South Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)

South Norfolk
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South Norfolk in Norfolk.
Location of Norfolk within England.
County	Norfolk
Electorate	77,316 (December 2010)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1868
Member of parliament	Richard Bacon (Conservative)
Number of members	One (Two 1868-1885)
Created from	East Norfolk West Norfolk
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	East of England

South Norfolk is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Richard Bacon, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

Following the Reform Act 1832 the historic county constituency Norfolk was for the first time split into two, two member, county divisions - East Norfolk and West Norfolk.

The Reform Act 1867 led, the following year, to the county's redistribution into three, two member, county divisions. The three divisions, from the United Kingdom general election, 1868 became this one, the North and modified Western division.

The Southern division had its place of election^{[n 3]} at Norwich. This was the same place of election as the abolished Eastern division. In 1868 the same two MPs who had sat for East Norfolk before its end were re-elected from this constituency.

Under the provisions of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, single member constituencies became the norm and greater equalisation in electorate occurred. 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 consisted of the Sessional Divisions of Depwade, Diss, Earsham, Loddon and Clavering, and Swainsthorpe. It bordered Mid Norfolk to the west, the borough constituency of Norwich and East Norfolk to the north, the borough of Great Yarmouth and the Suffolk constituency of Lowestoft to the east and another Suffolk division, Eye, to the south.

The Southern division was very agricultural in character. The largest town was Diss, which had a population of fewer than 4,000 people in 1900.

From the Representation of the People Act 1918, the constituency comprised the local government divisions:

1918-1950: The Urban District of Diss, the Rural Districts of Depwade, Forehoe, Henstead, and Wayland, and part of the Rural District of Thetford.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Thetford, the Urban Districts of Diss and Wymondham, and the Rural Districts of Depwade, Loddon, and Wayland. These areas combined to produce a somewhat more urban constituency than before.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Thetford, the Urban Districts of Diss and Wymondham, and the Rural Districts of Depwade, Forehoe and Henstead, Loddon, and Wayland. This was the last redistribution before a major reorganisation of local government, which amalgamated many of the smaller local authorities and which was reflected in the 1983 redistribution.

1983-1997: A further reduction of area meant that the seat now consisted of the entire District of South Norfolk. The other part of the 1974 seat (the Thetford and Wayland areas) was transferred to the redrawn South West Norfolk constituency.

1997-2010: Continuing population growth led to another reduction in the constituency's territory. It comprised the District of South Norfolk except the wards of Cringleford and Colney, and New Costessey (which were now in Norwich South).

2010-present: The Boundary Commission for England reduced the wide part of the District of South Norfolk comprising the constituency: eight wards became part of other seats. The seat now has electoral wards:

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.^[2]

Members of Parliament

MPs since 1885 (one seat)

Soames

Cozens-Hardy

Election		Member[3]	Party	Notes
	1885	Francis Taylor	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1898 by-election	Arthur Soames	Liberal
	1918	William Cozens-Hardy a	Liberal
	1919		Coalition Liberal
	1920 by-election	George Edwards	Labour
	1922	Thomas Hay	Conservative
	1923	George Edwards	Labour
	1924	James Christie	Conservative
	1945	Christopher Mayhew	Labour
	1950	Peter Baker b	Conservative	Expelled from Parliament 1954
	1955 by-election	John Hill	Conservative
	Feb 1974	John MacGregor	Conservative	Later Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market; Cabinet Minister 1985-1994
	2001	Richard Bacon	Conservative

Notes:-

• ^a Cozens-Hardy stood at the United Kingdom general election, 1918 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

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk

Notes and references

Notes

References

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 (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)

Coordinates: 52°30′N 1°24′E / 52.5°N 1.4°E / 52.5; 1.4