Lowestoft (UK Parliament constituency)

Lowestoft
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
Major settlements	Lowestoft
1885–1983
Seats	One
Created from	East Suffolk
Replaced by	Waveney and Great Yarmouth [1]

Lowestoft was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies proposes to re-establish the seat in its revised proposal. ^[2]

History

The Northern or Lowestoft Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Eastern Division of Suffolk. It became a county constituency from the 1950 general election and was abolished for the 1983 general election, being replaced by the county constituency of Waveney.

It was more often won by the Conservative Party than not, although its representatives include two from the Liberal Party and one from the Labour Party.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1885–1918

• The Borough of Southwold;
• The Sessional Divisions of Beccles, Bungay, Lothingland, and Mutford;
• Part of the Sessional Division of Blything; and
• The part of the Borough of Great Yarmouth in the county of Suffolk. ^[3]

As Great Yarmouth formed a separate Parliamentary Borough, only non-resident freeholders of the Borough were entitled to vote in this constituency.

Throughout its existence, the Lowestoft constituency covered the North-Eastern corner of Suffolk and, although encompassing some rural areas, drew the majority of its voters from the towns of Lowestoft, a resort and fishing port, and Beccles; it also included the smaller towns of Bungay and Southwold, with its brewing interests. Southwold is now in the Suffolk Coastal constituency.

The constituency established in 1885, which was formally named The Northern or Lowestoft Division of Suffolk (and was sometimes referred to simply as "Suffolk North"), also included the town of Halesworth and the rural areas in between.

1918–1950

• The Boroughs of Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southwold;
• The Urban Districts of Bungay and Oulton Broad;
• The Rural Districts of Mutford and Lothingland, and Wangford; and
• The Rural District of Blything parishes of Benacre, Covehithe, Easton Bavents, Frostenden, Henstead, Reydon, South Cove, and Wrentham. ^[4]

In the boundary changes of 1918, when the constituency became simply the "Lowestoft Division of East Suffolk" or EastSuffolk, Lowestoft, Halesworth was transferred to the neighbouring Eye division.

1950–1983

• The Boroughs of Beccles, Lowestoft, and Southwold;
• The Urban Districts of Bungay and Halesworth; and
• The Rural Districts of Lothingland and Wainford. ^[5]

At the 1950 general election, Halesworth was once more placed in the revised Lowestoft County Constituency, but it otherwise underwent only minor changes to reflect local government rationalisations. The boundaries were not altered in the boundary review implemented in 1974.

The constituency was revised in 1983 and renamed Waveney , as its new boundaries were now identical with those of the local government district of that name. The new constituency was very similar to the old Lowestoft one except a small area in the north, including Bradwell (comprising about 10,000 voters), which had been transferred from Suffolk to Norfolk as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and was now transferred to the county constituency of Great Yarmouth.

2023 Boundary review

Map of boundaries from 2024

Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the next general election, due by January 2025, the re-established constituency will be composed of the following wards of the District of East Suffolk (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

Beccles & Worlingham; Carlton & Whitton; Carlton Colville; Gunton & St. Margarets; Harbour & Normanston; Kessingland; Kirkley & Pakefield; Lothingland; Oulton Broad. ^[6]

The proposals will see the bulk of the existing Waveney seat, including Lowestoft, Somerleyton and Beccles in the re-established seat, whereas Bungay and The Saints will be transferred to the newly created constituency of Waveney Valley.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir Savile Crossley	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	Harry Foster	Conservative
	1900	Lt Colonel Francis Lucas	Conservative
	1906	Edward Beauchamp	Liberal
	1910 (January)	Harry Foster	Conservative
	1910 (December)	Sir Edward Beauchamp	Liberal
	1918		Coalition Liberal
	1922	Sir Gervais Rentoul	Conservative
	1934 by-election	Pierse Loftus	Conservative
	1945	Edward Evans	Labour
	1959	Jim Prior	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished, became Waveney
2024		constituency re-established

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Lowestoft ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Savile Crossley	4,324	53.6
	Conservative	Heneage Charles Bagot-Chester [9]	3,743	46.4
Majority			581	7.2
Turnout			8,067	73.6
Registered electors			10,956
	Liberal win (new seat)

General election 1886: Lowestoft ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Savile Crossley	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Lowestoft ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Foster	5,099	56.6	N/A
	Liberal	James Judd [10]	3,909	43.4	New
Majority			1,190	13.2	N/A
Turnout			9,008	76.2	N/A
Registered electors			11,827
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1895: Lowestoft ^{[11] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Foster	5,199	57.6	+1.0
	Liberal	Alfred Sington	3,820	42.4	−1.0
Majority			1,379	15.2	+2.0
Turnout			9,019	74.2	−2.0
Registered electors			12,153
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Lowestoft ^{[11] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Francis Lucas	5,077	60.3	+2.7
	Liberal	Adam Adams	3,348	39.7	−2.7
Majority			1,729	20.6	+5.4
Turnout			8,425	66.5	−7.7
Registered electors			12,678
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

Edward Beauchamp

General election 1906: Lowestoft ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Beauchamp	6,510	57.0	+17.3
	Conservative	Francis Lucas	4,905	43.0	−17.3
Majority			1,605	14.0	N/A
Turnout			11,415	81.5	+15.0
Registered electors			14,002
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+17.3

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Lowestoft ^{[12] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harry Foster	6,530	50.9	+7.9
	Liberal	Edward Beauchamp	6,294	49.1	−7.9
Majority			236	1.8	N/A
Turnout			12,824	85.0	+3.5
Registered electors			15,084
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.9

General election December 1910: Lowestoft ^{[12] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edward Beauchamp	6,248	51.1	+2.0
	Conservative	Harry Foster	5,983	48.9	−2.0
Majority			265	2.2	N/A
Turnout			12,231	81.1	−3.9
Registered electors			15,084
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.0

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 and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Edward Beauchamp
• Unionist:

General election 1918: Lowestoft ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Edward Beauchamp	Unopposed
	Liberal hold
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Lowestoft ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gervais Rentoul	14,154	57.0	New
	National Liberal	Brograve Beauchamp	6,205	24.9	N/A
	Labour	Robert Arthur Mellanby	4,511	18.1	New
Majority			7,949	32.1	N/A
Turnout			24,870	71.0	N/A
Registered electors			35,012
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Lowestoft ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gervais Rentoul	11,103	45.8	−11.2
	Liberal	Frederick Paterson	8,362	34.5	+9.6
	Labour	Robert Arthur Mellanby	4,788	19.7	+1.6
Majority			2,741	11.3	−19.8
Turnout			24,253	67.6	−3.4
Registered electors			35,881
	Unionist hold		Swing	−10.4

General election 1924: Lowestoft ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gervais Rentoul	13,422	50.6	+4.8
	Labour	Robert Arthur Mellanby	6,570	24.8	+5.1
	Liberal	Frederick Paterson	6,532	24.6	−9.9
Majority			6,852	25.8	+14.5
Turnout			26,524	73.0	+5.4
Registered electors			36,321
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.2

General election 1929: Lowestoft ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Gervais Rentoul	13,624	39.8	−10.8
	Liberal	Albert Edward Owen-Jones	10,707	31.3	+6.7
	Labour	Basil Hall	9,903	28.9	+4.1
Majority			2,917	8.5	−17.3
Turnout			34,234	84.8	+11.8
Registered electors			46,359
	Unionist hold		Swing	−8.8

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gervais Rentoul	22,886	67.8	+28.0
	Labour	E. J. C. Neep	10,894	32.2	+3.3
Majority			11,992	35.6	+27.1
Turnout			33,780
	Conservative hold		Swing

1934 Lowestoft by-election ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pierse Loftus	15,912	47.9	−19.9
	Labour	Reginald Sorensen	13,992	42.1	+9.8
	Liberal	William Smith	3,304	10.0	New
Majority			1,920	5.8	−29.8
Turnout			48,900	67.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	−14.9

General election 1935: Lowestoft ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pierse Loftus	21,064	61.21
	Labour	Frederick Wise	13,348	38.79
Majority			7,716	22.42
Turnout			34,412	69.00
	Conservative hold		Swing

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;

• Conservative: Pierse Loftus
• Labour: A D Belden
• Liberal:

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Evans	12,759	42.1	+3.3
	Conservative	Pierse Loftus	10,996	36.3	−24.9
	Liberal	Matthew P Crosse	6,545	21.6	New
Majority			1,763	5.8	N/A
Turnout			44,679	67.8	−1.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Evans	20,838	44.83
	Conservative	Philip Geoffrey Whitefoord	17,516	37.68
	Liberal	Ruth Crisp English	8,132	17.49
Majority			3,322	7.15
Turnout			55,456	83.83
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Evans	23,591	50.91
	Conservative	Alfred Henry Willetts	22,744	49.09
Majority			847	1.82
Turnout			56,582	81.89
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Evans	23,587	52.12
	Conservative	J T Griffiths	21,672	47.88
Majority			1,915	4.24
Turnout			56,850	79.61
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Prior	24,324	51.58
	Labour	Edward Evans	22,835	48.42
Majority			1,489	3.16	N/A
Turnout			49,653	64.4	-15.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	−3.1

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Prior	23,976	47.80
	Labour	Ronald Atkins	21,272	42.41
	Liberal	Charles Gordon A. Steele	4,911	9.79
Majority			2,704	5.39
Turnout			60,775	82.53
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Prior	24,063	46.03
	Labour	Michael D Cornish	23,705	45.34
	Liberal	David R Crome	4,513	8.63
Majority			358	0.69
Turnout			62,881	83.14
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Prior	28,842	50.69
	Labour	Douglas A Baker	23,319	40.98
	Liberal	David R Crome	4,737	8.33
Majority			5,523	9.71
Turnout			72,320	78.68
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Prior	26,157	40.89
	Labour	Douglas A Baker	22,553	35.26
	Liberal	P Hancock	15,261	23.86
Majority			3,604	5.63
Turnout			76,350	83.79
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Prior	25,510	42.43
	Labour	Douglas A Baker	23,448	39.00
	Liberal	P Hancock	11,165	18.57
Majority			2,062	3.43
Turnout			76,936	78.15
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jim Prior	33,376	50.46
	Labour	A Lark	25,555	38.63
	Liberal	Barrie Skelcher	6,783	10.25
	Ecology	T Pye	435	0.66	New
Majority			7,821	11.83
Turnout			82,733	79.95
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2020s

Next general election: Lowestoft

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Aldous
	Labour	Jessica Asato
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Robertson
Majority
Turnout
			Swing

References

1. "'Lowestoft', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. 2023 review Eastern Boundary Commission for England
3. Great Britain, Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales. The public general acts. unknown library. Proprietors of the Law Journal Reports, 1884.
4. Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the people act, 1918 : with explanatory notes. University of California Libraries. London : Sweet and Maxwell.
5. "Representation of the People Act, 1948". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
7. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
8. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
9. "The Northern or Lowestoft Division of the County of Suffolk" . Lowestoft Journal. 12 December 1885. p. 4. Retrieved 3 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
10. Wodehouse, John (1997). Hawkins, Angus; Powell, John (eds.). The Journal of John Wodehouse, First Earl of Kimberley for 1862-1902 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521623285.
11. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
12. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
13. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.

• Robert Waller, The Almanac of British Politics (1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983)
• Frederic A Youngs, jr, Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol I (London: Royal Historical Society, 1979)
• The Constitutional Year Book, 1913
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 4)

52°27′N1°41′E / 52.45°N 1.68°E / 52.45; 1.68