South Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
South Norfolk is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. From 1868 until 1885 it returned two members but thereafter elected one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries and boundary changes

Following the Reform Act 1832
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

 the historic county of Norfolk was split into two, two member, county divisions - East Norfolk
East Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)
East Norfolk was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Norfolk. It returned two Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868. Another Eastern division was created in 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member...

 and West Norfolk
West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)
West Norfolk or Norfolk Western was a county constituency in the county of Norfolk, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.The constituency was created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general...

. The Reform Act 1867
Reform Act 1867
The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....

 provided for the county to be redistributed into three, two member, county divisions.

The three divisions, used for the United Kingdom general election, 1868
United Kingdom general election, 1868
The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...

 were this one, North Norfolk
North Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)
North Norfolk is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 and West Norfolk.

The Southern division had its place of election (where the husting
Husting
A husting originally referred to a physical platform from which representatives presented their views or cast votes before a parliamentary or other election body...

s stood, at which nominations were made, votes cast before the introduction of multiple polling districts in county constituencies and the result was declared) at Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

. This was the same place of election as the former Eastern division. In 1868 the same two MPs who had sat for East Norfolk before the dissolution were re-elected from this constituency.

Under the provisions of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

, single member constituencies became the norm. In Norfolk the three, two member, county divisions were changed to six single member seats. These were this constituency, a revived East Norfolk, Mid Norfolk, North Norfolk, North West Norfolk and South West Norfolk

In the 1885 redistribution this constituency bordered Mid Norfolk to the west, the borough constituency of Norwich
Norwich (UK Parliament constituency)
Norwich was a borough constituency which was represented in the House of Commons of England from 1298 to 1707, in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election...

 and East Norfolk to the north, the borough of Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (UK Parliament constituency)
Great Yarmouth is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

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

 to the east and another Suffolk division Eye
Eye (UK Parliament 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 by the bloc vote system of election...

 to the south.

The Southern division was very agricultural in character. The largest town was Diss
Diss
Diss is a town in Norfolk, England close to the border with the neighbouring East Anglian county of Suffolk.The town lies in the valley of the River Waveney, around a mere that covers . The mere is up to deep, although there is another of mud, making it one of the deepest natural inland lakes...

, which had a population of fewer than 4,000 people in 1900.

The then local government units, which comprised the constituency at redistributions from 1918, were as follows.

1918-1950: Diss Urban District
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

 and the Rural District
Rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...

s of Depwade, Forehoe, Henstead
Henstead
Henstead is near Kessingland and the A12 in Suffolk in England. It has a church called Church of St Mary which is a Grade I listed building.In 1771 the landscape artist, Thomas Hearne spent six weeks with the young George Beaumont in Henstead at the home of the latters tutor at Eton, Revd Charles...

, Wayland
Wayland, Norfolk
Wayland is an area in the district of Breckland within the English county of Norfolk. It is situated approximately 20 miles west of Norwich.The area is a historic Hundred, and was originally called Wanelunt, or Waneland...

 with part of Thetford
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...

.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

 of Thetford, the Urban Districts of Diss and Wymondham
Wymondham
Wymondham is a historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies 9.5 miles to the south west of the city of Norwich, on the A11 road to Thetford and London.- Before The Great Fire :...

 and the Rural Districts of Depwade, Loddon
Loddon, Norfolk
Loddon is a small market town about southeast of Norwich on the River Chet, a tributary of the River Yare within The Broads in Norfolk, England. The name "Loddon" is thought to mean muddy river in Celtic in reference to the Chet.-Origins:...

 and Wayland; combined to produce a somewhat more urban constituency than before.

1974-1983: The constituency was unchanged except for the addition of Forehoe and Henstead Rural District. This was the last redistribution before a major reorganisation of local government, which amalgamated many of the smaller local authorities.

1983-1997: The whole of the territory of the new seat had been part of the previous version. It consisted of the entire District of South Norfolk
South Norfolk
South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton.-History:The district was formed on April 1, 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of Diss Urban District, Wymondham Urban District, Depwade Rural District, Forehoe and Henstead...

. The other part of the old seat (the Thetford and Wayland areas) were transferred to the South West Norfolk constituency in the 1983 redistribution.

1997 redistribution: Continuing population growth led to a reduction in the size of the constituency. It now comprises all the wards of the District of South Norfolk except the Cringleford and Colney and New Costessey wards.

For the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England reduced the part of the District of South Norfolk comprising the constituency. Eight wards became part of other seats. The following twenty eight wards remained in this constituency:

Beck Vale, Bressingham and Burston, Brooke, Bunwell, Chedgrave and Thurton, Cringleford, Dickleburgh, Diss, Ditchingham and Broome, Earsham, Easton, Forncett, Gillingham, Harleston, Hempnall, Hethersett, Loddon, Mulbarton, Newton Flotman, Old Costessey, Poringland with the Framinghams, Rockland, Roydon, Scole, Stoke Holy Cross, Stratton, Tasburgh, and Thurlton.

MPs 1868 – 1885 (two seats)

Election|2nd Member2nd Party
1868
United Kingdom general election, 1868
The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...

Clare Sewell Read
Clare Sewell Read
Clare Sewell Read was a British agriculturist and Conservative politician.-Early life:He was born in 1826 in Ketteringham, Norfolk, and was the eldest son of George Read of Barton Bendish Hall, and his wife Sarah Anne, daughter of Clare Sewell...

Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Edward Howes
Edward Howes
Edward Howes was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1859 to 1871.Howes was the son of Rev. George Howes, rector of Spixworth, Norfolk, and his wife Elizabeth Fellowes, daughter of Robert Fellowes of Shotesham Park, Norwich.He was educated at St Paul's...

Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1871 Sir Robert Jacob Buxton, Bt
Sir Robert Buxton, 3rd Baronet
Sir Robert Jacob Buxton, 3rd Baronet was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1871 to 1885....

Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1880
United Kingdom general election, 1880
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

Robert Thornhagh Gurdon
Robert Gurdon, 1st Baron Cranworth
Robert Thornhagh Gurdon, 1st Baron Cranworth was a British Member of Parliament.Cranworth was the eldest son of Brampton Gurdon of Letton Hall in Norfolk and of Grundisbugh Hall in Suffolk. He was elected to the House of Commons for South Norfolk as a Liberal in 1880, a seat he held until 1885,...

Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1885
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

representation reduced to one member

MPs since 1885 (one seat)

ElectionMemberParty
1885
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

Francis Taylor
Francis Taylor (MP)
Francis Taylor was an English brewer and Liberal and Liberal Unionist politician.Taylor was the third son of Alfred Lombe Taylor of Diss, Norfolk. The Taylor family had property in Diss and had an interest in "Taylor and Dowson's" the brewers in the town...

Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1886 Liberal Unionist
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...

1898
South Norfolk by-election, 1898
The South Norfolk by-election, 1898 was a by-election held on 12 May 1898 for the British House of Commons constituency of South Norfolk.The election was triggered by the resignation on grounds of ill-health of the sitting Liberal Unionist Party former Liberal Member of Parliament , Francis...

Arthur Wellesley Soames
Arthur Wellesley Soames
Arthur Wellesley Soames was a British Liberal politician and architect.-Family and education:Soames was born in Brighton, the son of William Aldwin Soames. He was educated at Brighton College, the public school which his father had founded in 1845, and in 1871 he went up to Trinity College,...

Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1918
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

Hon. William Cozens-Hardy
William Cozens-Hardy, 2nd Baron Cozens-Hardy
William Hepburn Cozens-Hardy, 2nd Baron Cozens-Hardy was a British Liberal politician and lawyer.-Family:Cozens-Hardy was the eldest son of Herbert Cozens-Hardy, 1st Baron Cozens-Hardy and Maria Hepburn. Herbert Cozens-Hardy was a lawyer and Liberal Member of Parliament for North Norfolk from...

 a
Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

1919 Coalition Liberal
1920
South Norfolk by-election, 1920
The South Norfolk by-election, 1920 was a by-election held on 27 July 1920 for the British House of Commons constituency of South Norfolk.The by-election was triggered by the succession to the peerage of the serving Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament , William Cozens-Hardy.South Norfolk had...

George Edwards
George Edwards (British politician)
Sir George Edwards OBE was a trade unionist and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.- Life :...

Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

1922
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...

Thomas William Hay Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1923
United Kingdom general election, 1923
-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

George Edwards
George Edwards (British politician)
Sir George Edwards OBE was a trade unionist and Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.- Life :...

Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

1924
United Kingdom general election, 1924
- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...

James Archibald Christie
James Christie (UK politician)
James Archibald Christie was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament for South Norfolk from 1924 until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1945 general election....

Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1945
United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

Christopher Mayhew
Christopher Mayhew
Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to become a Liberal...

Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

1950
United Kingdom general election, 1950
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five...

Peter Baker
Peter Baker (UK politician)
Peter Arthur David Baker MC was a British Conservative politician and Member of Parliament . He was the last MP to be expelled from the House of Commons....

 b
Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

1955 by-election
South Norfolk by-election, 1955
The South Norfolk by-election, 1955 was a by-election held on 13th January 1955 for the British House of Commons constituency of South Norfolk....

John Hill
John Hill (UK politician)
John Edward Bernard Hill was a barrister, farmer, and British Conservative Party politician. He served as Member of Parliament for South Norfolk for 19 years, from 1955 to 1974. He was also one of the UK's first MEPs, serving from 1973-74.Hill was the only son of Captain Robert Hill, an officer...

Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

Feb 1974
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...

John MacGregor Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

2001
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...

Richard Bacon
Richard Bacon (politician)
Richard Michael Bacon is a British Conservative Party politician and the Member of Parliament for the South Norfolk constituency.-Early life:...

Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...



Notes:-
  • a Cozens-Hardy stood at the United Kingdom general election, 1918
    United Kingdom general election, 1918
    The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...

     as a Liberal without the Coalition "coupon", but he took the Coalition Liberal whip when Parliament assembled in 1919.
  • b Baker was expelled from the House of Commons in 1954 after being convicted of fraud, forgery and uttering and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1920s

Sources

  • Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
  • British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press, revised edition 1977)
  • British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1983)
  • Social Geography of British Elections 1885-1910. by Henry Pelling
    Henry Pelling
    Henry Mathison Pelling , was a British historian best known for his works on the history of the British Labour Party, including:*The Origins of the Labour Party and*A Short History of the Labour Party ....

    (Macmillan 1967)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885, edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume III 1919-1945, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1979)
  • Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume IV 1945-1979, edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1981)
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