| Bury St Edmunds | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Map1: | BuryStEdmunds2007 |
| Map2: | EnglandSuffolk |
| Year: | 1918 |
| Abolished: | 2024 |
| Type: | County |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
| Population: | 113,678 (2011 census)[1] |
| Electorate: | 85,933 (December 2010)[2] |
| Region: | England |
| European: | East of England |
| Year2: | 1614 |
| Abolished2: | 1918 |
| Type2: | Borough |
| Elects Howmany2: | 1614–1885: Two 1885–1918: One |
Bury St Edmunds was a constituency in Suffolk from 1621 to 2024, most recently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 to 2024 by Jo Churchill, a Conservative.
Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to moderate boundary changes and was abolished for the 2024 general election, with the bulk of the electorate being included in the new constituency of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.[3]
The constituency covered Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and smaller settlements on the A14 corridor. Residents' wealth was around average for the UK.[4]
The constituency was created as a Parliamentary Borough in 1614, returning two MPs to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and from 1800 to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. By the mid eighteenth century the seat was seen as heavily influenced by the Earl of Bristol and the Duke of Grafton.[5] Its representation was reduced to one seat under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, it was abolished as a borough and reconstituted as a division of the Parliamentary County of West Suffolk. As well as the abolished borough, the expanded seat comprised most of the abolished Stowmarket Division, except for the town of Stowmarket itself. From 1950, it has been classified as a county constituency in terms of election expenses and type of returning officer.
The electorate has elected Conservative Party candidates at the general elections and two by-elections since a Liberal victory in 1880. The closest contest since that year was in 1997 when the Labour Party candidate fell 368 votes, less than 1%, short of winning the seat in 1997 during Tony Blair's first landslide result.
Extended to the south-west, gaining western and northern parts of the abolished Sudbury Division of West Suffolk, including Haverhill.
Southern areas, including Haverhill, were transferred to the new constituency of South Suffolk. The easternmost area, equivalent to the former Rural District of Thedwastre, was transferred to the new constituency of Central Suffolk.
Major reconfiguration, with the majority of the constituency, including Newmarket, forming the basis of the new County Constituency of West Suffolk. Extended eastwards, gaining western half of Central Suffolk, including Stowmarket.
Marginal changes due to revision of local authority wards.
The constituency contained the towns of Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket and Needham Market. Its boundaries did not match those of the former borough of St Edmundsbury, which included Haverhill (part of West Suffolk constituency), and excludes Stowmarket and Needham Market.
| Parliament | First member | Second member | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1621 | John Woodford | ||
| 1624 | Anthony Crofts | ||
| 1625 | Sir William Spring | ||
| 1626 | Sir Thomas Jermyn | Emanuel Gifford | |
| 1628 | Sir Thomas Jermyn | Sir William Hervey | |
| 1629–1640 | No Parliaments summoned | ||
| 1640 April | Sir Thomas Jermyn | John Godbolt | |
| 1640 November | Thomas Jermyn, disabled on 14 February 1644 | Henry Jermyn, ennobled 6 September 1643[10] | |
| 1645 | Sir Thomas Barnardiston | Sir William Spring, excluded in Pride's Purge in 1648 | |
| 1653 | Bury St Edmunds not represented in Barebones Parliament | ||
| 1654 | Samuel Moody | John Clarke | |
| 1656 | Samuel Moody | John Clarke | |
| 1659 | John Clarke | Thomas Chaplin[11] | |
| 1659 Restored Rump Parliament | Sir Thomas Barnardiston | No second member | |
Two Members
| Year | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1660[12] | Sir John Duncombe< | -- (to 1679) 20 July 1622 4 March 1687 --> | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1661 | Sir Edmund Poley | |||||||
| 1673 | William Duncombe | |||||||
| 1679 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1685 | William Crofts | |||||||
| 1689 | ||||||||
| 1690 | Henry Goldwell | |||||||
| 1694 | John Hervey | Whig | ||||||
| 1701 | Whig | |||||||
| 1703 | Sir Robert Davers, Bt[13] | |||||||
| Dec. 1705 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1709 | Joseph Weld | |||||||
| 1712 | Samuel Batteley | |||||||
| 1713 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1717 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1722 | Tory | |||||||
| 1725 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1727 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1733 | Thomas Hervey | |||||||
| 1747 | Felton Hervey[14] | < | -- party --> | |||||
| 1756 | The Earl of Euston | |||||||
| 1757 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1761 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1763 | William Hervey | |||||||
| 1768 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1774 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1775 | Henry Seymour Conway | |||||||
| 1784 | Hon. George FitzRoy | |||||||
| 1787 | Lord Charles FitzRoy | |||||||
| 1796 | < | -- party --> | ||||||
| 1802 | Lord Charles FitzRoy < | -- (to 1818) 14 July 1764 20 December 1829 --> | < | -- party --> | ||||
| 1803 | ||||||||
| 1812 | Frederick Foster | |||||||
| 1818 | The Earl of Euston | Whig[15] | Whig | |||||
| 1820 | Lord John FitzRoy | Whig | ||||||
| 1826 | Earl Jermyn | Tory | Whig | |||||
| 1831 | Whig | |||||||
| 1832 | Lord Charles FitzRoy | Whig[16] | ||||||
| Conservative | ||||||||
| 1847 | Whig[17] [18] | |||||||
| 1852 | Conservative | |||||||
| Dec 1852 by-election | James Oakes | Conservative | ||||||
| 1857 | Joseph Hardcastle < | -- (to 1874) 1815-1899 --> | Whig[19] [20] [21] | |||||
| 1859 by-election | Lord Alfred Hervey < | -- 25 June 1816 15 April 1875 --> | Peelite[22] [23] [24] | |||||
| 1859 | Liberal | |||||||
| 1865 | Edward Greene < | -- party --> | Conservative | |||||
| 1874 | Conservative | |||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||
| representation reduced to one member[25] | ||||||||
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Note: Independent politician St Edmundsbury Borough Councillor[27] and Bury St Edmunds Town Councillor[28] Paul Hopfensperger[29] submitted a valid nomination but this was subsequently withdrawn. Because of the timing of the withdrawal, his name appears in the Statement of Persons Nominated[30] for this election.
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Following the death of Frank Heilgers on 16 January 1944 a by-election was held on 29 February 1944.
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On Guinness's nomination as Minister of Agriculture a by-election in 1925 was required under the electoral law of the time, which he won.[31]
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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;
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