Ipswich () is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

since July 2024 by Jack Abbott of the Labour Party.

History

The constituency was created as

Parliamentary Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

in the fourteenth century, returning two MPs to the

House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was re ...

until 1707, then to the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the Pa ...

until 1800, and from 1801 to the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

. The constituency's parliamentary representation was reduced to a single seat with one MP under the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 5. c. 64) was an act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The act extended the franchise in pa ...

. Prior to the

1983 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...

, when north-western areas were transferred to the Central Suffolk constituency, the Parliamentary and Municipal/County Boroughs were the same Before the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

, the franchise in Ipswich was in the hands of the

Ipswich Corporation Ipswich Corporation was the local authority which ran the town of Ipswich in Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1200 and abolished in 1974, being replaced by Ipswich Borough Council. The corporation's formal name until 1835 was the "bailiffs, bu ...

and the Freemen. Ipswich was seen as a partisan seat with active

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

(Tory inclined) and

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

(Whig inclined) factions dominating elections for both Parliament and the corporation and comparatively rare split tickets of one Whig and one Tory being returned to Parliament, although the identification of the local parties with national parties could at times be very blurred. In the mid eighteenth century the constituency had an electorate of around 700, which was a middle sized borough by the standards of the time – and a reputation of a borough that was likely to offer stiff opposition to government favoured candidates. Ipswich is a marginal seat, having changed hands eleven times since its creation as a single-member constituency in 1918. It has generally been favourable to Labour Party candidates, who succeeded at every postwar general election since the end of World War II except

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, February 1974,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. It was traditionally won by either party by fairly small margins; however, from 1997 until being gained by the Conservative Party in 2010, Labour won the contests with safer margins, and after the Conservatives increased their majority in 2015, Labour regained the seat in 2017 only to lose it again in 2019 when the Conservative candidate got more than half the votes cast when there were more than two candidates for the first time since 1918. This was turned around in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

when Labour won the seat once again with a healthy majority of 16.8% Ipswich was the only seat won by a Labour candidate at the 2017 general election from a total of seven seats in Suffolk, the others being retained by

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

and more rural in comparison to Ipswich. Martin's 2017 election victory was one of thirty net gains made by the Labour Party.

Constituency profile

The constituency includes Ipswich town centre and docks, with its mix of historic buildings and modern developments. Ipswich is a bustling town that serves as a centre for the rest of Suffolk which is predominantly rural and remote, and has the only serious concentration of Labour voters in the county, other than in

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

. Portman Road Football Ground to the West of the centre, and the new university to the East are both in the seat, as is the vast Chantry council estate to the South. Ipswich's Conservative-leaning suburbs, such as Castle Hill, Westerfield and Kesgrave, extend beyond the constituency's boundaries – the northernmost wards are in the Suffolk Central constituency, and several strong Conservative areas are just outside the borough's tightly drawn limits, making Ipswich a target seat for Labour.

Boundaries

The present-day constituency consists of most of the

Borough of Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, after Peterborough and Norwich. It is ...

, with the exception of the Castle Hill, Whitehouse and Whitton wards. 1918–1983: The

County Borough of Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, after Peterborough and Norwich. It is ...

. 1983–2010: The

wards of Bixley, Bridge, Chantry, Gainsborough, Priory Heath, Rushmere, St Clement's, St John's, St Margaret's, Sprites, Stoke Park, and Town. 2010–present: The Borough of Ipswich wards of Alexandra, Bixley, Bridge, Gainsborough, Gipping, Holywells, Priory Heath, Rushmere, St John's, St Margaret's, Sprites, Stoke Park, and Westgate. :''Following a revision of the Borough of Ipswich wards, the constituency gained a small area from Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.'' The

2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

left the boundaries unchanged.

Members of Parliament

Freemen belonging to the

were entitled to elect two burgesses to the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

from the fourteenth century which continued uninterrupted after the parliament united with Scotland and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, only becoming a single member constituency in

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

MPs 1386–1660

MPs 1660–1832

MPs 1832–1918

During the period between 1835 and 1842 there were five elections and all were found to have been corrupt. After the 1835 election, Dundas and Kelly were unseated on the charge of bribery. After the 1837 election, Tufnell was unseated on a scrutiny. Gibson, who was elected in 1838, resigned. Cochrane was elected in 1839, after which a petition was presented complaining of gross bribery – it was not progressed because a general election was expected. After the 1841 election, Wason and Rennie were unseated, being declared guilty of bribery by their agents.

MPs 1918–present

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Following the death of Jamie Cann on 15 October 2001, a by-election was held on 22 November 2001.

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Election in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

* Change of vote share and swing calculated from the December 1910 party ticket vote. 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; * Unionist: John Ganzoni * Liberal:

Daniel Ford Goddard Rt Hon. Sir Daniel Ford Goddard Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC JP (17 January 1850 – 6 May 1922) was a British civil engineer, businessman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United ...

* Independent Labour: Robert Jackson (not supported by Labour Party HQ)

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

* Caused by the 1885 election being declared void on account of bribery. * Caused by Cobbold's death.

Elections in the 1870s

* Caused by Cobbold's death.

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1840s

* Caused by the earlier by-election being declared void on petition, due to bribery by Cuffe's and Gladstone's agents, on 30 July 1842. * Caused by the general election result being declared void on petition, due to bribery by Wason's and Rennie's agents, on 25 April 1842

Elections in the 1830s

* Caused by Gibson's defection to the Whigs. * Tufnell was later unseated on petition, and Kelly was returned in his place * Caused by the 1835 election being declared void on petition

Elections in the 1820s

* After a successful electoral petition, Dundas and Mackinnon were declared elected. * Figures are shown pre and post scrutiny. After a successful electoral petition, Haldimand and Barrett-Lennard were declared elected.

Elections in the 1810s

* Figures are shown pre and post scrutiny.

Elections in the 1800s

* Caused by the death of Charles Crickitt

Elections in the 1790s

Elections in the 1780s

* By election called after the election of

John Cator John Cator (21 March 1728 – 26 February 1806) was an English timber merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1772 and 1793. He became a landowner and property developer with estates in later life in: Blackheath, Beckenh ...

was declared void

Elections in the 1770s

Elections in the 1760s

* Called when Vernon became a Commissioner for Trade and Plantations

Elections in the 1750s

* Called on the death of Samuel Kent * Called on the death of

Edward Vernon Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' E ...

* Unusually the Yellows supported in

an identifiable Tory and critic of the Whig government. The

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

meanwhile supported Samuel Kent and Richard Lloyd, both supporters of the Whig government. Although Lloyd would later withdraw before that point it had proved an expensive contest for Vernon.

Elections in the 1740s

Elections in the 1730s

* Called on death of

Francis Negus Francis Negus (1670 – 9 September 1732) of Dallinghoo, Suffolk, was an English Army officer, courtier and Whig politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1717 to 1732. He is the reputed inventor of the drink negus. Early life Negus is a N ...

* Called on William Thompson becoming a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

Elections in the 1720s

* By-election called on William Thompson being made a

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was ...

Elections in the 1710s

* By-election called on William Churchill winning a government contract for stationery and resigning his seat as an office of profit to the crown. Instead of seeking re-election he stood in favour of his son in law Francis Negus. * By-election called on William Thompson becoming

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

* Successfully overturned through an electoral petition and Richardson and Bridgeman installed as MPs.

Elections in the 1700s

* Called on the death of

Henry Poley Henry Poley (5 January 1654 – 7 August 1707) was an English people, English lawyer and Member of Parliament. He was the son of Sir Edmund Poley (1619–1671) who was MP for Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency), Bury St Edmunds, and bro ...

Elections in the 1690s

Elections in the 1680s

* Caused by

Peyton Ventris Sir Peyton Ventris (November 1645 – 6 April 1691) was an English judge and politician, the first surviving son of Edward Ventris (died 1649) of the manorialism, manor of Granhams (now Granhams Close), Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, although ...

becoming a

Justice of the Common Pleas Justice of the Common Pleas was a puisne judicial position within the Court of Common Pleas (England), Court of Common Pleas of England and Wales, under the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Chief Justice. The Common Pleas was the primary court o ...

Notes

References

External links

Ipswich UK Parliament constituency
(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 52.06, 1.16, type:adm2nd_dim:10000_region:GB-SFK, display=title Parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1295 Politics of Ipswich