Post by greenhert on Apr 2, 2020 19:42:55 GMT
Bury St Edmunds has existed as a parliamentary constituency since 1614, but its boundaries have varied widely over the intervening 406 years. From 1614 to 1885 it was represented by two MPs instead of one. It experienced a major boundary change in 1997 when it lost the Forest Heath district to a new West Suffolk constituency whilst taking in Stowmarket, Needham Market, and the surrounding villages from the Central Suffolk constituency (which subsequently became Central Suffolk & North Ipswich). It covers the Bury St Edmunds part of the West Suffolk district, formed from a merger of the Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury districts, and the western half of the Mid Suffolk district.
The current incarnation of Bury St Edmunds has existed since 1997 and comprises the town of Bury St Edmunds itself, named after the last king of the East Angles, the town of Stowmarket, which has excellent railway connections for a town of its size and was once home to a gun cotton factory, the small town of Needham Market, and picturesque East Anglian villages such as Woolpit. The eponymous town of Bury St Edmunds is clearly the largest town in the constituency, and being the seat of a diocese with a cathedral to boot is the closest thing Suffolk has to a city. It is also home to the only surviving Regency Theatre, the Theatre Royal, and despite being owned by the Greene King brewery is operated by the National Trust. Greene King, headquartered in Bury St Edmunds, is the largest British-owned brewery in the UK and owns thousands of pubs across the country; another major employer is British Sugar which also powers 110,000 homes nearby using sugar cane for fuel. The second largest town in this constituency is Stowmarket, once home to a gun cotton factory which exploded disastrously in 1871, and home to the Museum of East Anglian Life. It has excellent railway links for a town of only 20,000 people, with lines terminating as far afield as Norwich, London, Cambridge, and Ipswich. The nearby town of Needham Market, like many small towns in Suffolk, grew around the wool trade before the Industrial Revolution; it was the birthplace of Joseph Priestley, whose invention of carbonated water served as a key foundation for soft drinks two centuries later. Demographically it is a relatively average constituency, with Bury St Edmunds being considerably more affluent than Stowmarket, with consequently higher education levels, although its population is ageing noticeably. Its Brexit vote was surprisingly in line with the rest of the country, with Bury St Edmunds having voted Remain and Stowmarket and surrounding villages having decisively voted Leave.
Bury St Edmunds has been consistently Conservative since 1885 when its representation was reduced to one MP; when it had two MPs it was frequently fought over by two noble families: the FitzRoys (holders of the title Earl of Euston) on the Whig/Liberal side, and the Herveys (holders of the title Marquess of Bristol; this was long before their infamous decline in the late 20th century) on the Tory/Conservative side. One of its most notable MPs was Walter Guinness, who helped bring British Sugar to the constituency and was the son of Guinness brewery founder Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh; before 1964 almost all MPs for Bury St Edmunds were sons/nephews of MPs or peers. It is a very safe Conservative seat at present although in 1997 the Labour candidate, Mark Ereira-Guyer, missed out on becoming Bury St Edmunds' first ever Labour MP by just 368 votes to the Conservatives' David Ruffley, with Richard Spring (now Baron Spring) having moved to the new West Suffolk constituency. Mr Ereira-Guyer later became a Green Party councillor and was their candidate in 2010, achieving one of the better Green Party results that year. Labour have since fallen far behind and it has once more reverted to being a safe Conservative seat. Mr Ruffley stood down in 2015 following being cautioned over the assault of his former partner, whereupon the seat's current Conservative MP, Jo Churchill (not related to the famous Spencer-Churchill dynasty) succeeded him. The former St Edmundsbury part of the constituency is mostly Conservative locally apart from a Green councillor, a Labour councillor and a few Independent councillors. In the Mid Suffolk part of the constituency there have been Green councillors since 2003 (and also a lone Green councillor in Bury St Edmunds), which as of 2019 now stand at 11, mainly in the villages surrounding Stowmarket but also in Stowmarket itself. The Liberal Democrats have a stronghold in Needham Market but Labour, who once had a strong councillor base in Stowmarket, no longer has any councillors in Mid Suffolk at all and in Mid Suffolk rarely contests elections outside Stowmarket. With Labour no longer in a position to make a credible challenge to the Conservatives this growing Green support has translated into general election votes more than in most constituencies; former Time Team archaeologist Helen Geake (who lives in Woolpit and is a councillor for Elmswell & Woolpit) achieved the 4th best Green result in the country here in 2019, aided by the Liberal Democrats standing down for her as part of the "Unite to Remain" alliance, although she still finished 3rd behind Labour.
The current incarnation of Bury St Edmunds has existed since 1997 and comprises the town of Bury St Edmunds itself, named after the last king of the East Angles, the town of Stowmarket, which has excellent railway connections for a town of its size and was once home to a gun cotton factory, the small town of Needham Market, and picturesque East Anglian villages such as Woolpit. The eponymous town of Bury St Edmunds is clearly the largest town in the constituency, and being the seat of a diocese with a cathedral to boot is the closest thing Suffolk has to a city. It is also home to the only surviving Regency Theatre, the Theatre Royal, and despite being owned by the Greene King brewery is operated by the National Trust. Greene King, headquartered in Bury St Edmunds, is the largest British-owned brewery in the UK and owns thousands of pubs across the country; another major employer is British Sugar which also powers 110,000 homes nearby using sugar cane for fuel. The second largest town in this constituency is Stowmarket, once home to a gun cotton factory which exploded disastrously in 1871, and home to the Museum of East Anglian Life. It has excellent railway links for a town of only 20,000 people, with lines terminating as far afield as Norwich, London, Cambridge, and Ipswich. The nearby town of Needham Market, like many small towns in Suffolk, grew around the wool trade before the Industrial Revolution; it was the birthplace of Joseph Priestley, whose invention of carbonated water served as a key foundation for soft drinks two centuries later. Demographically it is a relatively average constituency, with Bury St Edmunds being considerably more affluent than Stowmarket, with consequently higher education levels, although its population is ageing noticeably. Its Brexit vote was surprisingly in line with the rest of the country, with Bury St Edmunds having voted Remain and Stowmarket and surrounding villages having decisively voted Leave.
Bury St Edmunds has been consistently Conservative since 1885 when its representation was reduced to one MP; when it had two MPs it was frequently fought over by two noble families: the FitzRoys (holders of the title Earl of Euston) on the Whig/Liberal side, and the Herveys (holders of the title Marquess of Bristol; this was long before their infamous decline in the late 20th century) on the Tory/Conservative side. One of its most notable MPs was Walter Guinness, who helped bring British Sugar to the constituency and was the son of Guinness brewery founder Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh; before 1964 almost all MPs for Bury St Edmunds were sons/nephews of MPs or peers. It is a very safe Conservative seat at present although in 1997 the Labour candidate, Mark Ereira-Guyer, missed out on becoming Bury St Edmunds' first ever Labour MP by just 368 votes to the Conservatives' David Ruffley, with Richard Spring (now Baron Spring) having moved to the new West Suffolk constituency. Mr Ereira-Guyer later became a Green Party councillor and was their candidate in 2010, achieving one of the better Green Party results that year. Labour have since fallen far behind and it has once more reverted to being a safe Conservative seat. Mr Ruffley stood down in 2015 following being cautioned over the assault of his former partner, whereupon the seat's current Conservative MP, Jo Churchill (not related to the famous Spencer-Churchill dynasty) succeeded him. The former St Edmundsbury part of the constituency is mostly Conservative locally apart from a Green councillor, a Labour councillor and a few Independent councillors. In the Mid Suffolk part of the constituency there have been Green councillors since 2003 (and also a lone Green councillor in Bury St Edmunds), which as of 2019 now stand at 11, mainly in the villages surrounding Stowmarket but also in Stowmarket itself. The Liberal Democrats have a stronghold in Needham Market but Labour, who once had a strong councillor base in Stowmarket, no longer has any councillors in Mid Suffolk at all and in Mid Suffolk rarely contests elections outside Stowmarket. With Labour no longer in a position to make a credible challenge to the Conservatives this growing Green support has translated into general election votes more than in most constituencies; former Time Team archaeologist Helen Geake (who lives in Woolpit and is a councillor for Elmswell & Woolpit) achieved the 4th best Green result in the country here in 2019, aided by the Liberal Democrats standing down for her as part of the "Unite to Remain" alliance, although she still finished 3rd behind Labour.
