Woodbridge was a

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

centred on the town of Woodbridge in Suffolk. It returned one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

History

The South-Eastern or Woodbridge Division was one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk created by the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

to replace the existing two 2-member divisions for the 1885 general election. It was formed from parts of the Eastern Division of Suffolk. It was abolished under the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

for the 1950 general election when it was largely replaced by the new Sudbury and Woodbridge constituency.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1885–1918: The Municipal Borough of Woodbridge, the Sessional Divisions of Bosmere and Claydon, Samford, and Woodbridge, and the Corporate Town of Aldeburgh. 1918–1950: The Municipal Borough of Aldeburgh, the Urban Districts of Felixstowe and Woodbridge, the Rural Districts of Bosmere and Claydon, Samford, and Woodbridge, and part of the Rural District of Plomesgate. Lost areas which had been annexed by the County Borough of Ipswich to the Parliamentary Borough thereof. On abolition, southern parts, which comprised the majority of the seat, including

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...

and Woodbridge, formed part of the new county constituency of Sudbury and Woodbridge. Northern parts, including

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the international Alde ...

, were transferred to Eye.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

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; *Unionist: Robert Peel *Liberal: William Elliston

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1939–40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; *Conservative: John Hare *Liberal: Douglas B Law *Labour: J M StewartReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

Elections in the 1940s

Sources

* * *{{cite book , last=Craig , first=F. W. S. , author-link= F. W. S. Craig , title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 , orig-year=1969 , edition=3rd , year=1983 , publisher= Parliamentary Research Services , location=Chichester , isbn= 0-900178-06-X , page=469 Parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Woodbridge, Suffolk