Waveney (UK Parliament constituency)

Waveney
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Waveney in Suffolk.
Location of Suffolk within England.
County	Suffolk
Electorate	79,132 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Lowestoft
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Peter Aldous (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Lowestoft
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Waveney is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Peter Aldous, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1983-1997: The District of Waveney.

1997-2010: The District of Waveney except the wards of Blything, Halesworth, and Southwold.

2010-present: The District of Waveney wards of Beccles North, Beccles South, Bungay, Carlton, Carlton Colville, Gunton and Corton, Harbour, Kessingland, Kirkley, Lothingland, Normanston, Oulton, Oulton Broad, Pakefield, St Margaret's, The Saints, Wainford, Whitton, and Worlingham.

The seat is based on the coastal town of Lowestoft, which today is generally Labour-voting, because of its recent history as a declining seaside resort, fishing and industrial town. However, the constituency also takes in the small towns of Beccles, Bungay and Halesworth. These along with the smaller inland rural villages are considerably more supportive of Conservatives.

History

The seat was created in 1983 under the Act implementing the third periodic review of Westminster constituencies, broadly replacing Lowestoft, which the first victor of the new seat had served since 1959.

Political history

Waveney has been a bellwether since its creation, swinging heavily in line with the mood of the nation. Labour's big majority in 1997 reflected the large overall majority in the Commons, and by the 2010 election it had become touted by one published analysis as the seat that the Conservatives needed to win to secure an overall majority. Fittingly, 2010 saw a marginal majority and the national result was a hung parliament with the Conservative Party the largest party. 2010 here was the Labour Party's second highest share of the vote in the narrow, traditional grouping of East Anglia (Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex).

Prominent frontbenchers

Waveney had been held for many years by James Prior Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1970-1972), Leader of the House of Commons^{[n 3]} (1972-1974), Secretary of State for Employment (1979-1981) then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland during the Heath ministry then the Thatcher ministry with an economic politics considered more centre-ground, then known as forming the wets' ideology.

Bob Blizzard served as a senior Government Whip from 2008 until 2010 when he lost at the election that May.

Constituency profile

The seat is based around the town of Lowestoft, and includes several smaller market towns and seaside resorts in north-east Suffolk. This corner of Suffolk arguably has stronger connections with Norfolk - Norwich is an easier centre to reach than Ipswich - and there have been unsuccessful proposals to alter the county boundary to reflect this.

Workless claimants who were registered jobseekers were in November 2012 higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 4.9% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian. This compares more unfavourably to the regional average of 3.2%.^[2]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1983	Jim Prior	Conservative
	1987	David Porter	Conservative
	1997	Bob Blizzard	Labour
	2010	Peter Aldous	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Waveney^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Aldous	22,104	42.3	+2.1
	Labour	Bob Blizzard	19,696	37.7	−1.0
	UKIP	Simon Tobin	7,580	14.5	+9.3
	Green	Graham James Elliott	1,761	3.4	+1.1
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Gordon	1,055	2.0	−11.3
Majority			2,408	4.6
Turnout			52,196	65.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

General Election 2010: Waveney^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Aldous	20,571	40.2	+6.9
	Labour	Bob Blizzard	19,802	38.7	−6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Dean	6,811	13.3	−1.8
	UKIP	Jack Tyler	2,684	5.2	+1.5
	Green	Graham James Elliott	1,167	2.3	−0.1
	NOTA	Louis Barfe	106
Majority			769	1.5
Turnout			51,141	65.1	+1.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Waveney^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bob Blizzard	22,505	45.3	−5.4
	Conservative	Peter Aldous	16,590	33.4	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Bromley	7,497	15.1	+3.7
	UKIP	Brian Aylett	1,861	3.7	+1.4
	Green	Graham James Elliott	1,200	2.4	+0.3
Majority			5,915	11.9	−6.2
Turnout			49,653	64.4	+3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.1

General Election 2001: Waveney^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bob Blizzard	23,914	50.7	−5.3
	Conservative	Lee Scott	15,361	32.6	−1.9
	Liberal Democrat	David Andrew Young	5,370	11.4	+2.4
	UKIP	Bryan Aylett	1,097	2.3	N/A
	Green	Graham James Elliott	983	2.1	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Rupert Mallin	442	0.9	N/A
Majority			8,553	18.1	−3.4
Turnout			47,167	60.8	−13.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.7

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Waveney^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Bob Blizzard	31,486	56.0	+17.6
	Conservative	David John Porter	19,393	34.5	−13.7
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher Francis Thomas	5,054	9.0	−4.0
	Independent	Neil Henry Clark	318	0.6	N/A
Majority			12,093	21.5	N/A
Turnout			56,251	74.7	−7.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.6

General Election 1992: Waveney^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David John Porter	33,174	48.2	−0.2
	Labour	Ezra Charles Leverett	26,472	38.4	+8.4
	Liberal Democrat	Adrian Charles Rogers	8,925	13.0	−8.6
	Natural Law	David Hook	302	0.4	N/A
Majority			6,702	9.7	−8.6
Turnout			68,873	81.8	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.3

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Waveney^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	David John Porter	31,067	48.4	−3.4
	Labour	Jack Alan Lark	19,284	30.0	+2.6
	Social Democratic	David Beavan	13,845	21.6	+0.7
Majority			11,783	18.4	−6.0
Turnout			81,889	78.4	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.0

General Election 1983: Waveney^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Jim Prior	30,371	51.8	N/A
	Labour	Jack Alan Lark	16,073	27.4	N/A
	Social Democratic	Gillian Mary Artis	12,234	20.9	N/A
Majority			14,298	24.4	N/A
Turnout			77,960	75.3	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk

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.
3. and Lord President of the Council

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 2)
4. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
7. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
8. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
9. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
11. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 52°24′N 1°30′E / 52.4°N 1.5°E