| North Norfolk | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Type: | County |
| Elects Howmany: | 1868–1885: Two 1885 onwards: One |
| Electorate: | 70,719 (2023)[1] |
| Region: | England |
| Towns: | Cromer, North Walsham, Sheringham, Wells-next-the-Sea |
North Norfolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Steffan Aquarone, a Liberal Democrat.
The seat covers a long stretch of the Norfolk coast including the seaside towns of Cromer, Wells-next-the-Sea and Sheringham.
The North Division of Norfolk was first created by the Reform Act 1867 as one of three two-member divisions of the Parliamentary County of Norfolk. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the three two-member county divisions were replaced with six single-member divisions. The second version of this constituency was one of the single-member seats. It has remained as a single-member seat since then, being designated as a County Constituency from the 1950 general election.
Formerly held by Labour from 1945 to 1970, then the Conservatives from 1970 to 2001, the seat was represented by the Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb from 2001 until he stood down for the 2019 general election, when the Conservatives regained the seat from the Lib Dems with a swing of 17.5%. However the Lib Dems re-took the seat at the following general election in 2024 with a swing of 16.8%.
The 2001 general election marked the first time that a Liberal aligned candidate had won a seat in Norfolk since 1929. This was to be followed by the election of Simon Wright in Norwich South in 2010. While Wright's success was short-lived (he was defeated in 2015), Lamb retained his seat, which at the 2015 election was one of only two Liberal Democrat seats in southern England, and one of only eight in the whole UK. At the 2017 general election, in which the Liberal Democrats lost five of their nine seats, North Norfolk was one of the four held. Although the seat had been held by Labour for the 25 years following World War II, Labour have slumped to a distant third in recent years, and came fourth in 2015, and last in a narrower field of three candidates in 2017.
North Norfolk was described by the Earl of Leicester as "the one constituency in England where, in 1964, it was so feudal that it had to be explained to the electors that the ballot was secret."[2] Feudal is used as a metaphor, or shorthand, meaning constitutionally backward.
The seat was formed largely from northern parts of the abolished Eastern Division, with a small part transferred from the Western Division. It also absorbed the Parliamentary Borough of Great Yarmouth, which had been disenfranchised for corruption under the Act.
Great Yarmouth re-established as a single-member Parliamentary Borough. Eastern parts were transferred to the re-established Eastern Division.
Gained the area around Fakenham from the abolished North-Western Division, and lost small areas in the south to the Eastern and South-Western Divisions.
Gained North Walsham and the Rural District of Smallburgh from the abolished Eastern Division. An area comprising the former Rural District of Aylsham (now part of the St Faith's and Aylsham Rural District) was transferred to the new constituency of Central Norfolk.
Gained the Rural District of St Faiths and Aylsham, including Hellesdon and Sprowston, from the now abolished constituency of Central Norfolk. Wells-next-the-Sea and the Rural District of Walsingham, including Fakenham, were transferred to the re-established constituency of North West Norfolk.
The seat was extended westwards, regaining Wells-next-the-Sea and areas comprising the former Rural District of Walsingham, including Fakenham, from North West Norfolk. Suburbs of Norwich, including Hellesdon and Sprowston, were transferred to Norwich North, and remaining southern areas, including Aylsham, to the new constituency of Mid Norfolk.
Fakenham and surrounding areas were transferred out once again to the new constituency of Broadland.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the composition of the constituency is as follows (as they existed on 1 December 2020):
Minor gain following changes to local authority ward boundaries.
West Norfolk and East Norfolk prior to 1868
| Election | First member | First party | Second member | Second party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1868 | constituency created | ||||||
| 1868 | Frederick Walpole | Sir Edmund Lacon | Conservative | ||||
| 1876 by-election | James Duff | ||||||
| 1879 by-election | Edward Birkbeck | ||||||
| 1885 | reduced to one member | ||||||
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Herbert Cozens-Hardy | ||
| 1899 by-election | William Brampton Gurdon | ||
| Jan 1910 | Noel Buxton | ||
| 1918 | Douglas King | Coalition Independent | |
| 1920 | |||
| 1922 | Noel Buxton | ||
| 1930 by-election | Lady Noel-Buxton | ||
| 1931 | Thomas Cook | ||
| 1945 | Edwin Gooch | ||
| 1964 | Bert Hazell | ||
| 1970 | Ralph Howell | ||
| 1997 | David Prior | ||
| 2001 | Sir Norman Lamb | ||
| 2019 | Duncan Baker | ||
| 2024 | Steffan Aquarone | ||
| 2019 notional result[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| 30,145 | 58.5 | ||
| 15,653 | 30.4 | ||
| 3,980 | 7.7 | ||
| 1,739 | 3.4 | ||
| 45 | 0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 51,562 | 72.9 | |
| Electorate | 70,719 | ||
Sir Norman Lamb did not stand for re-election. The seat saw the largest decrease in the Liberal Democrat vote share at the 2019 general election,[12] and the third highest increase in vote share for the Conservatives.[13]
King was named a Unionist candidate in the official list of Coalition Government endorsements, but he wrote to The Times stating he had left the party before the election and should be classed as an independent. He later rejoined the party.
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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;