| Norwich North | |
| Parliament: | uk |
| Year: | 1950 |
| Type: | Borough |
| Electorate: | 71,441 (2023)[1] |
| Party: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Region: | England |
| Elects Howmany: | One |
Norwich North is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament represented by Alice Macdonald, member of the Labour Party, after winning the seat in the 2024 general election.
The constituency includes parts of two local government areas, Norwich and Broadland with the majority of the electorate in Broadland.
The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general election, when the former two-seat constituency of Norwich was divided into two single-member seats, Norwich North and Norwich South.
It was initially a safe seat for the Labour Party, held continuously by the party until 1983, when major boundary changes made the seat much more favourable to the Conservatives,[2] who then held the seat from 1983 to 1997. The Labour member from 1997 to 2009 was Ian Gibson, who resigned as an MP with immediate effect on 5 June 2009 after being implicated in the expenses scandal. A by-election was held to replace him on 23 July 2009,[3] which was won by the Conservative Chloe Smith. Chloe Smith retained the seat in the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections, achieving over 50% of the vote for the first time in 2019. Smith stood down from Parliament at the dissolution in advance of the 2024 general election, having announced this intent in 2022.[4]
Minor expansion of boundaries under the provisions of Statutory Instrument 1951/325.[7]
Further to the Second Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies a redistribution of seats was enacted in 1970. However, in the case of the two Norwich constituencies, this was superseded before the February 1974 general election by the Parliamentary Constituencies (Norwich) Order 1973 which followed on from a revision of the County Borough of Norwich wards in 1971, resulting in a realignment of the boundary with Norwich South.
Gained suburban areas now part of the District of Broadland, including Thorpe St Andrew from Yarmouth and Hellesdon and Sprowston from North Norfolk. Southern areas transferred to Norwich South.
District of Broadland wards of Drayton and Taverham transferred from Mid Norfolk.
Drayton and Taverham were transferred back out, to the new constituency of Broadland. In Norwich, the part of the Crome ward around Morse Road moved to Norwich North, while the area around Mousehold Street in Thorpe Hamlet became part of Norwich South.
Following their review of parliamentary constituencies in Norfolk that concluded in 2007 and came into effect for the 2010 general election, the Boundary Commission for England created a slightly modified Norwich North constituency. The changes were necessary to re-align the constituency boundaries with the new local government ward boundaries introduced in Broadland and Norwich and to take account of Norfolk being awarded an additional, ninth constituency by the Boundary Commission.
Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was expanded slightly to regain Drayton (but not Taverham) from Broadland and the area around Mousehold Street from Norwich South.[12]
Norwich prior to 1950
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | John Paton | ||
| 1964 | George Wallace | ||
| February 1974 | David Ennals | ||
| 1983 | Patrick Thompson | ||
| 1997 | Ian Gibson | ||
| 2009 by-election | Chloe Smith | ||
| 2024 | Alice Macdonald | ||
Note: This constituency underwent boundary changes after the 1979 election, so was notionally a Conservative-held seat.[13]