Lowestoft (LOH-(ih)-stoft, LOH-stəf) is a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk. It returns 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.
The Northern or Lowestoft Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Eastern Division of Suffolk. It became a county constituency from the 1950 general election and was abolished for the 1983 general election, being replaced by the county constituency of Waveney.
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.
Boundaries and boundary changes
1885–1918
The Borough of Southwold;
The Sessional Divisions of Beccles, Bungay, Lothingland, and Mutford;
Part of the Sessional Division of Blything; and
The part of the Borough of Great Yarmouth in the county of Suffolk.[4]
As Great Yarmouth formed a separate Parliamentary Borough, only non-resident freeholders of the Borough were entitled to vote in this constituency.
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.
1918–1950
The Boroughs of Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southwold;
The Urban Districts of Bungay and Oulton Broad;
The Rural Districts of Mutford and Lothingland, and Wangford; and
The Rural District of Blything parishes of Benacre, Covehithe, Easton Bavents, Frostenden, Henstead, Reydon, South Cove, and Wrentham.[5]
In the boundary changes of 1918, when the constituency became simply the "Lowestoft Division of East Suffolk" or EastSuffolk, Lowestoft, Halesworth was transferred to the neighbouring Eye division.
1950–1983
The Boroughs of Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southwold;
The Urban Districts of Bungay and Halesworth; and
The Rural Districts of Lothingland and Wainford.[6]
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 rationalisations. 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 a small area in the north, including Bradwell (comprising about 10,000 voters), which had been transferred from Suffolk to Norfolk as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and was now transferred to the county constituency of Great Yarmouth.
Current
The re-established constituency, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, is composed of the following wards of the District of East Suffolk (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
The bulk of the existing Waveney seat, including Lowestoft, Somerleyton and Beccles, was included in the re-established seat, whereas Bungay and The Saints were transferred to the newly created constituency of Waveney Valley.
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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
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;
^"The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Eastern". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
^"'Lowestoft', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
^2023 review Eastern Boundary Commission for England
^Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
^Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the people act, 1918 : with explanatory notes. University of California Libraries. London : Sweet and Maxwell.
^"Representation of the People Act, 1948". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^"The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
^ "Jess Asato for Lowestoft". Retrieved 5 June 2024.
^ [candidates.htmlhttps://www.lowestoftconservatives.org.uk(UK) "Lowestoft Conservatives"]. Retrieved 4 June 2024. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
^Reform UK [@reformparty_uk] (31 May 2024). "🚨 NEW: June Mummery is your Reform UK candidate for Lowestoft" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^"Notional results for a UK general election on 12 December 2019". Rallings & Thrasher, Professor David Denver (Scotland), Nicholas Whyte (NI) for Sky News, PA, BBC News and ITV News. UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
^ abcThe Liberal Year Book, 1907
^ abcdefghCraig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
^"The Northern or Lowestoft Division of the County of Suffolk". Lowestoft Journal. 12 December 1885. p. 4. Retrieved 3 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^Wodehouse, John (1997). Hawkins, Angus; Powell, John (eds.). The Journal of John Wodehouse, First Earl of Kimberley for 1862-1902. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521623285.
^ abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
^ abDebrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
^ abcdefgCraig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.