|
|
Post by greenhert on May 4, 2020 12:01:01 GMT
Suffolk Coastal was created in 1983 from the eastern part of the Eye constituency and the "Woodbridge" part of Sudbury & Woodbridge. It comprises most of what was Suffolk Coastal and the southern parts of the former Waveney district; all of this constituency is now in East Suffolk, formed from a merger of Suffolk Coastal and Waveney councils last year. It underwent a significant boundary change in 1997 when the area around Kesgrave was lost to Central Suffolk & North Ipswich.
Suffolk Coastal comprises a large part of the coast of Suffolk, hence the name. Its largest town is Felixstowe, the largest container port in the United Kingdom and was the site of the first pirate radio station in the UK. Other notable settlements include Woodbridge, which has been a key boat-building town since mediaeval times and contains one of only two working tide mills today, as well as two of a minority of surviving windmills; Leiston, once home to the Garrett & Sons steam engine plant and now dominated by the Sizewell nuclear plant nearby, and the well-heeled seaside resort of Aldeburgh, which was also the first town to elect a woman mayor in England, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, who was also the first woman in England to qualify as a surgeon. Qualification levels are only average in Suffolk Coastal, partly due to its older population, but outright owner-occupiership is high at 43.4%, and little council housing exists in the constituency. There are significant numbers of people with level 1/level 2 qualifications and apprenticeship qualifications around the port of Felixstowe and in Saxmundham and Leiston near Sizewell, and the north of the constituency is older and better qualified than the south of the constituency.
Suffolk Coastal has been Conservative since its creation but it is not overwhelmingly safe. Its first MP was (John) Selwyn Gummer, who moved from the Eye constituency even though his old seat was mainly in Central Suffolk (he also represented Lewisham West from 1970 to February 1974). Whilst Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Food he notably fed his own daughter a beefburger in front of press cameras at the height of the mad cow disease (BSE/Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) epidemic, and despite this served as Environment Secretary from 1993 to 1997. In 1997 and 2001 Mr Gummer (as he was then) held on mainly due to split opposition from Labour and the Liberal Democrats vis-a-vis Tim Yeo in neighbouring South Suffolk. He retired in 2010 and subsequently became Baron Deben; Therese Coffey succeeded him as Conservative MP for this seat; she is currently Work & Pensions Secretary. Locally, Labour's main base of support is in Felixstowe although because of the steam works Labour did regularly elect councillors in Leiston, which also had an unusually strong Communist vote in the days when Leiston was an urban district (before the Local Government Act 1972). Elsewhere it is mainly Conservative although the Green Party is increasingly competitive.
|
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on May 4, 2020 12:15:35 GMT
Trendy Southwold is surely worth a mention. And the RSPB sanctuary at Minsmere. And of course the famous mediaeval port of Dunwich, now lost to the waves....And Benjamin Britten and the Aldeburgh festival.
I was toying with doing this one next.
|
|
iang
Lib Dem
Posts: 1,517
|
Post by iang on May 4, 2020 14:17:55 GMT
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the sister of the Suffragist Milicent (Garrett) Fawcett. Sadly not related as far as I know, though my eldest daughter did a project on them at primary school. Dunwich was a particularly notorious rotten borough pre 1832. Eye has quite an interesting history as a seat, with a massive swing in the contest for 2nd place between 1951 to 1955, caused by the Liberal candidate (and former MP) Edgar Granville switching to Labour
|
|
|
|
Post by Pete Whitehead on May 4, 2020 17:59:49 GMT
Yeah. I've given up on these tbh
|
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on May 4, 2020 18:28:38 GMT
I know central Suffolk quite well, and could perhaps have done a better job on these two seats. But I know absolutely nothing about Felixstowe, which is the largest component of this seat, nor of Ipswich, which accounts for a good bit of the Central seat, which is why I said I was unsure about taking them on when I posted yesterday. But greenhert hasn’t provided anything more about the urban bits than can be gleaned from the census statistics, and probably less than can be gleaned from LEAP about local politics. |
|
|
|
Post by greenhert on May 4, 2020 18:30:19 GMT
Where is the Green Party increasingly competitive? Certainly not in the constituency as a whole. They won Melton last year and there was a near-miss in Halesworth & Blything; they have done relatively well elsewhere in the constituency in East Suffolk's inaugural election of 2019. |
|
|
|
Post by owainsutton on May 5, 2020 11:20:37 GMT
Woodbridge is my hometown, parents are still there.
Overall, Suffolk is a quiet (comparative) success story for the Green Party, but mainly in other parts of the county rather than here.
|
|
|
|
Post by owainsutton on May 5, 2020 11:22:36 GMT
Felixstowe, like Immingham, is a port outside the National Docks Labour Scheme. It may be connected to that that the town is less Labour than it might be otherwise, although it does have its share of Labour voters. The town isn't dominated by the docks in the way some harbour towns are (I don't know Immingham so can't comment on that one). The 'seaside resort'/retiree demographic will be a large influence in that lower Labour support. |
|
|
|
Post by pragmaticidealist on May 12, 2020 9:14:16 GMT
Felixstowe, like Immingham, is a port outside the National Docks Labour Scheme. It may be connected to that that the town is less Labour than it might be otherwise, although it does have its share of Labour voters. The town isn't dominated by the docks in the way some harbour towns are (I don't know Immingham so can't comment on that one). The 'seaside resort'/retiree demographic will be a large influence in that lower Labour support. My grandparents lived in a pretty well-to-do area in what is now Felixstowe East ward - average age well over 60 according to Electoral Calculus. Both firm Tory voters. |
|
|
|
Post by owainsutton on May 12, 2020 19:41:20 GMT
The town isn't dominated by the docks in the way some harbour towns are (I don't know Immingham so can't comment on that one). The 'seaside resort'/retiree demographic will be a large influence in that lower Labour support. My grandparents lived in a pretty well-to-do area in what is now Felixstowe East ward - average age well over 60 according to Electoral Calculus. Both firm Tory voters. Prior to the 1960s, I suppose Felixstowe as a town didn't have so much difference from the aforementioned Aldeburgh and Southwold. Seaside guest houses, fine golf course, pier, everything you could ask for. Aldeburgh had a similar rail service to Felixstowe until Beeching, too. It was only with the emergence of container shipping that Felixstowe became an important port, more suited to the larger ships than traditional harbours were. |
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on May 17, 2020 11:20:17 GMT
I had started to prepare a profile for this seat when greenhert posted his. After leaving it for some weeks I have decided to complete it. My style is very different from his, and no doubt some will prefer his, but it does make for an interesting contrast, since I have done this entirely without reference to his, having read it only when originally posted. I will also be posting an alternative profile for Central Suffolk today or tomorrow, and that will probably be the last I do, as I have no good personal knowledge of anywhere else. |
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on May 17, 2020 11:31:13 GMT
The name of this seat describes exactly where it is, although the district council it was named after has now merged with Waveney into the new East Suffolk District. It contains a long strip of some of the most interesting coast in the country. Starting from the north there is Southwold, home to Adnams brewery and many second home owners. It is a charming little town at the mouth of the river Blyth with a small port. Down the coast is what was once the main mediaeval port in East Anglia, Dunwich, whose harbour was swept away in a great storm in the 1280s. Subsequent erosion over centuries of the soft Pliocene cliffs on this stretch of the coast have disappeared the town completely under the waves. Next comes the small and rather workaday town of Leiston, which is quite working class with substantial council housing. It is particularly good for nuclear power enthusiasts who like birds, as the RSBP Minsmere reserve sits on its sand dunes and marshes to the north, and the Sizewell nuclear power complex to the south. Inland is the slightly larger and better off town of Saxmundham, whose best feature is its name. Next comes Aldeburgh, famous for its music festival founded by composer Benjamin Britten who lived here. Longshore drift along the Suffolk coast has cut off the river Alde from the sea, and created the long gravel spit of Orford Ness, a National Trust nature reserve with some interesting wartime relics. The spit extends southwards a long way, also blocking off the coastal village of Orford from the sea. Altogether this coastal and holiday section accounts for a third of the seat, and is generally Conservative except for Leiston where there is a significant minority Labour vote, and Saxmundham where the Liberal Democrats are competitive. At the elections for the new council in 2019 the Liberal Democrats improved their position, winning easily in Southwold, and the Greens achieved some second places. Inland on the river Deben is a small urban section around Melton and Woodbridge, formerly the location of the District council. This area has a population of around 10,000. The town is socially quite split, with the area alongside the river being very middle-class with over 50% managerial occupations, while inland is much more working class, lower qualifications and quite a lot of council housing in the west of the town. Across the river is the famous archaeological site of Sutton Hoo, its spectacular boat burial and gold ornaments thought to be that of King Raedwald of the East Anglians - at the time the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Liberal Democrats have formed the main opposition to the Conservatives in the town, winning one of the old small wards, and one of the seats in 2019. The Greens picked up the semi-rural Melton ward to the north of the main town. There is another rural area inland to the south of the Deben between Woodbridge and Felixstowe, which has a similar population. The villages here are quite up market, heavily owner-occupied, and providing many commuters to Ipswich. Altogether this south-western part of the seat accounts for just over a third of voters. Lastly in the south, with just over a quarter of the seat is the port of Felixstowe - the main urban component of the seat. It sits on the headland at the mouth of the Stour & Orwell estuaries, opposite to Harwich, and while the latter is the ferry port, Felixstowe is one of the largest commercial ports in the country, full of giant container ships, although threatened by the new London Gateway port on the Thames, which has better communication links. Felixstowe provides some variation as inland it is really quite working class, with the highest proportion of routine workers, the lowest with degrees, and over a quarter of households in social rented housing. The east of the town along the coast is a major contrast with smart suburban owner-occupied housing. This contrast is reflected in local voting patterns, with Labour having their only councillor in this constituency in West Felixstowe. Nationally this seat is safe for the Conservatives and always has been, since its creation in 1983. The demographic data given below show that despite the interior variety, overall the constituency is very average, apart from a high proportion of over 65s, typical of coastal seats. The opposition is fairly evenly split between Labour and Liberal Democrat, with the latter’s local strength not translating into national votes, as is so often the case. In 2010 Liverpudlian Therese Coffey replaced former cabinet minister John Gummer as the MP, defeating the Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper, who would go on to be MP for St Albans. Coffey is currently cabinet minister for DEFRA after a very brief stint as Deputy Leader. The seat is oversized, and needs to lose voters. The Boundary Commission originally proposed moving out the small town of Halesworth and surrounding villages in the north of the seat, and replacing it with the small town of Wickham Market. Following consultation this has been partially reversed, with the seat now just losing Halesworth, and aligning to new ward boundaries. This will make no political difference. Census data: owner-occupied 71% (176/573 in England & Wales), private rented 14% (304th), social rented 13% (384th). :White 97%, Black 0%, South Asian 1%, Mixed 1%, Other 1% : Managerial & professional 35% (285th), Routine & Semi-routine 29% (321st) : Degree level 27%(252nd), Minimal qualifications 37%(285th) : Students 1.9% (562nd), Over 65: 25% (11th)
| 2010 | % | 2015 | % | 2017 | % | 2019 | % | Conservative | 25,475 | 46.4% | 28,855 | 51.9% | 33,713 | 58.1% | 32,958 | 56.5% | Labour | 8,812 | 16.1% | 10,013 | 18.0% | 17,701 | 30.5% | 12,425 | 21.3% | Liberal Democrat | 16,347 | 29.8% | 4,777 | 8.6% | 4,048 | 7.0% | 8,719 | 15.0% | UKIP | 3,156 | 5.7% | 8,655 | 15.6% | | | |
| Green | 1,103 | 2.0% | 3,294 | 5.9% | 1,802 | 3.1% | 2,713 | 4.7% | Others |
| | | | 810 | 1.4% | 1,493 | 2.6% | Majority | 9,128 | 16.6% | 18,842 | 33.9% | 16,012 | 27.6% | 20,533 | 35.2% |
|
|
|
|
Post by John Chanin on May 17, 2020 11:33:22 GMT
One further comment. I had to look up Therese Coffey as I couldn't remember who the MP was, and was totally amazed to find out she was a cabinet minister. It may reflect more on me, but I had never heard of her. And as Minister for Work and Pensions she ought to have a high profile in the current crisis, but if she has been seen at all, I must have missed it.
|
|
|
|
Post by owainsutton on May 17, 2020 18:30:04 GMT
The Liberal Democrats have formed the main opposition to the Conservatives in the town, winning one of the old small wards, and one of the seats in 2019. The Greens picked up the semi-rural Melton ward to the north of the main town. There is another rural area inland to the south of the Deben between Woodbridge and Felixstowe, which has a similar population. The villages here are quite up market, heavily owner-occupied, and providing many commuters to Ipswich. Altogether this south-western part of the seat accounts for just over a third of voters. There was three-way co-operation in 2019 involved here. It was two-thirds successful in its aim, with Labour the ones missing out on the second Woodbridge seat, and the Greens having a free run in Melton. This also involved co-operation at the same time for the Woodbridge Town Council election (fairly large as far as TCs and their budgets go), replacing the Conservative majority with an alliance of LD(3)/Green(3)/Lab(1). |
|
|
|
Post by owainsutton on May 17, 2020 18:31:28 GMT
One further comment. I had to look up Therese Coffey as I couldn't remember who the MP was, and was totally amazed to find out she was a cabinet minister. It may reflect more on me, but I had never heard of her. And as Minister for Work and Pensions she ought to have a high profile in the current crisis, but if she has been seen at all, I must have missed it. Was just this evening talking with my parents, and they mentioned about how this weekend Coffey was grandstanding about how all the public toilets and car parks were open as normal, and then getting angry that people were visiting their second homes.  |
|
|
|
Post by Robert Waller on Jun 4, 2021 15:28:49 GMT
2011 Census
Age 65+ 25.3% 11/650
Owner-occupied 71.0% 192/650
Private rented 14.2 330/650
Social rented 12.8% 447/650
White 97.1% 220/650
Black 0.4% 408/650
Asian 1.2% 468/650
Managerial & professional 32.2%
Routine & Semi-routine 26.3 %
Degree level 26.9% 279/650
No qualifications 22.8% 322/650
Students 5.2% 624/650
2021 Census
Owner occupied 69.8% 177/573
Private rented 16.7% 356/573
Social rented 13.5% 361/573
White 96.0%
Black 0.7%
Asian 1.3%
(South Asian 0.5%)
Mixed 1.6%
Other 0.4%
Managerial & professional 34.1% 245/573
Routine & Semi-routine 24.0% 280/573
Degree level 30.7% 315/573
No qualifications 17.8% 285/573
General Election 2019: Suffolk Coastal
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Therese Coffey 32,958 56.5 -1.6
Labour Cameron Matthews 12,425 21.3 -9.2
Liberal Democrats Julia Ewart 8,719 15.0 +8.0
Green Rachel Smith-Lyte 2,713 4.7 +1.6
Independent Tony Love 1,493 2.6
C Majority 20,533 35.2 +7.6
Turnout 58,308 71.2 -2.0
Conservative hold
Swing 3.9 Lab to C
|
|
|
|
Post by Pete Whitehead on Apr 15, 2023 14:17:46 GMT
Proposed boundary changes are fairly minor here, the main change being the removal of Halesworth and its surrounding area to the new Waveney Valley seat, otherwise a bit of tidying up due to ward boundary changes. Halesworth is one of those small towns in this part of Suffolk where Labour used to be quite strong and where the Green party now do well locally (though clearly the Conservatives would have been well ahead of Labour in 2019, with the Greens nowhere). The rural areas being removed are much more Conservative and overall the changes are neutral. 2019 Notional result | Con | 29341 | 56.1% | | Lab | 11004 | 21.0% | | LD | 8153 | 15.6% | | Grn | 2462 | 4.7% | | Ind | 1344 | 2.6% |
| | | | maj | 18337 | 35.1% | | | | |
|
|
|
|
Post by grumpyguy on Jul 17, 2023 11:18:37 GMT
Halesworth's Labour tradition includes being the birthplace of George Lansbury, and remained strong enough for a road built about 1970 to be named after him. As with many other parts of rural England, party membership must have been badly affected by the end of steam rail and the Beeching cuts - many railway jobs were lost. Green progress in Suffolk is helped enormously by the failure of Labour party leadership to reach out to communities who feel neglected, as Libdem progress has likewise been by Tory neglect. I stress 'neglect' not 'abandonment' - this is not Brexitland - but the two are related to each other, and to separatism. This seat could be won by Labour, but won't be, because the party's national leadership offers little to elderly home-owners who are strongly represented at the north end of the constituency.
|
|
|
|
Post by grumpyguy on Jul 17, 2023 11:48:34 GMT
On a different note, some more information about the constituency: much of it is an AONB (including the site of Sizewell C), and substantial tracts of poor sandy heathland were planted (and remain) as pine-forests. There used to be two USAF bases near Woodbridge. They closed in the 1990's. BT used to employ large numbers of highly qualified people at the research centre at Martlesham Heath, but this has been run down in recent years, and BT will sever their connection with the site soon, though spin-offs may remain. Suffolk County Police headquarters is also in Martlesham, and many workers at Ipswich hospital (to the north-east of the town) live in the constituency. The upshot of all this is that the quality of the secondary schools in the centre of the constituency has improved dramatically in the last 30 years, and house prices started to rise faster than elsewhere, not least because City bankers bought up farmhouses with paddocks (there's a good rail service into the City from Ipswich), and their parents retired to Aldeburgh and Southwold (two of the most expensive places to buy homes in Britain). What used to be starter homes have become holiday lets, and in Southwold even ex-Council housing has become second homes. At the same time Suffolk Coastal's four estuaries are polluted by sewage, and you wait a year for a dentist's appointment. Small wonder Conservatives were so heavily defeated at the local election.
Sorry about the rant, I got a bit carried away!
|
|
|
|
Post by owainsutton on Jul 17, 2023 17:53:13 GMT
One of those USAF bases, at RAF Woodbridge, has seen the substantial residential accommodation repurposed as a new local community. The runway of this base was exceptionally large: twice as long and three times as wide as the norm for WW2 bases, it was a designated target for struggling aircraft to aim for, with a fog-clearing system of two walls of flame. Seriously. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_Investigation_and_Dispersal_OperationAlso, as an interesting thread through this potted history, Martlesham Heath was also home to an important RAF base, in particular for research, in the post-WW1 era. |
|
