Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency)

Bury St Edmunds
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.
Location of Suffolk within England.
County	Suffolk
Population	113,678 (2011 census)^[1]
Electorate	85,933 (December 2010)^[2]
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Jo Churchill (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1614–1918
Number of members	1614–1885: Two 1885–1918: One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

Bury St Edmunds is a constituency in Suffolk centred on the town of Bury St Edmunds that elects a Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The electorate has elected Conservative Party candidates at the general elections and two by-elections since the Liberal Party victory of 1880 however the Labour Party candidate came 368 votes short of winning it in 1997, less than 1% of the vote short.

In terms of election expenses and type of returning officer it has been a county constituency since 1918, before which it was a borough constituency that was created in 1614, returning two MPs to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and from 1800 to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Its representation was reduced to one seat under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885; it was extended and its type was switched under the Representation of the People Act 1918.

Boundaries

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Bury St Edmunds, the Urban District of Newmarket, the Rural Districts of Brandon, Mildenhall, and Thedwastre (the civil parishes of Ampton, Beyton, Bradfield Combust, Bradfield St Clare, Drinkstone, Felsham, Fornham St Genevieve, Fornham St Martin, Gedding, Great Barton, Great Livermere, Great Welnetham, Hessett, Little Welnetham, Pakenham, Rattlesden, Rougham, Rushbrooke, Stanningfield, Thurston, Timworth, Tostock, and Woolpit), and parts of the Rural Districts of Moulton and Thingoe.

1950-1983: The Municipal Borough of Bury St Edmunds, the Urban Districts of Haverhill and Newmarket, and the Rural Districts of Clare (the civil parishes of Barnardiston with Monks Risbridge, Cavendish, Clare, Cowlinge, Denston, Depden, Great Bradley, Great Thurlow, Great Wratting, Hawkedon, Hundon, Kedington, Lidgate, Little Bradley, Little Thurlow, Little Wratting, Ousden, Poslingford, Stansfield, Stoke-by-Clare, Stradishall, Wickhambrook, Withersfield, and Wixoe), Mildenhall, Thedwastre, and Thingoe.

1983-1997: The Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Abbeygate, Barningham, Barrow, Chevington, Eastgate, Fornham, Great Barton, Honington, Horringer, Ixworth, Northgate, Pakenham, Risby, Risbygate, Rougham, St Olave's, Sextons, Southgate, Stanton, Westgate, and Whelnetham, and the District of Forest Heath.

1997-2010: The Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Abbeygate, Eastgate, Fornham, Great Barton, Horringer Court, Northgate, Pakenham, Risbygate, Rougham, St Olave's, Sextons, Southgate, Westgate, and Whelnetham, and the District of Mid Suffolk wards of Badwell Ash, Elmswell, Gislingham, Haughley and Wetherden, Needham Market, Norton, Onehouse, Rattlesden, Rickinghall, Ringshall, Stowmarket Central, Stowmarket North, Stowmarket South, Stowupland, Thurston, Walsham-le-Willows, and Woolpit.

2010–present: The Borough of St Edmundsbury wards of Abbeygate, Eastgate, Fornham, Great Barton, Horringer and Whelnetham, Minden, Moreton Hall, Northgate, Pakenham, Risbygate, Rougham, St Olave's, Southgate, and Westgate, and the District of Mid Suffolk wards of Bacton and Old Newton, Badwell Ash, Elmswell and Norton, Gislingham, Haughley and Wetherden, Needham Market, Onehouse, Rattlesden, Rickinghall and Walsham, Ringshall, Stowmarket Central, Stowmarket North, Stowmarket South, Stowupland, Thurston and Hessett, and Woolpit.

The constituency contains the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Needham Market. Its boundaries do not match those of the borough of St Edmundsbury, which includes Haverhill (part of West Suffolk constituency), and excludes Stowmarket and Needham Market.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1614–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1614	Sir Thomas Jermyn	Sir Robert Crane, 1st Baronet
1621	Sir Thomas Jermyn	John Woodford
1624	Sir Thomas Jermyn	Anthony Crofts
1625	Sir Thomas Jermyn	Sir William Spring
1626	Sir Thomas Jermyn	Emanuel Gifford
1628	Sir Thomas Jermyn	Sir William Hervey
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 April	Sir Thomas Jermyn	John Godbolt
1640 November	Thomas Jermyn, disabled on 14 February 1644	Henry Jermyn, ennobled 6 Sep 1643 ^[3]
1645	Sir Thomas Barnardiston	Sir William Spring, excluded in Pride's Purge in 1648
1653	Bury St Edmunds not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654	Samuel Moody	John Clarke
1656	Samuel Moody	John Clarke
1659	John Clarke	Thomas Chaplin^[4]
1659 Restored Rump Parliament	Sir Thomas Barnardiston	Sir William Spring, 1st Baronet (died 1654)

MPs 1660–1885

Two Members

Year		First member^[5]	First party	Second member^[5]	Second party
1660^[6]		Sir Henry Crofts		Sir John Duncombe
1661		Sir Edmund Poley
1673		William Duncombe
1679		Sir Thomas Hervey		Thomas Jermyn
1685				William Crofts
1689				Sir Robert Davers, Bt
1690		Henry Goldwell
1694		John Hervey
1701		John Hervey		Sir Thomas Felton, Bt
1703		Sir Robert Davers, Bt^[7]
Dec. 1705		Aubrey Porter
1709				Joseph Weld
1712				Samuel Batteley
1713				Lord Hervey
1717		James Reynolds		Lord Hervey
1722		James Reynolds		Sir Jermyn Davers, Bt
1725		Lord Hervey		Sir Jermyn Davers, Bt
1727		Lord Hervey		Thomas Norton
1733		Thomas Hervey		Thomas Norton
1747		Felton Hervey^[8]		Viscount Petersham
1756				The Earl of Euston
1757				Hon. Augustus Hervey
1761		Hon. Charles Fitzroy		Hon. Augustus Hervey
1763				William Hervey
1768				Hon. Augustus Hervey
1774		Sir Charles Davers, Bt		Hon. Augustus Hervey
1775				Henry Seymour Conway	Whig
1784				Hon. George FitzRoy
1787				Lord Charles FitzRoy
1796				Lord Hervey
1802		Lord Charles FitzRoy		Lord Hervey
1803				The Lord Templetown
1812				Frederick Thomas Hervey Foster
1818		The Earl of Euston		Hon. Arthur Upton
1820		Lord John FitzRoy		Hon. Arthur Upton
1826		Earl Jermyn	Conservative	Earl of Euston
1831				Charles Augustus FitzRoy
1832				Lord Charles FitzRoy	Liberal
1847				Edward Bunbury	Liberal
1852				John Stuart	Conservative
Dec 1852 by-election				James Henry Porteous Oakes	Conservative
1857		Joseph Alfred Hardcastle	Liberal
1859 by-election				Lord Alfred Hervey	Conservative
1865				Edward Greene	Conservative
1874		Lord Francis Hervey	Conservative
1880		Joseph Alfred Hardcastle	Liberal
1885	representation reduced to one member

MPs since 1885

	Member^[5]^[9]	Party
1885	Lord Francis Hervey	Conservative
1892	Henry Arthur Cadogan, Viscount Chelsea	Conservative
1900	Sir Edward Greene, Bt.	Conservative
1906	Frederick William Fane Hervey	Conservative
1907 by-election	Walter Edward Guinness	Conservative
1931	Frank Heilgers	Conservative
1944 by-election	Lt-Col. Edgar Mayne Keatinge	Conservative
1945	Geoffrey Benedict Clifton-Brown	Conservative
1950	William Aitken	Conservative
1964	Eldon Griffiths	Conservative
1992	Richard Spring	Conservative
1997	David Ruffley	Conservative
2015	Jo Churchill	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Bury St Edmunds^[10]^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jo Churchill^[12]	31,815	53.6	+6.1
	Labour	William Edwards ^[13]	10,514	17.7	+1.1
	UKIP	John Howlett	8,739	14.7	+9.6
	Green	Helen Geake ^[14]	4,692	7.9	+3.6
	Liberal Democrat	David Chappell	3,581	6.0	-20.4
Majority			21,301	35.9	+6.1
Turnout			59,341	69.0	-0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.5

General Election 2010: Bury St Edmunds^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ruffley	27,899	47.5	+1.2
	Liberal Democrat	David Chappell	15,519	26.4	+6.7
	Labour	Kevin Hind	9,776	16.7	−10.7
	UKIP	John Howlett	3,003	5.1	+1.6
	Green	Mark Ereira-Guyer	2,521	4.3	+1.3
Majority			12,380	21.1	+2.2
Turnout			58,718	69.3	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.8

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ruffley	24,332	46.2	+2.7
	Labour	David Monaghan	14,402	27.4	−11.1
	Liberal Democrat	David Chappell	10,423	19.8	+5.9
	UKIP	John Howlett	1,859	3.5	+1.8
	Green	Graham Manning	1,603	3.0	N/A
Majority			9,930	18.9	+13.9
Turnout			52,619	66.1	+0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.9

General Election 2001: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ruffley	21,850	43.5	+5.1
	Labour	Mark Ereira-Guyer	19,347	38.5	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Williams	6,998	13.9	−4.3
	UKIP	John Howlett	831	1.7	N/A
	Independent	Michael Brundle	651	1.3	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Michael Benwell	580	1.2	N/A
Majority			2,503	5.0	+4.3
Turnout			50,257	66	−9.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Ruffley	21,290	38.3	−15.2
	Labour	Mark Ereira-Guyer	20,922	37.7	+14.1
	Liberal Democrat	David A. Cooper	10,102	18.2	−3.8
	Referendum	Ian C.H. McWhirter	2,939	5.3	N/A
	Natural Law	Ms. Joanna B. Lillis	272	0.5	−0.4
Majority			368	0.7	−29.3
Turnout			55,525	75.0	+0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.6

General Election 1992: Bury St Edmunds^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Richard Spring	33,554	53.5	−5.8
	Labour	Tommy Sheppard	14,767	23.6	+6.3
	Liberal Democrat	John B. Williams	13,814	22.0	−0.5
	Natural Law	Ms. Joanna B. Lillis	550	0.9	N/A
Majority			18,787	30.0	−7.8
Turnout			62,685	78.9	+4.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.1

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	33,672	59.3	+0.3
	Social Democratic	Reginald Harland	12,214	21.5	−6.9
	Labour	Christopher Louis Greene	9,841	17.3	+4.8
	Green	Ida Mary Julia Wakelam	1,057	1.9	N/A
Majority			21,458	37.8	−40.8
Turnout			76,619	74.1	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

General Election 1983: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	31,081	59.0	−2.0
	Social Democratic	Reginald Harland	14,959	28.4	N/A
	Labour	W. Mosczynski	6,666	12.7	−16.3
Majority			16,122	22.1	−5.7
Turnout			72,875	72.3	−4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	41,426	57.0	+6.6
	Labour	A. Gibson	21,167	29.0	−4.0
	Liberal	G. Jones	10,836	14.2	−2.4
Majority			20,259	27.8	+10.5
Turnout			95,621	76.3	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.3

General Election October 1974: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	32,179	50.4	+2.9
	Labour	J.K Stephenson	21,097	33.0	+4.3
	Liberal	G Jones	10,631	16.6	−7.2
Majority			11,082	17.3	−1.5
Turnout			87,321	73.2	−8.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.7

General Election February 1974: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	33,424	47.5	−14.2
	Labour	J.K Stephenson	20,171	28.7	0.0
	Liberal	B. Boulton	16,772	23.8	N/A
Majority			13,253	18.8	−3.6
Turnout			86,202	81.3	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.2

General Election 1970: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	36,688	61.2	+7.1
	Labour	Colin J.V. Seager	23,286	38.8	-7.1
Majority			13,402	22.4	+13.3
Turnout			77,665	77.2	−1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	27,782	54.6	+4.4
	Labour	Colin J.V. Seager	23,140	45.4	+5.2
Majority			4,462	9.1	-0.8
Turnout			64,609	78.8	-3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.8

General Election 1964: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	25,206	50.2	-8.6
	Labour	Noel James Insley	20,216	40.2	-1.1
	Liberal	Richard L. Afton	4,840	9.6	N/A
Majority			4,990	9.9	-7.6
Turnout			61,143	82.2	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-7.5

Bury St Edmunds by-election, 1964
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Eldon Wylie Griffiths	22,141
	Labour	Noel James Insley	19,682
	Liberal	Richard L. Afton	3,387
Majority			2,459
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Traven Aitken	26,730	58.8	+3.7
	Labour	Mrs. Alison Margaret A. Walter	18,768	41.3	-3.6
Majority			7,962	17.5	+7.2
Turnout			57,908	78.6	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.6

General Election 1955: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Traven Aitken	24,532	55.1	+0.7
	Labour	Neville Stanley	19,962	44.9	-0.7
Majority			4,570	10.3	+1.5
Turnout			56,854	78.3	-1.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

General Election 1951: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Traven Aitken	24,679	54.4	+5.1
	Labour	Neville Stanley	20,690	45.6	+5.3
Majority			3,989	8.8	-0.2
Turnout			56,851	79.8	-2.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.1

General Election 1950: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Traven Aitken	22,559	49.3	+0.6
	Labour	Miss Cecily Alicia McCall	18,430	40.3	+10.5
	Liberal	Henry William Sparham	4,780	10.4	-8.6
Majority			4,129	9.0	-9.9
Turnout			55,495	82.5	+14.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.9

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Bury St Edmunds ^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Geoffrey Benedict Clifton-Brown	15,013	48.7	-7.5
	Labour	Miss Cecily Alicia McCall	9,195	29.8	n/a
	Liberal	Harold Charles Drayton	5,863	19.0	n/a
	Common Wealth	Eric Cecil Gordon England	750	2.4	n/a
Majority			5,818	18.9	-6.5
Turnout			30,821	67.8	+17.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Following the death of Frank Heilgers on 16 January 1944 a by-election was held on 29 February 1944.

Bury St Edmunds by-election, 1944 ^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edgar Mayne Keatinge	11,705	56.2	n/a
	Independent Liberal	Margery Irene Corbett Ashby	9,121	43.8	n/a
Majority			2,584	12.4	n/a
Turnout			20,828	50.8	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Frederick Alexander Heilgers	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1931: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Frank Frederick Alexander Heilgers	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Bury St Edmunds
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Edward Guinness	16,462	54.2
	Liberal	Malcolm Douglas Lyon	11,344	37.4
	Labour	Percy Austins	2,490	8.2	n/a
Majority			5,118	16.9
Turnout			30,372	78.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

On Guinness's nomination as Minister of Agriculture a by-election in 1925 was required under the electoral law of the time, which he won.

Bury St Edmunds by-election, 1925
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Edward Guinness	14,700	62.8
	Liberal	George Nicholls	8,703	37.2
Majority			5,997	25.6
Turnout			23,420	74.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Bury St Edmunds ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Edward Guinness	16,073	63.0	n/a
	Liberal	John Adam Day	9,392	37.0	n/a
Majority			6,681	26.2	n/a
Turnout			25,533	82.0	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

The Unionist candidate Walter Edward Guinness was elected unopposed in the 1918, 1922 and the 1923 general elections, so there are no votes for these elections.

Notes and references

References

↑ "Bury St Edmunds: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
↑ "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ The parliamentary or constitutional history of England|||| being a faithful account of all the most remarkable transactions in Parliament, from the earliest times. Collected from the journals of both Houses, the records, ..., Volume 9
↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=I65pAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PT16
1 2 3 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)
↑ A double return was made, Thomas Chaplin and John Clarke were subsequently declared not duly elected.
↑ At the general election in May 1705, Davers was also returned for Suffolk, for which he chose to sit.
↑ Hon. Augustus John Hervey was also declared elected in April 1754, he and his uncle Felton having an equal number of votes. This election was declared void. At the subsequent by-election held on 9 Dec 1754, Felton Hervey was returned.
↑ "Bury St Edmunds 1660-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
↑ "Bury St Edmunds". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
↑ "Jo Churchill selected as Bury St Edmunds candidate for next election". ITN. 2014-11-05. Retrieved 2014-11-05.
↑ http://www.labour.org.uk/candidates
↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-29906498
↑ "UK > England > Eastern > Bury St Edmunds". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
↑ "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
1 2 F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
↑ British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, Craig, F. W. S.

Sources

Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Bury St Edmunds — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

Constituencies in the East of England (58)

Conservative (52)	Basildon and Billericay Bedford Braintree Brentwood and Ongar Broadland Broxbourne Bury St Edmunds Castle Point Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Chelmsford Colchester Epping Forest Great Yarmouth Harlow Harwich and North Essex Hemel Hempstead Hertford and Stortford Hertsmere Hitchin and Harpenden Huntingdon Ipswich Maldon Mid Bedfordshire Mid Norfolk North East Bedfordshire North East Cambridgeshire North East Hertfordshire North West Cambridgeshire North West Norfolk Norwich North Peterborough Rayleigh and Wickford Rochford and Southend East Saffron Walden St Albans South Basildon and East Thurrock South Cambridgeshire South East Cambridgeshire Southend West South Norfolk South Suffolk South West Bedfordshire South West Hertfordshire South West Norfolk Stevenage Suffolk Coastal Thurrock Watford Waveney Welwyn Hatfield West Suffolk Witham

Labour (4)	Cambridge Luton North Luton South Norwich South

Liberal Democrats (1)	North Norfolk

UK Independence Party (1)	Clacton

East of England European constituency: Conservative (3) Labour (1) UKIP (3)

Coordinates: 52°15′N 0°54′E / 52.25°N 0.90°E / 52.25; 0.90

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