Eye (UK Parliament constituency)

UK former constituency infobox
Name = Eye
Type = Borough
Year = 1571
Abolition = 1983

Eye was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the first past the post system of election. The Reform Act 1832 reduced its representation to one MP. Eye was a constituency until 1983 when most of it became part of the new Central Suffolk constituency. Its 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 a Liberal seat until 1950 after which it became a safe Conservative seat.

Boundaries

The Borough

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 proved that the original Charter belonged only to Hythe in Kent, the error having arisen from the similarity of the early English names. 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 1832, Eye boasted two Members of Parliament. Following the Reform Act 1832, Eye had one MP until 1983, after which the Eye constituency became the Central Suffolk constituency.

Members of Parliament

Eye borough

Before 1660

* 1588-1589: Edmund Bacon
* 1640-1642: Sir Frederick Cornwallis

1660-1832

Notes

ee also

*List of Parliamentary constituencies in Suffolk