# Waveney (UK Parliament constituency)

Waveney was a constituency of in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament that existed from 1983 to 2024. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency reverted to its previous name of Lowestoft. Other than the town of Bungay, the abolished seat of Waveney has little in common with the new ‘Waveney Valley’ constituency, which covers a predominantly rural area bridging Norfolk and Suffolk.

## Constituency profile

The seat was based around the coastal town of Lowestoft and included several smaller market towns and seaside resorts in northeast Suffolk. Electoral Calculus described the seat as a "Somewhere", characterised by older, less educated voters and support for Brexit.
Lowestoft was generally Labour-voting, because of its recent history as a declining seaside resort, fishing and industrial town. However, the constituency also includes the small towns of Beccles and Bungay. The Green Party overtook the Conservatives in the overlapping East Suffolk Council in 2023 for the first time.
This corner of Suffolk arguably has stronger connections with Norfolk – Norwich is an easier centre to reach than Ipswich – and there have been unsuccessful proposals to alter the county boundary to reflect this.

## History

The seat was created for the 1983 general election following the implementation of the third periodic review of Westminster constituencies, broadly replacing Lowestoft, which the first victor of the new seat had served since 1959.

### Political history

Waveney was a bellwether since its creation, swinging heavily in line with the mood of the nation. Labour's big majority in 1997 reflected the large overall majority in the Commons, and by the 2010 election it had become touted by one published analysis as the seat that the Conservatives needed to win to secure an overall majority. Fittingly, 2010 saw a marginal majority and the national result was a hung parliament with the Conservative Party the largest party. 2010 here was the Labour Party's second highest share of the vote in the narrow, traditional grouping of East Anglia (Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex).

### Prominent frontbenchers

Waveney had been held for many years by James Prior, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1970–1972), Leader of the House of Commons (1972–1974), Secretary of State for Employment (1979–1981), then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland during the Thatcher ministry, with an economic politics considered more centre-ground, then known as forming the wets' ideology.
Bob Blizzard served as a senior Government Whip from 2008 until 2010 when he lost at the election that May.

## Boundaries and boundary changes

1983–1997
* The District of Waveney.
The constituency was formed from the abolished constituency of Lowestoft, with the exception of a small part in the north which was now part of Norfolk.
1997–2010
* The District of Waveney except the wards of Blything, Halesworth, and Southwold.
Three wards transferred to Suffolk Coastal.
2010–2024
* The District of Waveney wards of Beccles North, Beccles South, Bungay, Carlton, Carlton Colville, Gunton and Corton, Harbour, Kessingland, Kirkley, Lothingland, Normanston, Oulton, Oulton Broad, Pakefield, St Margaret's, The Saints, Wainford, Whitton, and Worlingham.
Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1983 | Jim Prior | Conservative |
| 1987 | David Porter | Conservative |
| 1997 | Bob Blizzard | Labour |
| 2010 | Peter Aldous | Conservative |

## Elections
### Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter Aldous | 31,778 | 62.2 | +7.8 |
| | Labour | Sonia Barker | 13,776 | 26.9 | −10.0 |
| | Green | Elfrede Brambley-Crawshaw | 2,727 | 5.3 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Helen Korfanty | 2,603 | 5.1 | +3.2 |
| | CPA | Dave Brennan | 245 | 0.5 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,002 | 35.3 | +17.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,129 | 61.8 | −3.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +8.9 | |
General election 2017: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter Aldous | 28,643 | 54.4 | +12.1 |
| | Labour | Sonia Barker | 19,428 | 36.9 | −0.8 |
| | UKIP | Bert Poole | 1,933 | 3.7 | −10.8 |
| | Green | Elfrede Brambley-Crawshaw | 1,332 | 2.5 | −0.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jacky Howe | 1,012 | 1.9 | −0.1 |
| | Independent | Allyson Barron | 326 | 0.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,215 | 17.5 | +12.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,674 | 65.2 | +0.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +6.5 | |
General election 2015: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter Aldous | 22,104 | 42.3 | +2.1 |
| | Labour | Bob Blizzard | 19,696 | 37.7 | −1.0 |
| | UKIP | Simon Tobin | 7,580 | 14.5 | +9.3 |
| | Green | Graham Elliott | 1,761 | 3.4 | +1.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Stephen Gordon | 1,055 | 2.0 | −11.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,408 | 4.6 | +3.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,196 | 65.1 | 0.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +1.6 | |
General election 2010: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Peter Aldous | 20,571 | 40.2 | +6.9 |
| | Labour | Bob Blizzard | 19,802 | 38.7 | −6.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Dean | 6,811 | 13.3 | −1.8 |
| | UKIP | Jack Tyler | 2,684 | 5.2 | +1.5 |
| | Green | Graham Elliott | 1,167 | 2.3 | −0.1 |
| | NOTA | Louis Barfe | 106 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 769 | 1.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,141 | 65.1 | +1.5 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +6.8 | |

### Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Blizzard | 22,505 | 45.3 | −5.4 |
| | Conservative | Peter Aldous | 16,590 | 33.4 | +0.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nick Bromley | 7,497 | 15.1 | +3.7 |
| | UKIP | Brian Aylett | 1,861 | 3.7 | +1.4 |
| | Green | Graham Elliott | 1,200 | 2.4 | +0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,915 | 11.9 | −6.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,653 | 64.4 | +3.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −3.1 | |
General election 2001: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Blizzard | 23,914 | 50.7 | −5.3 |
| | Conservative | Lee Scott | 15,361 | 32.6 | −1.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | David Young | 5,370 | 11.4 | +2.4 |
| | UKIP | Bryan Aylett | 1,097 | 2.3 | New |
| | Green | Graham Elliott | 983 | 2.1 | New |
| | Socialist Alliance | Rupert Mallin | 442 | 0.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,553 | 18.1 | −3.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,167 | 60.8 | −13.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −1.7 | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Blizzard | 31,486 | 56.0 | +16.2 |
| | Conservative | David Porter | 19,393 | 34.5 | −12.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christopher Thomas | 5,054 | 9.0 | −3.8 |
| | Independent | Neil Clark | 318 | 0.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,093 | 21.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 56,251 | 74.7 | −7.1 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | +15.6 | |
General election 1992: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Porter | 33,174 | 48.2 | −0.2 |
| | Labour | Ezra Leverett | 26,472 | 38.4 | +8.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Adrian Rogers | 8,925 | 13.0 | −8.6 |
| | Natural Law | David Hook | 302 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,702 | 9.8 | −8.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 68,873 | 81.8 | +3.4 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −4.3 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David Porter | 31,067 | 48.4 | −3.4 |
| | Labour | Jack Lark | 19,284 | 30.0 | +2.6 |
| | SDP | David Beavan | 13,845 | 21.6 | +0.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,783 | 18.4 | −6.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 81,889 | 78.4 | +3.1 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −3.0 | |
General election 1983: Waveney :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Jim Prior | 30,371 | 51.8 | |
| | Labour | Jack Lark | 16,073 | 27.4 | |
| | SDP | Gillian Artis | 12,234 | 20.9 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,298 | 24.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 77,960 | 75.3 | |
| | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) | Conservative win (new seat) |