This is the most northerly of the Suffolk seats, and is named after the River Waveney, which forms the boundary with Norfolk. The most easterly point in Great Britain, Ness Point, is to be found in this seat, which also contains the towns of Lowestoft, Beccles and Bungay.
The economy of Lowestoft has long been based on the fishing industry and its port, but the town is also home to the southern headquarters of Shell, Bird’s Eye and Sanyo. It is also a base for the maintenance of off-shore oil exploration installations.
The decline of the traditional industries of shipbuilding, fishing and canning (Waveney was the trademark of Co-op cans) has caused significant unemployment in the seat and given rise to the view that Waveney is East Anglia’s black spot.
Bob Blizzard is only the second Labour MP to be elected in the history of Waveney, which was formerly known as Lowestoft. The previous Labour MP was Edward Evans, who served from 1945 to 1959.
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