North Norfolk

Constituency profile

North Norfolk is a constituency in Norfolk in the East of England, covering most of the local government district of the same name. Its largest town is North Walsham, which has a population of around 13,000. Other settlements include the towns of Cromer, Holt, Sheringham, Stalham and Wells-next-the-Sea and the villages of Mundesley and Hoveton.

North Norfolk is a large, rural constituency covering much of Norfolk's coast, with many small market towns and villages. The coastal settlements were traditionally reliant on the fishing industry and today are seaside resorts; Cromer in particular is popular with tourists and there are numerous holiday parks in the area. The Broads, an area of navigable rivers and lakes with national park status, extends into the east of the constituency near Stalham. Most of the constituency's towns have average or below-average levels of wealth, although Sheringham is more affluent. House prices across the constituency are in line with the UK average but generally lower than the rest of the East of England.

North Norfolk has a very large retired population and a low proportion of young adults; around 36% of residents are over the age of 65, almost double the UK-wide figure. In general, residents have low levels of education, high rates of homeownership and are more likely to be religious compared to the rest of the country. Household income is low and the child poverty rate is above average. A high proportion of residents work in the agriculture, retail and tourism sectors and the percentage claiming unemployment benefits is below average. White people made up 98% of the population at the 2021 census.

Most of the constituency is represented by Liberal Democrats at the local council level with some Conservatives elected in the east around Stalham. An estimated 59% of voters in North Norfolk supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the UK-wide figure of 52%.

History

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 the Second World War, Labour has 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." Feudal is used as a metaphor, or shorthand, meaning constitutionally backward.

Boundaries and boundary changes

Historic

The Hundreds of East Flegg, West Flegg, Happing, Tunstead, Erpingham (North), Erpingham (South), Eynsford, Holt and North Greenhoe.

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.

The Sessional Divisions of Eynsford, Holt, North Erpingham, and North Greenhoe; and

Part of the Sessional Division of South Erpingham.

Great Yarmouth re-established as a single-member Parliamentary Borough. Eastern parts were transferred to the re-established Eastern Division.

The Urban Districts of Cromer, Sheringham, and Wells-next-the-Sea; and

The Rural Districts of Aylsham, Erpingham, and Walsingham.

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.

The Urban Districts of Cromer, North Walsham, Sheringham, and Wells-next-the-Sea; and

The Rural Districts of Erpingham, Smallburgh, and Walsingham.

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.

The Urban Districts of Cromer, North Walsham, and Sheringham; and

Current

Further to the 2023 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):

The District of North Norfolk wards of: Bacton; Beeston Regis & The Runtons; Briston; Coastal; Cromer Town; Erpingham; Gresham; Happisburgh; Hickling; Holt; Hoveton & Tunstead; Mundesley; North Walsham East; North Walsham Market Cross; North Walsham West; Poppyland; Priory; Roughton; St. Benet’s; Sheringham North; Sheringham South; Stalham; Stody; Suffield Park; Trunch; Wells with Holkham; Worstead.

Minor gain following changes to local authority ward boundaries.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1868–1885

West Norfolk and East Norfolk prior to 1868

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

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, and the third highest increase in vote share for the Conservatives.

Elections in the 1910s

* 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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Liberal: Noel Buxton

Unionist: Douglas King

Elections in the 1890s

Caused by Cozens-Hardy's appointment as a judge in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice.

Elections in the 1870s

Caused by Duff's death.

Caused by Walpole's death.