Post by greenhert on Apr 10, 2020 20:10:20 GMT
The Waveney constituency was created in 1983 from the former Lowestoft constituency, and the actual town of Lowestoft still dominates the constituency. It was named after the old hundred of Waveney and council of the same name, which ceased to exist in 2019 when it merged with neighbouring Suffolk Coastal District Council to form a new East Suffolk District Council. Therefore at the next Boundary Review this constituency will likely revert to its old name of Lowestoft.
Lowestoft is an old fishing port and seaside town which like many on the east coast of Britain has fallen on hard times. Its old fishing and shipbuilding industries have largely disappeared, with the renewable energy sector and food processing sector creating some new jobs, but nonetheless unemployment in Lowestoft is twice the average for the East of England and social mobility is low. This is coupled to as much as 30% of the population having no qualifications (2011 census). The Waveney constituency also includes the towns of Beccles and Bungay, the latter of which once had an important paper mill.
Waveney is a safe Conservative seat although Labour were once competitive in good years for them. Notable "wet" and Cabinet Minister Jim Prior served as MP for Lowestoft/Waveney from 1959 to 1987. Bob Blizzard won the seat for Labour in 1997 and became the first Labour MP to represent the area since 1955, although like so many Labour MPs who won in the Blair landslide he lost his seat in 2010, to the Conservatives' Peter Aldous in his case. Mr Blizzard failed to recapture the seat from Mr Aldous in 2015, as the seat swung to the Conservatives by 1.6%. As with many old working-class seats this was a shape of things to come; in 2017 it was one of only seven seats where the Labour vote actually decreased and it saw a further pro-Conservative swing of almost 6.5%, although this is also attributable to its high Brexit vote not uncharacteristic of old fishing ports and seaside towns. In 2019 Mr Aldous achieved the highest Conservative majority ever in this seat, 18,002, whilst Labour's vote in Waveney that year was lower even than in 1983. The Green Party have built up a significant local base in this constituency and especially the town of Beccles, culminating in them saving their deposit here in 2019 and finishing ahead of the Liberal Democrats here for the third consecutive election.
Lowestoft is an old fishing port and seaside town which like many on the east coast of Britain has fallen on hard times. Its old fishing and shipbuilding industries have largely disappeared, with the renewable energy sector and food processing sector creating some new jobs, but nonetheless unemployment in Lowestoft is twice the average for the East of England and social mobility is low. This is coupled to as much as 30% of the population having no qualifications (2011 census). The Waveney constituency also includes the towns of Beccles and Bungay, the latter of which once had an important paper mill.
Waveney is a safe Conservative seat although Labour were once competitive in good years for them. Notable "wet" and Cabinet Minister Jim Prior served as MP for Lowestoft/Waveney from 1959 to 1987. Bob Blizzard won the seat for Labour in 1997 and became the first Labour MP to represent the area since 1955, although like so many Labour MPs who won in the Blair landslide he lost his seat in 2010, to the Conservatives' Peter Aldous in his case. Mr Blizzard failed to recapture the seat from Mr Aldous in 2015, as the seat swung to the Conservatives by 1.6%. As with many old working-class seats this was a shape of things to come; in 2017 it was one of only seven seats where the Labour vote actually decreased and it saw a further pro-Conservative swing of almost 6.5%, although this is also attributable to its high Brexit vote not uncharacteristic of old fishing ports and seaside towns. In 2019 Mr Aldous achieved the highest Conservative majority ever in this seat, 18,002, whilst Labour's vote in Waveney that year was lower even than in 1983. The Green Party have built up a significant local base in this constituency and especially the town of Beccles, culminating in them saving their deposit here in 2019 and finishing ahead of the Liberal Democrats here for the third consecutive election.
