Eye (UK Parliament constituency)

Eye was a parliamentary constituency, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, encompassing an area around the market town and civil parish of Eye, Suffolk.

Eye
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
County	Suffolk
Major settlements	Eye, Saxmundham
1885–1983
Seats	One
Replaced by	Central Suffolk and Suffolk Coastal[1]
1571–1885
Seats	Two until 1832, then one until 1885
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

History

Eye was once the smallest borough in the country, its claim based on the 1205 Charter of King John. The Charter was renewed in 1408, then many more times by successive monarchs. However, in 1885, the Town Clerk of Hythe, 125 miles (201 km) south by land, proved that the original Charter belonged only to Hythe in Kent, the error having arisen from the similarity of their original Old English names, both building off a related root phrase (Hythe: landing place, Eye: land by water).^[2] The error was confirmed by archivists in the 1950s, but borough status was not discontinued until 1974 after government reorganization when Eye became a parish but retained a Town Council, a Mayor and the insignia.

From 1571 to 1707, the Parliamentary Borough of Eye elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system of election to the House of Commons of England, then from 1707 to 1800 to the House of Commons of Great Britain, and from 1801 to 1832 to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. By the mid eighteenth century it tended to be seen a pocket borough of Earl Cornwallis who could nominate the two MPs.^[3] The Reform Act 1832 reduced its representation to one MP, elected by the first past the post system. The parliamentary borough was abolished under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and was reconstituted as one of five single-member county divisions of the Parliamentary County of Suffolk, becoming a county constituency from the 1950 general election.

This in turn was abolished for the 1983 general election when western areas, comprising the majority, became part of the new county constituency of Central Suffolk, with eastern areas forming part of the new county constituency of Suffolk Coastal.

The seat's main claim to fame was that it was the smallest town to have a parliamentary constituency named after it as the town of Eye had only approximately 1500 voters in 1981. It had been mostly a Liberal seat until 1951, after which it became a safe Conservative seat.

Boundaries and boundary changes

1885–1918

• The Municipal Borough of Eye;
• The Sessional Divisions of Framlingham, Hartismere, and Hoxne; and
• Part of the Sessional Division of Blything.^[4]

Formed from parts of the abolished Eastern and Western Divisions of Suffolk and incorporating the abolished Parliamentary Borough of Eye. Apart from Eye, the main town was Saxmundham.

1918–1950

• The Municipal Borough of Eye;
• The Urban Districts of Halesworth, Leiston-cum-Sizewell, Saxmundham, and Stowmarket;
• The Rural Districts of East Stow, Hartismere, and Hoxne; and
• Parts of the Rural Districts of Blything and Plomesgate.^[5]

Gained southernmost part of the Lowestoft Division, including Halesworth, and a small area to the east of the abolished Stowmarket Division, including the town of Stowmarket itself.

1950–1983

• The Municipal Boroughs of Aldeburgh and Eye;
• The Urban Districts of Leiston-cum-Sizewell, Saxmundham, and Stowmarket;
• The Rural Districts of Blyth, Gipping, and Hartismere: and
• The Rural District of Deben parishes of Blaxhall, Boulge, Bredfield, Burgh, Campsey Ash, Charsfield, Chillesford, Clopton, Cretingham, Dallinghoo, Dallinghoo Wield, Debach, Eyke, Gedgrave, Grundisburgh, Hoo, Iken, Letheringham, Monewden, Orford, Otley, Pettistree, Rendlesham, Sudbourne, Swilland, Tunstall, Ufford, Wantisden, Wickham Market, and Witnesham.^[6]

Extended southwards to gain Aldeburgh and mainly rural areas from the northern part of the abolished Woodbridge Division of East Suffolk.  Area previously transferred from Lowestoft (including Halesworth) now returned.

Members of Parliament

Eye borough

MPs 1571–1660

Parliament	First member	Second member
1571	Richard Bedell	Charles Cutler[7]
1572	Charles Calthorpe	Charles Cutler[7]
1584	Bassingbourne Gawdy	George Brooke[7]
1586	Bartholomew Kemp	Thomas Bedingfield[7]
1588	Edward Grimston	Sir Edmund Bacon[7]
1593	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng	Philip Gawdy[7]
1597	Anthony Gawdy	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng[7]
1601	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng	Anthony Gawdy[7]
1604	Edward Honnyng, eldest son of William Honnyng	Sir Henry Bockenham
1610	Sir John Kay
1614	Sir Robert Drury	Huntingdon Colby
1621–1622	Sir Roger North	Sir John Crompton
1624	Sir Henry Crofts	Francis Finch
1625	Francis Finch	Sir Roger North
1626	Francis Finch	Sir Roger North
1628	Francis Finch	Sir Roger North
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned
1640 (Apr)	Sir Frederick Cornwallis	Sir Roger North
1640 (Nov)	Sir Frederick Cornwallis	Sir Roger North
1645	Morris Barrow	Sir Roger North
1648	?
1653	Eye not represented in Barebones Parliament
1654	Eye not represented in 1st Protectorate Parliament
1655	Eye not represented in 2nd Protectorate Parliament
1659	Edward Dendy	Joseph Blisset

MPs 1660–1832

Election		First member [8]	First party		Second member [8]	Second party
1660		Charles Cornwallis	Court Party		Sir George Reeve	Court Party
1661		Charles Cornwallis, senior
1675		Sir Robert Reeve
1678					Sir Charles Gawdy	Tory
1679		Charles Fox	Tory		George Walsh
1681		Sir Charles Gawdy	Tory		Sir Robert Reeve
1685					Sir John Rous	Tory
1689		Thomas Knyvett	Tory		Henry Poley	Tory
1690		Thomas Davenant
1695					Charles Cornwallis	Whig
1697		Sir Joseph Jekyll	Whig
1698					Hon. Spencer Compton	Tory
1701						Whig
1710					Thomas Maynard	Whig[9]
1713		Edward Hopkins	Whig
1715					Thomas Smith	Whig
March 1722					Hon. Spencer Compton	Whig
November 1722					James Cornwallis	Whig
1727		Stephen Cornwallis	Whig		John Cornwallis	Whig
1743		Edward Cornwallis	Whig
1747					Roger Townshend	Whig
1748					Nicholas Hardinge
1749		Courthorpe Clayton
1758					Henry Townshend
1760					Viscount Brome	Whig
March 1761		Henry Cornwallis
December 1761		Henry Townshend
1762		The Viscount Allen			Richard Burton[10]
1768					Hon. William Cornwallis
1770		Richard Burton Phillipson
March 1774					Francis Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen	Tory
October 1774					John St John
1780					Arnoldus Jones-Skelton
1782					Hon. William Cornwallis
1784					Peter Bathurst	Pittite
1790					Hon. William Cornwallis[11]
1792		Peter Bathurst	Pittite
1795		Viscount Brome	Tory
1796		Mark Singleton
1799		James Cornwallis	Tory
1806		Marquess of Huntly	Tory
January 1807					James Cornwallis	Tory
April 1807		Hon. Henry Wellesley	Tory
May 1807					Mark Singleton
1809		Charles Arbuthnot	Tory
1812		Sir William Garrow	Whig
1817		Sir Robert Gifford	Tory[12]
1820					Sir Miles Nightingall	Tory[12]
1824		Sir Edward Kerrison, Bt	Tory[12]
1829					Sir Philip Sidney, Bt	Tory[12]
1831					William Burge	Tory[12]
1832	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1832–1885

	Election	Member [8]	Party
	1832	Sir Edward Kerrison, Bt	Tory
	1834		Conservative
	1852	Edward Kerrison[13]	Conservative
	1866 by-election	Hon. George Barrington[14]	Conservative
	1880	Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett	Conservative
	1885	Borough abolished – name transferred to county division

Eye division of Suffolk

MPs 1885–1983

	Election	Member [8]	Party
	1885	Francis Seymour Stevenson	Liberal
	1906 by-election	Harold Pearson	Liberal
	1918	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	Liberal
	1923	The Lord Huntingfield	Conservative
	1929	Edgar Granville	Liberal
	1931		Liberal National
	1942		Independent
	1945		Liberal
	1951	Sir Harwood Harrison	Conservative
	1979	John Gummer	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished: see Suffolk Central

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Eye^[12][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
	Tory	Philip Sidney	Unopposed
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

Sidney resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 14 March 1831: Eye^[12][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Burge	Unopposed
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Eye^[12][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
	Tory	William Burge	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 125
	Tory hold
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			253
	Tory hold

General election 1835: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			282
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			301
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			342
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			322
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			356
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			359
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			342
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Edward Kerrison	Unopposed
Registered electors			339
	Conservative hold

Kerrison resigned in order to contest the 1866 by-election in East Suffolk.

By-election, 27 July 1866: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Barrington	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Barrington	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,198
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Eye^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Barrington	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,163
	Conservative hold

Barrington was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 19 Mar 1874: Eye^[17][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Barrington	656	63.0	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Easton[18]	386	37.0	New
Majority			270	26.0	N/A
Turnout			1,042	89.6	N/A
Registered electors			1,163
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Eye ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett	540	53.0	N/A
	Liberal	Charles Easton[18]	478	47.0	N/A
Majority			62	6.0	N/A
Turnout			1,018	94.2	N/A
Registered electors			1,081
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Bartlett was appointed a Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 2 Jul 1885: Eye ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett	473	58.5	+5.5
	Liberal	Mervyn Lanark Hawkes[19]	336	41.5	−5.5
Majority			137	17.0	+11.0
Turnout			809	82.3	−11.9
Registered electors			983
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.5

Stevenson

General election 1885: Eye ^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	5,356	61.5	+14.5
	Conservative	Benjamin Bridges Hunter Rodwell	3,360	38.5	−14.5
Majority			1,996	23.0	N/A
Turnout			8,716	79.3	−13.9
Registered electors			10,993
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.5

General election 1886: Eye ^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,544	60.7	−0.8
	Liberal Unionist	James Colquhoun Revell Reade	2,938	39.3	+0.8
Majority			1,606	21.4	−1.6
Turnout			7,482	68.1	−11.2
Registered electors			10,993
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.8

Elections in the 1890s

Holland

General election 1892: Eye ^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,701	57.8	−2.9
	Conservative	Lionel Holland	3,431	42.2	+2.9
Majority			1,270	15.6	−5.8
Turnout			8,132	78.8	+10.7
Registered electors			10,321
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.9

General election 1895: Eye ^[22][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,437	55.2	−2.6
	Conservative	Frederick John Francis Wootton Isaacson	3,603	44.8	+2.6
Majority			834	10.4	−5.2
Turnout			8,040	77.8	−1.0
Registered electors			10,339
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.6

Elections in the 1900s

Harben

General election 1900: Eye ^[22][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	4,664	61.3	+6.1
	Conservative	Henry Harben	2,947	38.7	−6.1
Majority			1,717	22.6	+12.2
Turnout			7,611	74.9	−2.9
Registered electors			10,162
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.1

General election 1906: Eye ^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Seymour Stevenson	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Pearson

1906 Eye by-election^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Pearson	4,568	51.1	N/A
	Conservative	James Graham	4,371	48.9	New
Majority			197	2.2	N/A
Turnout			8,939	87.9	N/A
Registered electors			10,166
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Eye ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Pearson	4,991	52.0	N/A
	Conservative	James Graham	4,614	48.0	N/A
Majority			377	4.0	+1.8
Turnout			9,605	90.4	+2.5
Registered electors			10,621
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.9

General election December 1910: Eye ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harold Pearson	4,927	54.2	+2.2
	Liberal Unionist	George Borwick, 2nd Baron Borwick	4,157	45.8	−2.2
Majority			770	8.4	+4.4
Turnout			9,084	85.5	−4.9
Registered electors			10,621
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.2

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 from 1914 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Harold Pearson
• Unionist:

General election 1918: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	10,072	61.3	+7.1
	Unionist	Frederick William French	6,362	38.7	−7.1
Majority			3,710	22.6	+14.2
Turnout			16,434	49.2	−36.3
Registered electors			33,399
	Liberal hold		Swing	+7.1
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	10,556	60.0	−1.3
	National Liberal	Gerald Howard	7,025	40.0	N/A
Majority			3,531	20.0	−2.6
Turnout			17,581	54.0	+4.8
Registered electors			32,579
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1923: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Vanneck	11,172	47.7	New
	Liberal	Alexander Lyle-Samuel	9,244	39.5	−20.5
	Labour	Charles Wye Kendall	2,984	12.8	New
Majority			1,928	8.2	N/A
Turnout			23,400	70.9	+16.9
Registered electors			32,999
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Vanneck	13,450	53.3	+5.6
	Liberal	Thomas Bethell	7,441	29.5	−10.0
	Labour	Charles Wye Kendall	4,329	17.2	+4.4
Majority			6,009	23.8	+15.6
Turnout			25,220	74.5	+3.6
Registered electors			33,841
	Unionist hold		Swing	+7.8

General election 1929: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edgar Granville	13,944	44.3	+14.8
	Unionist	Arthur Gilstrap Soames	12,880	40.8	−12.5
	Labour	Owen Aves	4,709	14.9	−2.3
Majority			1,064	3.5	N/A
Turnout			31,533	78.2	+3.7
Registered electors			40,340
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+13.7

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Edgar Granville	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	National Liberal hold

General election 1935: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Edgar Granville	21,606	73.95	N/A
	Labour	Harry Leonard Self	7,613	26.05	New
Majority			13,993	47.90	N/A
Turnout			29,219	70.69	N/A
	National Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1940s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Edgar Granville
• Labour: Harry Leonard Self
• British Union: Ronald Noah Creasy

General election 1945: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edgar Granville	11,899	38.46
	Conservative	Algernon Malcolm Borthwick	10,950	35.39
	Labour	B Collingson	8,089	26.15	+0.10
Majority			949	3.07
Turnout			30,938	71.74
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edgar Granville	17,755	37.27	−1.19
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	17,128	36.96	+0.57
	Labour	Leslie George Emsden	12,474	26.19	+0.04
	Communist	Lee Chadwick	271	0.58	New
Majority			627	0.31	−2.76
Turnout			47,628	83.8	+12.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.88

General election 1951: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	19,791	40.61	+4.65
	Liberal	Edgar Granville	17,602	36.12	−1.15
	Labour	Harold F Falconer	11,340	23.27	−2.92
Majority			2,189	4.49	N/A
Turnout			48,733	83.28
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General election 1955: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	21,317	45.04	+4.43
	Labour	Edgar Granville	20,428	43.16	+19.89
	Liberal	Inga-Stina Robson	5,582	11.79	−24.33
Majority			898	1.88
Turnout			47,327	82.90
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	22,333	47.12	+2.08
	Labour	Edgar Granville	19,849	41.88	−1.28
	Liberal	Inga-Stina Robson	5,215	11.00	−0.79
Majority			2,484	5.24
Turnout			47,397	84.04
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	21,555	45.74
	Labour	John Wilson Fear	16,129	34.23
	Liberal	Donald James Newby	9,437	20.03
Majority			5,426	11.51
Turnout			47,121	82.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	21,044	44.65
	Labour	Richard Wallis Speaight Pryke	17,431	36.98
	Liberal	Donald James Newby	8,661	18.37
Majority			3,613	7.67
Turnout			47,136	81.48
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	26,099	52.41
	Labour	Roy Ellison Manley	17,735	35.62
	Liberal	Ian Stanley Temple Senior	5,962	11.97
Majority			8,364	16.79
Turnout			49,796	78.12
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	23,486	43.61
	Liberal	Denys Robinson	15,811	29.36
	Labour	Roy Ellison Manley	13,937	25.88
	PEOPLE	Edward Goldsmith	395	0.73	New
	Independent Democratic Alliance	Albert Kingham	220	0.41	New
Majority			7,675	14.25
Turnout			53,849	82.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Harwood Harrison	22,387	44.01
	Liberal	Denys Robinson	14,530	28.57
	Labour	Ranken Bushby	13,948	27.42
Majority			7,857	15.44
Turnout			50,865	77.41
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Eye

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gummer	28,707	51.96
	Labour	Paul Koppel	13,686	24.77
	Liberal	Peter Kemsley	12,259	22.19
	Independent	JJ Flint	324	0.59	New
	Anti-Common Market Conservative	Norman Rogers	268	0.49	New
Majority			15,021	27.19
Turnout			55,244	79.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk