South West Norfolk is a large rural constituency. It includes the three towns of Thetford, Swaffham and Downham Market, along with villages large and small.

Traditionally a farming area, South West Norfolk is changing rapidly. It is at the cutting edge of new environmental developments, such as Ecotricity's multi-megawatt wind turbines in Swaffham and British Sugar's new biofuels plant at Wissington, near Downham Market. Light industry and tourism are becoming significant sources of employment in the local economy, replacing farming jobs.

The population is changing too. Downham Market and Swaffham have seen large influxes of retired people, generally from London. Thetford has a significant Portuguese population, employed in food processing and other factory work. More recently, people from Eastern Europe have arrived in the area, filling jobs in agriculture and light industry. The shifting character of the area's population means that assumptions about the way local people are likely to vote may well be out of date. Things can change!

Political history

South West Norfolk has been held by the Conservatives since the mid-1960s, but for two decades before then it a closely-fought marginal. Sidney Dye won the seat for Labour in 1945 with a majority of just 53. He held it at the 1950 election by 260 votes, lost it in 1951 and won it back in 1955 with a majority of 193. After Sidney Dye's untimely death in 1958, Albert Hilton held the seat for Labour, representing the constituency until 1964.

Recent election results

In recent elections Labour has held second place:

In 2005:

Labour 15,795     Conservative 25,881            Lib Dem 10,207           UKIP 2,738

In 2001:

Labour 18,267     Conservative 27,633            Lib Dem 5,681 UKIP 1,368

In 1997

Labour 22,230      Conservative 24,694          Lib Dem (2 candidates)  8,178 & 3.694

Labour representatives

The Labour Party is represented on Norfolk County Council, Breckland Council and Thetford Town Council. The party would like to increase its representation on all councils in the constituency and is always interested in supporting potential Labour candidates.

New constituency boundaries

At the next General Election, in 2009 or 2010, the constituency will have new boundaries. Both Watton and Attleborough have been moved to a neighbouring constituency, leaving us with the three sizeable towns of Thetford, Downham Market and Swaffham. The effects of the boundary changes are as yet unknown, but will be interesting!