Suffolk Coastal (UK Parliament constituency)

Suffolk Coastal (sometimes known as Coastal Suffolk) is a parliamentary constituency in the county of Suffolk, England^{[n 1]} which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Thérèse Coffey, a Conservative Member of Parliament. She is formerly the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Health Secretary.^{[n 2]} The constituency is in the far East of England, and borders the North Sea.

Suffolk Coastal
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Suffolk Coastal in Suffolk
Location of Suffolk within England
County	Suffolk
Electorate	76,932 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Felixstowe
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Thérèse Coffey (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Sudbury & Woodbridge, and Eye^[2]

History

This East Anglian constituency was created for the 1983 general election from eastern parts of the abolished county constituencies of Eye, and Sudbury and Woodbridge, including the towns of Felixstowe and Woodbridge. Its initial boundaries were coterminous with the recently created District of Suffolk Coastal.

The current constituency area includes three former borough constituencies which sent their own MPs to Parliament until abolished as 'rotten boroughs' by the Great Reform Act, 1832 – Aldeburgh, Dunwich and Orford.

The seat was held from its creation until the 2010 election by the Conservative John Gummer who had previously represented the former seat of Eye from 1979. He was the Secretary of State for the Environment for four years during the Second Major ministry and before that was for four years the Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He stood down in 2010 and was elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Deben.

The current MP is the Conservative Thérèse Coffey,^[3] who is currently serving in the Sunak ministry as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She previously served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions between 2019 and 2022,^[4][5] and as the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care^[6] during the short-lived Truss ministry in 2022.

Constituency profile

The main town of the constituency is Felixstowe, which is a commercial port for imports and exports. The ONS considers Woodbridge to form part of the extended Ipswich Built-up Area.^[7] The seat includes the seaside destinations of Aldeburgh and Southwold.

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[8] Since its inception Suffolk Coastal has been a safe seat for the Conservative Party typical of more rural districts of East Anglia. In the 1997 Labour national landslide the Conservative candidate held on by a margin of a few thousand votes.

Boundaries and boundary changes

 

Map of current boundaries

1983–1997: The District of Suffolk Coastal.^[9]

1997–2010: The District of Suffolk Coastal wards of Aldeburgh, Alderton and Sutton, Bramfield and Cratfield, Buxlow, Felixstowe Central, Felixstowe East, Felixstowe North, Felixstowe South, Felixstowe South East, Felixstowe West, Hollesley, Kelsale, Kirton, Leiston, Martlesham, Melton, Nacton, Orford, Saxmundham, Snape, Trimleys, Tunstall, Ufford, Walberswick, Westleton, Woodbridge Centre, Woodbridge Farlingaye, Woodbridge Kyson, Woodbridge Riverside, Woodbridge Seckford, and Yoxford, and the District of Waveney wards of Blything, Halesworth, and Southwold.^[10]

Westernmost areas included in the new constituency of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. Extended northwards to include three wards from the District of Waveney, transferred from the constituency of Waveney.

2010–present: The District of Suffolk Coastal wards of Aldeburgh, Farlingaye, Felixstowe East, Felixstowe North, Felixstowe South, Felixstowe South East, Felixstowe West, Hollesley with Eyke, Kyson, Leiston, Martlesham, Melton and Ufford, Nacton, Orford and Tunstall, Peasenhall, Rendlesham, Riverside, Saxmundham, Seckford, Snape, Sutton, Trimleys with Kirton, Walberswick and Wenhaston, and Yoxford, and the District of Waveney wards of Blything, Halesworth, Southwold and Reydon, and Wrentham.^[11]

Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[12]	Party
	1983	John Gummer	Conservative
	2010	Therese Coffey	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Suffolk Coastal^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Therese Coffey	32,958	56.5	-1.6
	Labour	Cameron Matthews	12,425	21.3	-9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Julia Ewart	8,719	15.0	+8.0
	Green	Rachel Smith-Lyte	2,713	4.7	+1.6
	Independent	Tony Love	1,493	2.6	New
Majority			20,533	35.2	+7.6
Turnout			58,308	71.2	-2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.9

Tony Love was originally standing as the Brexit Party candidate for this constituency.^[14]

General election 2017: Suffolk Coastal^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Therese Coffey	33,713	58.1	+6.2
	Labour	Cameron Matthews	17,701	30.5	+12.5
	Liberal Democrats	James Sandbach	4,048	7.0	-1.6
	Green	Eamonn O'Nolan	1,802	3.1	-2.8
	Independent	Philip Young	810	1.4	New
Majority			16,012	27.6	-6.3
Turnout			58,074	73.2	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	-3.2

General election 2015: Suffolk Coastal^[16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Therese Coffey	28,855	51.9	+5.5
	Labour	Russell Whiting	10,013	18.0	+1.9
	UKIP	Daryll Pitcher	8,655	15.6	+9.9
	Liberal Democrats	James Sandbach	4,777	8.6	−21.2
	Green	Rachel Smith-Lyte	3,294	5.9	+3.9
Majority			18,842	33.9	+17.3
Turnout			55,594	70.6	−0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.8

General election 2010: Suffolk Coastal^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Therese Coffey	25,475	46.4	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Daisy Cooper	16,347	29.8	+7.7
	Labour	Adam Leeder	8,812	16.1	−10.1
	UKIP	Stephen Bush	3,156	5.7	+1.9
	Green	Rachel Fulcher	1,103	2.0	−1.3
Majority			9,128	16.6	−1.8
Turnout			54,893	71.2	+3.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Suffolk Coastal^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	23,415	44.6	+1.3
	Labour	David Rowe	13,730	26.1	−8.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Young	11,637	22.1	+3.9
	UKIP	Richard Curtis	2,020	3.8	+0.1
	Green	Paul Whitlow	1,755	3.3	New
Majority			9,685	18.5	+10.0
Turnout			52,557	67.9	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.0

General election 2001: Suffolk Coastal^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	21,847	43.3	+4.7
	Labour	Nigel Gardner	17,521	34.8	+2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Schur	9,192	18.2	−3.2
	UKIP	Michael Burn	1,847	3.7	New
Majority			4,326	8.5	+2.7
Turnout			50,407	65.6	−10.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Suffolk Coastal^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	21,696	38.6	−15.0
	Labour	Mark Campbell	18,442	32.8	+9.0
	Liberal Democrats	Alexandra Jones	12,036	21.4	−2.4
	Referendum	Stephen Caulfield	3,416	6.1	New
	Green	Anthony Slade	514	0.9	−0.6
	Natural Law	Felicity Kaplan	152	0.3	−0.1
Majority			3,254	5.8	−24.0
Turnout			56,256	75.8	−5.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.0

General election 1992: Suffolk Coastal^[22][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	34,680	53.6	−2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Monk	15,395	23.8	−6.0
	Labour	Terence Hodgson	13,508	20.9	+8.1
	Green	Anthony Slade	943	1.5	−0.3
	Natural Law	Felicity Kaplan	232	0.4	New
Majority			19,285	29.8	+3.9
Turnout			64,758	81.6	+3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.9

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Suffolk Coastal^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	32,834	55.7	−2.5
	SDP	Joan Miller	17,554	29.8	+0.7
	Labour	Susan Reeves	7,534	12.8	+0.2
	Green	James Holloway	1,049	1.8	New
Majority			15,280	25.9	-3.2
Turnout			58,971	77.9	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1983: Suffolk Coastal^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	31,240	58.2
	SDP	David Houseley	15,618	29.1
	Labour	Denis Ballantyne	6,780	12.6
Majority			15,622	29.1
Turnout			53,638	75.0
	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.

References

1. . 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. "'Suffolk Coastal', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
3. "Therese Coffey". United Kingdom Parliament. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
4. Proctor, Kate; Mason, Rowena (12 February 2020). "Cabinet reshuffle: expected winners and losers in Johnson's new order". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
5. "Cabinet reshuffle: Who is in Boris Johnson's new cabinet?". BBC News. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
6. "Liz Truss: New prime minister installs allies in key cabinet roles". BBC News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
7. "Built-up areas". Open Geography portalx. Office of National Statistics. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
8. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
10. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
11. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
13. "Suffolk Coastal Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
14. Geater, Paul (14 November 2019). "Who's standing in Suffolk in 2019 General Election? How you can take part". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
15. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "2015 Election Results". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
18. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
19. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
24. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Coordinates: 52°09′N 1°30′E / 52.15°N 1.50°E / 52.15; 1.50