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1997 Result:
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1992 Notional
Result:
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Con
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25,742
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45.91%
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LibDem
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15,097
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26.93%
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Lab
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14,565
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25.98%
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Others
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666
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1.19%
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Notional Majority
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10,645
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18.99%
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Description:
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Situated in the middle of Suffolk, Bury St Edmunds sounds like a familiar constituency and yet is really very new. The old seat spread far more to the west and included such towns as Mildenhall and Newmarket, but the new seat is smaller and boosted only in population terms by the addition of Stowmarket from the old Suffolk Central division. The remainder of the seat is made up from the many rural villages in what is essentially an agriculrural region. The effect politically has been to reduce the Conservatives' majority from 18,787 to a notional 10,645, though this is still a very safe figure. The sitting MP for the old seat of this name, Richard Spring, will be contesting the new Suffolk West seat. But Mr Spring should not be accused of deserting his constituents for a safer seat; the majority of voters from the old Bury seat now come within Suffolk West. Kenneth Clarke's former special adviser, David Ruffley, will defend the new Bury seat for the Conservatives. At Westminster elections it should remain safe ground for the Conservatives despite the proliferation of Labour voters in the Stowmarket area - the main centre for light industry and council housing. Bury St Edmunds is a model market town with few aspirations for change and the outlying villages can always be relied upon to return the resident Conservative to office. Much would have to alter for the windmill sails to start turning in a Labour wind.
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