice-Chairman of his party and being elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Risby. Several of his ancestors had previously represented Suffolk in the House of Commons.
Boundaries
1997-2010: The District of Forest Heath, and the Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Barningham, Barrow, Cangle, Castle, Chalkstone, Chevington, Clements, Honington, Horringer, Hundon, Ixworth, Kedington, Risby, St Mary’s and Helions, Stanton, Wickhambrook, and Withersfield.
2010-present: The District of Forest Heath, and the Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Bardwell, Barningham, Barrow, Chedburgh, Haverhill East, Haverhill North, Haverhill South, Haverhill West, Hundon, Ixworth, Kedington, Risby, Stanton, Wickhambrook, and Withersfield.
The constituency includes the town of Newmarket, the world headquarters of horse racing as well as the towns of Haverhill and Mildenhall with a farmed landscape, interspersed with patches of forest and small villages.
Constituency profile
This area includes a slightly older demographic profile than the national average, with a significant proportion of semi-detached and detached homes and a higher than average proportion or retired people.
Major economic sectors include defence (RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath), agriculture/food (including for major products as well as regional specialities such as ales, Suffolk cider and cured meats), tourism and leisure (such as Newmarket racecourse) and particularly in Haverhill, a range of industries. These include chemicals (such as International Flavors and Fragrances), waste processing, transport, construction and pharmaceuticals.
Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.5% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.