Eye (UK Parliament constituency)

Eye
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
Major settlements	Eye
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Central Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal[1]
1571–1885
Number of members	Two until 1832, then one until 1885
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Eye was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election. The Reform Act 1832 reduced its representation to one MP, elected by the first past the post system.

The parliamentary borough of Eye was abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and replaced with a new county division of the same name, which lasted until 1983 when most of it became part of the Central Suffolk constituency. Its main claim to fame was that it was the smallest town to have a parliamentary constituency named after it as the town of Eye had only approximately 1500 voters in 1981. It had been a Liberal seat until 1950 after which it became a safe Conservative seat.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Eye, the Sessional Divisions of Framlingham, Hartismere, and Hoxne, and part of the Sessional Division of Blything.

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Eye, the Urban Districts of Halesworth, Leiston-cum-Sizewell, Saxmundham, and Stowmarket, the Rural Districts of East Stow, Hartismere, and Hoxne, and parts of the Rural Districts of Blything and Plomesgate.

1950-1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Aldeburgh and Eye, the Urban Districts of Leiston-cum-Sizewell, Saxmundham, and Stowmarket, the Rural Districts of Blyth, Gipping (the civil parishes of Akenham, Ashbocking, Ashfield-cum-Thorne, Badley, Barnham, Barking, Battisford, Baylham, Blakenham Magna, Blakenham Parva, Bramford, Bricett Magna, Buxhall, Claydon, Coddenham, Combs, Creeting St Mary, Creeting St Peter, Crowfield, Debenham, Finborough Magna, Finborough Parva, Flowton, Framsden, Gipping, Gosbeck, Harleston, Haughley, Helmingham, Hemingstone, Henley, Mickfield, Needham Market, Nettlestead, Offton, Old Newton, Onehouse, Pettaugh, Ringshall, Shelland, Somersham, Stonham Aspal, Stonham Earl, Stonham Parva, Stowupland, Wetherden, Whitton, Willisham, and Winston), and Hartismere, and in the Rural District of Deben the civil parishes of Blaxhall, Boulge, Bredfield, Burgh, Campsey Ash, Charsfield, Chillesford, Clopton, Cretingham, Dallinghoo, Dallinghoo Wield, Debach, Eyke, Gedgrave, Grundisburgh, Hoo, Iken, Letheringham, Monewden, Orford, Otley, Pettistree, Rendlesham, Sudbourne, Swilland, Tunstall, Ufford, Wantisden, Wickham Market, and Witnesham.

The Borough

Eye was once the smallest borough in the country, its claim based on the 1205 Charter of King John. The Charter was renewed in 1408, then many more times by successive monarchs. However, in 1885, the Town Clerk of Hythe proved that the original Charter belonged only to Hythe in Kent, the error having arisen from the similarity of the early English names. The error was confirmed by archivists in the 1950s, but borough status was not discontinued until 1974 after government reorganization when Eye became a parish but retained a Town Council, a Mayor and the insignia. From 1571 to 1832, Eye boasted two Members of Parliament. Following the Reform Act 1832, Eye's representation was reduced to one MP. The parliamentary borough of Eye was abolished in 1885, and replaced by a county constituency of the same name, covering a much wider area. This lasted until 1983, after which the Eye constituency became the Suffolk Central constituency.

Members of Parliament

Eye borough

MPs 1571–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1571	Richard Bedell	Charles Cutter [2]
1572	Charles Calthorpe	Charles Cutter [2]
1584	Bassingbourne Gawdy	George Brooke [2]
1586	Bartholemew Kemp	Thomas Bedingfield [2]
1588	Edward Grimston	Sir Edmund Bacon [2]
1593	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng	Philip Gawdy [2]
1597	Anthony Gawdy	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng [2]
1601	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng	Anthony Gawdy [2]
1604	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng	Sir Henry Bockenham
1614	Sir Robert Drury	Huntingdon Colby
1621–1622	Sir Roger North	Sir John Crompton
1624	Sir Henry Crofts	Francis Finch
1625	Francis Finch	Sir Roger North
1626	Francis Finch	Sir Roger North
1628	Francis Finch	Sir Roger North
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	Sir Frederick Cornwallis	Sir Roger North
1640 (Nov)	Sir Frederick Cornwallis	Sir Roger North
1645	Morris Barrow	Sir Roger North
1648	?
1653	Eye not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654	Eye not represented in 1st Protectorate Parliament
1655	Eye not represented in 2nd Protectorate Parliament
1659	Edward Dendy	Joseph Blisset

MPs 1660–1832

Election		First member [3]	First party		Second member [3]	Second party
1660		Charles Cornwallis			Sir George Reeve
1661		Charles Cornwallis, senior
1675		Sir Robert Reeve
1678					Sir Charles Gawdy
1679		Charles Fox			George Walsh
1681		Sir Charles Gawdy			Sir Robert Reeve
1685					Sir John Rous
1689		Thomas Knyvett	Tory		Henry Poley
1690		Thomas Davenant
1695					Charles Cornwallis	Whig
1697		Sir Joseph Jekyll	Whig
1698					Hon. Spencer Compton	Tory
1701						Whig
1710					Thomas Maynard
1713		Edward Hopkins
1715					Thomas Smith
March 1722					Hon. Spencer Compton	Whig
November 1722					James Cornwallis
1727		Stephen Cornwallis			John Cornwallis
1743		Edward Cornwallis
1747					Roger Townshend
1748					Nicholas Hardinge
1749		Courthorpe Clayton
1758					Henry Townshend
1760					Viscount Brome	Whig
March 1761		Henry Cornwallis
December 1761		Henry Townshend
1762		The Viscount Allen			Richard Burton [4]
1768					Hon. William Cornwallis
1770		Richard Burton Phillipson
1774					John St John
1780					Arnoldus Jones-Skelton
1782					Hon. William Cornwallis
1784					Peter Bathurst
1790					Hon. William Cornwallis [5]
1792		Peter Bathurst
1795		Viscount Brome	Tory
1796		Mark Singleton
1799		James Cornwallis	Tory
1806		Marquess of Huntly
January 1807					James Cornwallis	Tory
April 1807		Hon. Henry Wellesley
May 1807					Mark Singleton
1809		Charles Arbuthnot	Tory
1812		Sir William Garrow	Whig
1817		Sir Robert Gifford	Tory
1820					Sir Miles Nightingall	Tory
1824		Sir Edward Kerrison, Bt	Tory
1829					Sir Philip Sidney, Bt	Tory
1831					William Burge
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885

	Election	Member [3]	Party
	1832	Sir Edward Kerrison, Bt	Conservative
	1852	Edward Kerrison [6]	Conservative
	1866 by-election	Hon. George Barrington [7]	Conservative
	1880	Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett	Conservative
	1885	Borough abolished – name transferred to county division

Eye division of Suffolk

MPs 1885–1983

	Election	Member [3]	Party
	1885	Francis Seymour Stevenson	Liberal
	1906 by-election	Harold Pearson	Liberal
	1918	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	Liberal
	1923	The Lord Huntingfield	Conservative
	1929	Edgar Granville	Liberal
	1931		Liberal National
	1942		Independent
	1945		Liberal
	1951	Sir Harwood Harrison	Conservative
	1979	John Gummer	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished: see Suffolk Central

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

F.S. Stevenson

General Election 1885: Eye [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	5,356		n/a
	Conservative	BBH Rodwell	3,360		n/a
Majority			1,996		n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Liberal win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Eye [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,544
	Liberal Unionist	JC Reade	2,938
Majority			1,606
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

Lionel Holland

General Election 1892: Eye [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,701
	Conservative	Hon. Lionel Raleigh Holland	3,431
Majority			1,270
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Eye [11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,437
	Conservative	Francis J. Wootton Isaacson	3,603
Majority			834
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Eye [12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,664
	Conservative	Henry Devenish Harben	2,947
Majority			1,717
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1906: Eye [13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

Harold Pearson

Eye by-election, 1906 [14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Weetman Harold Miller Pearson	4,568
	Conservative	Marquess of Graham	4,371
Majority			197
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Eye [15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Weetman Harold Miller Pearson	4,991
	Conservative	Marquess of Graham	4,614
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Eye [16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Weetman Harold Miller Pearson	4,927
	Conservative	George Borwick	4,157
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1914/15:

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 from 1914 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Harold Pearson
• Unionist:

General Election 1918
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	10,072	61
	Unionist	Col. Frederick William French	6,362
Majority			3,710
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

• endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	10,556
	National Liberal	Stephen Gerald Howard	7,025
Majority			3,531
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Charles Arcedeckne Vanneck, Lord Huntingfield	11,172
	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	9,244
	Labour	Charles Wye Kendall	2,984		n/a
Majority			1,928
Turnout
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1924: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Charles Arcedeckne Vanneck, Lord Huntingfield	13,450	53.3
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Robert Bethell	7,441	29.5
	Labour	Charles Wye Kendall	4,329	17.2
Majority				23.8
Turnout			25,220
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1929: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edgar Louis Granville	13,944	44.2	+14.7
	Unionist	Arthur Gilstrap Soames	12,880	40.8	-12.5
	Labour	Owen Aves	4,709	14.9	-2.3
Majority			1,064	3.4	27.2
Turnout			31,533
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+13.6

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Edgar Louis Granville	unopposed
	Liberal National hold		Swing

General Election 1935: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Edgar Louis Granville	21,606
	Labour	H L Self	7,613
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal National hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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;

• Liberal: Edgar Granville
• Labour: H L Self
• British Union: Ronald N Creasy

General Election 1945: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edgar Louis Granville	11,899
	Conservative	Maj. Algernon Malcolm Borthwick	10,950
	Labour	B Collingson	8,089
Majority			949
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edgar Louis Granville	17,762	37.27
	Conservative	James Harwood Harrison	17,135	35.96
	Labour	LG Emsden	12,481	26.19
	Communist	Mrs Lee Chadwick	277	0.58
Majority			627	1.32
Turnout				83.82
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Harwood Harrison	19,791	40.61
	Liberal	Edgar Louis Granville	17,602	36.12
	Labour	Harold F Falconer	11,340	23.27
Majority			2,189	4.49
Turnout				83.28
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1955: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Harwood Harrison	21,317	45.04
	Labour	Edgar Louis Granville	20,428	43.16
	Liberal	Inga-Stina Robson	5,582	11.79
Majority			898	1.88
Turnout				82.90
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Eye
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Harwood Harrison	22,333	47.12
	Labour	Edgar Louis Granville	19,849	41.88
	Liberal	Inga-Stina Robson	5,215	11.0
Majority			2,484	5.24
Turnout			47,397	84.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir James Harwood Harrison	21,555	45.74
	Labour	John Wilson Fear	16,129	34.23
	Liberal	Donald James Newby	9,437	20.03
Majority			5,426	11.52
Turnout				82.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir James Harwood Harrison	21,044	44.65
	Labour	Richard WS Pryke	17,431	36.98
	Liberal	Donald James Newby	8,661	18.37
Majority			3,613	7.67
Turnout				81.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir James Harwood Harrison	26,099	52.41
	Labour	Roy Ellison Manley	17,735	35.62
	Liberal	Ian L Senior	5,962	11.97
Majority			8,364	16.80
Turnout				78.12
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir James Harwood Harrison	23,486	43.61
	Liberal	D Robinson	15,811	29.36
	Labour	Roy Ellison Manley	13,937	25.88
	People	Edward Goldsmith	395	0.73
	Independent Democratic Alliance	AA Kingham	220	0.41
Majority			7,675	14.25
Turnout				82.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir James Harwood Harrison	22,387	44.01
	Liberal	D Robinson	14,530	28.57
	Labour	R Bushby	13,948	27.42
Majority			7,857	15.45
Turnout				77.41
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Selwyn Gummer	28,707	51.96
	Labour	PE Koppell	13,686	24.77
	Liberal	P Kemsley	12,259	22.19
	Independent	JJ Flint	324	0.59
	Anti-Common Market Conservative	NH Rogers	268	0.49
Majority			15,021	27.19
Turnout				79.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk

References

1. "'Eye', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
2. "History of Parliament". History of Parliament. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 2)
4. Later adopted the surname Phillipson
5. Rear Admiral from 1793, Vice Admiral 1794, Admiral 1799
6. Succeeded as baronet, March 1853
7. Succeeded as The Viscount Barrington (in the Peerage of Ireland), February 1867
8. The Liberal year book, 1907
9. The Liberal year book, 1907
10. The Liberal year book, 1907
11. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
12. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
13. The Liberal year book, 1907
14. The Liberal year book, 1907
15. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
16. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916