Central Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)

Central Suffolk
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
CountySuffolk
1983–1997
SeatsOne
Created fromEye, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds[1]
Replaced byCentral Suffolk & North Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds

Central Suffolk was a county constituency in the county of Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, primarily from the abolished county constituency of Eye, including the town of Stowmarket. It also included four wards from the north-western part of the Borough of Ipswich, transferred from the borough constituency thereof, and a small rural area to the west, equivalent to the former Rural District of Thedwastre, transferred from Bury St Edmunds.

It was in turn replaced by the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency for the 1997 general election with a substantial area of the constituency, including Stowmarket, joining a reconfigured Bury St Edmunds constituency.

Boundaries

  • The District of Mid Suffolk; and
  • The Borough of Ipswich wards of Broom Hill, Castle Hill, Whitehouse, and Whitton.[2]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[3] Party
1983 Michael Lord Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
and Bury St Edmunds

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Suffolk Central[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Lord 30,096 53.5
Liberal Nicholas Baldwin 15,365 27.3
Labour Diana Sierakowski 10,828 19.2
Majority 14,731 26.2
Turnout 56,289 74.4
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1987: Suffolk Central[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Lord 32,422 53.7 +0.2
Liberal Thomas Dale 16,132 26.7 −0.6
Labour Mark Walker 11,817 19.6 +0.4
Majority 16,290 27.0 +0.8
Turnout 60,371 76.2 +1.8
Conservative hold Swing +0.4

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Suffolk Central[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Lord 32,917 49.6 −4.1
Liberal Democrats Lesley Henniker-Major 16,886 25.4 −1.3
Labour John Harris 15,615 23.5 +3.9
Green John Matthissen 800 1.2 New
Natural Law Julie Wilmot 190 0.3 New
Majority 16,031 24.1 −2.9
Turnout 66,408 80.3 +4.1
Conservative hold Swing −1.4

Notes and references

  1. ^ "'Suffolk Central', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. ^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
  4. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.