Norwich North (UK Parliament constituency)

Norwich North
Borough constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Norwich North in Norfolk
Location of Norfolk within England
County	Norfolk
Electorate	64,982 (December 2010) [1]
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of Parliament	Chloe Smith (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Norwich

Norwich North is a constituency ^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2009 by Conservative Chloe Smith. ^{[n 2]}

The constituency includes parts of two local government areas, Norwich and Broadland with the majority of the electorate in Broadland.

History

The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general election, when the former two-seat constituency of Norwich was divided into two single-member seats, Norwich North and Norwich South.

It was initially a safe seat for the Labour Party, held continuously by the party until 1983, when major boundary changes made the seat much more favourable to the Conservatives, ^[2] who then held the seat from 1983 to 1997. The Labour member from 1997 to 2009 was Ian Gibson, who resigned as an MP with immediate effect on 5 June 2009 after being implicated in the expenses scandal. A by-election was held to replace him on 23 July 2009, ^[3] which was won by the Conservative Chloe Smith. Chloe Smith has retained the seat in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections, achieving over 50% of the vote for the first time in 2019. Smith has announced her intention to stand down from Parliament at the 2024 general election. ^[4]

Boundaries and boundary changes

1950–1951

• The County Borough of Norwich wards of Catton, Coslany, Fye Bridge, Heigham, Hellesdon, Mousehold, Thorpe, and Westwick. ^[5]

1951–1974

• The County Borough of Norwich wards of Catton, Coslany, Fye Bridge, Heigham, Hellesdon, Mousehold, Thorpe, and Westwick; and
• The part of the civil parish of Thorpe-next-Norwich in the Rural District of Blofield and Flegg, and the part of the parish of Sprowston in the Rural District of St Faiths and Aylsham, added to the County Borough of Norwich by the Norwich Extension Act 1950. ^[6]

Minor expansion of boundaries under the provisions of Statutory Instrument 1951/325. ^[7]

1974–1983

• The County Borough of Norwich wards of Catton, Coslany, Crome, Heigham, Hellesdon, Mancroft, Mousehold, and Thorpe. ^[8]

Further to the Second Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies a redistribution of seats was enacted in 1970. However, in the case of the two Norwich constituencies, this was superseded before the February 1974 general election by the Parliamentary Constituencies (Norwich) Order 1973 which followed on from a revision of the County Borough of Norwich wards in 1971, resulting in a realignment of the boundary with Norwich South.

1983–1997

• The District of Broadland wards of Catton, Hellesdon North, Hellesdon South East, Hellesdon West, Sprowston Central, Sprowston East, Sprowston South, Sprowston West, Thorpe St Andrew North East, Thorpe St Andrew North West, and Thorpe St Andrew South; and

• The City of Norwich wards of Catton Grove, Coslany, Crome, Mile Cross, and Mousehold. ^[9]

Gained suburban areas now part of the District of Broadland, including Thorpe St Andrew from Yarmouth and Hellesdon and Sprowston from North Norfolk.  Southern areas transferred to Norwich South.

1997–2010

• The District of Broadland wards of Catton, Drayton, Hellesdon North, Hellesdon South East, Hellesdon West, Sprowston Central, Sprowston East, Sprowston South, Sprowston West, Taverham, Thorpe St Andrew North East, Thorpe St Andrew North West, and Thorpe St Andrew South; and
• The City of Norwich wards of Catton Grove, Coslany, Crome, Mile Cross, and Mousehold. ^[10]

District of Broadland wards of Drayton and Taverham transferred from Mid Norfolk.

2010–present

Map of current boundaries

• The District of Broadland wards of Hellesdon North West, Hellesdon South East, Old Catton and Sprowston West, Sprowston Central, Sprowston East, Thorpe St Andrew North West, and Thorpe St Andrew South East; and

• The City of Norwich wards of Catton Grove, Crome, Mile Cross, and Sewell. ^[11]

Drayton and Taverham were transferred back out, to the new constituency of Broadland. In Norwich, the part of the Crome ward around Morse Road moved to Norwich North, while the area around Mousehold Street in Thorpe Hamlet became part of Norwich South.

Following their review of parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk that concluded in 2007 and came into effect for the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England created a slightly modified Norwich North constituency. The changes were necessary to re-align the constituency boundaries with the new local government ward boundaries introduced in Broadland and Norwich and to take account of Norfolk being awarded an additional, ninth constituency by the Boundary Commission.

Proposed

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 constituency will be expanded slightly to regain Drayton (but not Taverham) from Broadland and the area around Mousehold Street from Norwich South. ^[12]

Members of Parliament

Election	Member [13]	Party
1950	John Paton		Labour
1964	George Wallace		Labour
February 1974	David Ennals		Labour
1983	Patrick Thompson		Conservative
1997	Ian Gibson		Labour
2009 by-election	Chloe Smith		Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Norwich North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charlotte Salomon [14]
	Green	Ben Price [15]
	Labour	Alice Macdonald [16]
	Reform UK	Nick Taylor [17]
Majority
Turnout

Nick Rose was selected as the Conservative candidate, but later resigned due to "controversial language" used. ^[18]

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Norwich North ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chloe Smith	23,397	50.5	+2.8
	Labour	Karen Davis	18,659	40.3	-6.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Thomas	2,663	5.8	+2.6
	Green	Adrian Holmes	1,078	2.3	+0.6
	UKIP	David Moreland	488	1.1	New
Majority			4,738	10.2	+9.1
Turnout			46,285	68.9	+0.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	+4.6

General election 2017: Norwich North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chloe Smith	21,900	47.7	+4.0
	Labour	Christopher Jones	21,393	46.6	+13.1
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Lanham	1,480	3.2	-1.1
	Green	Adrian Holmes [20]	782	1.7	-2.7
	Pirate	Liam Matthews	340	0.7	New
Majority			507	1.1	-9.1
Turnout			45,977	68.7	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	-4.6

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Norwich North

General election 2015: Norwich North ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chloe Smith	19,052	43.7	+3.1
	Labour	Jessica Asato	14,589	33.5	+2.1
	UKIP	Glenn Tingle	5,986	13.7	+9.3
	Green	Adrian Holmes	1,939	4.4	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	James Wright	1,894	4.3	-14.0
	Independent	Mick Hardy [22]	132	0.3	New
Majority			4,463	10.2	+1.0
Turnout			43,592	66.9	+1.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 2010: Norwich North ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chloe Smith	17,280	40.6	+10.1
	Labour Co-op	John Cook	13,379	31.4	+15.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Stephen	7,783	18.3	+2.2
	UKIP	Glenn Tingle	1,878	4.4	+2.1
	Green	Jess Goldfinch	1,245	2.9	−0.3
	BNP	Thomas Richardson	747	1.8	New
	Independent	Bill Holden	143	0.3	New
	Christian	Andrew Holland	118	0.3	New
Majority			3,901	9.2	N/A
Turnout			42,573	65.2	+4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+12.9

Elections in the 2000s

By-election 2009: Norwich North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Chloe Smith	13,591	39.5	+6.3
	Labour	Chris Ostrowski	6,243	18.2	−26.7
	Liberal Democrats	April Pond	4,803	14.0	−2.2
	UKIP	Glenn Tingle	4,068	11.8	+9.4
	Green	Rupert Read	3,350	9.7	+7.0
	Put an Honest Man into Parliament	Craig Murray	953	2.8	New
	BNP	Robert West	941	2.7	New
	Independent	Bill Holden	166	0.5	−0.2
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan Hope	144	0.4	New
	NOTA	Anne Fryatt	59	0.2	New
	Libertarian	Thomas Burridge	36	0.1	New
	Independent	Peter Baggs	23	0.1	New
Majority			7,348	21.3	N/A
Turnout			34,377	45.9 [24]	−15.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+16.5

General election 2005: Norwich North ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Gibson	21,097	44.9	−2.5
	Conservative	James Tumbridge	15,638	33.2	−1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Whitmore	7,616	16.2	+1.4
	Green	Adrian Holmes	1,252	2.7	+1.0
	UKIP	John Youles	1,122	2.4	+1.4
	Independent	Bill Holden	308	0.7	New
Majority			5,459	11.7	-1.1
Turnout			47,033	61.1	+2.0
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.6

General election 2001: Norwich North ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Gibson	21,624	47.4	−2.3
	Conservative	Kay Mason	15,761	34.6	+2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Moira Toye	6,750	14.8	+2.2
	Green	Rob Tinch	797	1.7	New
	UKIP	Guy Cheyney	471	1.0	New
	Independent	Michael Betts	211	0.5	New
Majority			5,863	12.8	-5.4
Turnout			45,614	59.1	−16.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.2

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Norwich North ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Gibson	27,346	49.7	+6.9
	Conservative	Robert Kinghorn	17,876	32.5	−10.8
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Young	6,951	12.6	−0.3
	Referendum	Tony Bailey-Smith	1,777	3.2	New
	Legalise Cannabis	Howard Marks	512	0.9	New
	Socialist Labour	James Hood	495	0.9	New
	Natural Law	Diana Mills	100	0.2	0.0
Majority			9,470	17.2	N/A
Turnout			55,057	75.9	−5.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.8

General election 1992: Norwich North ^{[28] [29] [30]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Thompson	22,419	43.3	−2.5
	Labour	Ian Gibson	22,153	42.8	+12.6
	Liberal Democrats	David Harrison	6,706	12.9	−11.1
	Green	Lou Betts	433	0.8	New
	Natural Law	R. Arnold	93	0.2	New
Majority			266	0.5	−15.1
Turnout			51,804	81.8	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−7.6

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Norwich North ^{[31] [32]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Thompson	22,772	45.8	+1.1
	Labour	Mary Honeyball	14,996	30.2	−2.2
	Liberal	Paul Nicholls	11,922	24.0	+1.4
Majority			7,776	15.6	+3.3
Turnout			49,690	79.2	+3.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.7

General election 1983: Norwich North ^{[33] [34]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Patrick Thompson	21,355	44.7
	Labour	David Ennals	15,476	32.4
	Liberal	Graham Jones	10,796	22.6
	Workers Revolutionary	F. Cairns	194	0.4
Majority			5,879	12.3
Turnout			47,821	76.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Note: This constituency underwent boundary changes after the 1979 election, so was notionally a Conservative-held seat. ^[35]

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: Norwich North ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Ennals	17,927	50.8	−5.2
	Conservative	P. H. Rippon	12,336	35.0	+7.7
	Liberal	P. Moore	4,253	12.1	−4.7
	Ecology	G. Hannah	334	1.0	New
	National Front	L. Goold	250	0.7	New
	Communist	A. Panes	106	0.3	New
	Workers Revolutionary	S. Colling	92	0.3	New
Majority			5,591	15.8	−12.9
Turnout			33,298	75.6	+4.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.5

General election October 1974: Norwich North ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Ennals	17,958	56.0	+7.4
	Conservative	T. P. Doe	8,754	27.3	−0.6
	Liberal	E. M. Wheeler	5,378	16.8	−5.3
Majority			9,204	28.7	+8.0
Turnout			32,090	71.2	−7.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.0

General election February 1974: Norwich North ^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Ennals	17,111	48.6	−10.1
	Conservative	T. P. Doe	9,817	27.9	−10.3
	Liberal	E. M. Wheeler	7,773	22.1	New
	National Front	G. Goold	544	1.5	New
Majority			7,294	20.7	−0.8
Turnout			35,245	78.9	+7.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.1

General election 1970: Norwich North ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Wallace	18,564	59.7	−5.9
	Conservative	Amédée Turner	11,868	38.2	+3.8
	Independent Progressive	C. C. Fairhead	658	2.1	New
Majority			6,696	21.5	−9.7
Turnout			31,090	71.3	−2.9
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.9

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Norwich North ^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Wallace	18,777	65.6	+4.7
	Conservative	Amédée Turner	9,851	34.4	−4.7
Majority			8,926	31.2	+9.4
Turnout			28,628	74.2	−0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.7

General election 1964: Norwich North ^[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Wallace	18,111	60.9	+0.7
	Conservative	Amédée Turner	11,620	39.1	−0.7
Majority			6,491	21.8	+1.4
Turnout			29,731	74.5	−2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.7

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Norwich North ^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Paton	19,092	60.2	−0.5
	Conservative	Dudley R Chance	12,609	39.8	+0.5
Majority			6,483	20.4	−1.0
Turnout			31,701	76.9	+1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1955: Norwich North ^{[43] [44]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Paton	18,682	60.7	−2.0
	Conservative	Thomas Eaton	12,087	39.3	+2.0
Majority			6,595	21.4	−4.0
Turnout			30,769	75.3	−8.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.0

General election 1951: Norwich North ^{[45] [46]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Paton	22,880	62.7	+3.5
	Conservative	Thomas Eaton	13,587	37.3	+13.8
Majority			9,293	25.4	−10.3
Turnout			36,467	84.1	−2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.2

General election 1950: Norwich North ^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Paton	21,898	59.2
	Conservative	V. R. Rees	8,704	23.5
	Liberal	Don Bennett	6,376	17.2
Majority			13,194	35.7
Turnout			36,978	86.2
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• 2009 Norwich North by-election
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk

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. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (2007). The Almanac of British Politics (8th ed.). UK: Routledge. p. 718. ISBN   978-0-415-37823-9.
3. "MP quitting to force by-election". BBC News. 5 June 2009.
4. "Ex-Cabinet minister Chloe Smith to stand down as MP at next election". Redditch Advertiser. 22 November 2022.
5. "Representation of the People Act, 1948". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
7. S., Craig, Fred W. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1885-1972;. Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN   0900178094. OCLC   539011.
8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Norwich) Order 1973". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
9. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1983". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
10. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
11. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
12. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule I Part 2 Eastern region.
13. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 3)
14. "Charlotte Salomon for Norwich North". Conservative Party (UK) . Retrieved 21 March 2024.
15. "Full list of all Green Party candidates at the next general election". Bright Green. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
16. "Labour selects Alice Macdonald as new Norwich North candidate". Norfolk Live. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
17. "Find My PPC (Eastern England)" (PDF). Reform UK . Retrieved 15 December 2023.
18. "Tory MP candidate resigns just THREE WEEKS after being selected". Eastern Daily Press. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
19. "Norwich North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
20. Grimmer, Dan. "UKIP announce they will not have Norwich general election candidates and urge supporters to 'lend' votes to Conservatives". Eastern Daily Press.
21. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. "Norwich_North_Statement_Notice_of_Poll.pdf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
23. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
24. Sparrow, Andrew (24 July 2009). "Norwich North byelection results – live". The Guardian. London.
25. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
26. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
27. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
28. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
29. Norwich North: Constituency, The Guardian
30. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
31. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
32. UK General Election results: June 1987
33. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
34. UK General Election results: June 1983
35. "Notional 1979 general election constituency results by county". Google Docs.
36. UK General Election results: May 1979
37. UK General Election results: October 1974
38. UK General Election results: February 1974
39. UK General Election results: 1970
40. UK General Election results: March 1966
41. UK General Election results: October 1964
42. UK General Election results: October 1959
43. UK General Election results: May 1955
44. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1955.
45. UK General Election results: October 1951
46. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
47. UK General Election results: February 1950

52°39′N1°18′E / 52.65°N 1.30°E / 52.65; 1.30