Editing Norfolk (section)

==Politics==

===Local===
[[File:Norfolk UK local election results 2011 map.svg|thumbnail|right|Ward-by-ward map of the 2011 local district election results]]
[[File:Norfolk County Council election 2013 map.svg|thumbnail|right|Map of the 2013 Norfolk County Council election results]]

Norfolk is administered by Norfolk County Council, which is the top tier local government authority, based at County Hall in Norwich. For details of the authority click on the link [[Norfolk County Council]].

Below Norfolk County Council the county is divided into seven second tier district councils: [[Breckland (district)|Breckland District]], [[Broadland|Broadland District]], [[Great Yarmouth (borough)|Great Yarmouth Borough]], [[King's Lynn and West Norfolk|King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough]], [[North Norfolk|North Norfolk District]], [[Norwich|Norwich City]] and [[South Norfolk|South Norfolk District]].

Below the second tier councils the majority of the county is divided into parish and town councils, the lowest tier of local government (the only exceptions being parts of Norwich and King's Lynn urban areas).

Currently the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] control five of the seven district councils: [[Breckland District]], [[Broadland|Broadland District]], [[King's Lynn and West Norfolk|King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough]], [[Borough of Great Yarmouth|Great Yarmouth Borough]] and [[South Norfolk District]] while [[Norwich|Norwich City]] is controlled by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and [[North Norfolk|North Norfolk District]] by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].

[[Norfolk County Council]] has been under [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] control since 2017. There have been two periods when the council has not been run by the Conservative Party, both when no party had overall control, these were 1993–2001 and 2013–2017.
[[File:Arms of Norfolk.svg|thumb|The coat of arms of Norfolk County Council]]
For the full county council election results for 2017 and previous elections click on the link [[Norfolk County Council elections]].

===National===

The county is divided into ten parliamentary constituencies, with Waveney Valley straddling the border with Suffolk:
{|class="wikitable"
!Constituency!!Elected in 2024
|-
|[[Broadland (UK Parliament constituency)|Broadland and Fakenham]]||[[Jerome Mayhew]] ([[Conservative]])
|-
|[[Great Yarmouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Great Yarmouth]]||[[Rupert Lowe]] ([[Reform UK]])
|-
|[[Norwich North (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich North]]||[[Alice Macdonald]] ([[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]])
|-
|[[Norwich South (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich South]]||[[Clive Lewis (politician)|Clive Lewis]] (Labour)
|-
|[[North Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|North Norfolk]]||[[Steffan Aquarone]] ([[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]])
|-
|[[South Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South Norfolk]]||[[Ben Goldsborough]] (Labour)
|-
|[[Mid Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Norfolk]]||[[George Freeman (politician)|George Freeman]] (Conservative)
|-
|[[North West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|North West Norfolk]]||[[James Wild (politician)|James Wild]] (Conservative)
|-
|[[South West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South West Norfolk]]||[[Terry Jermy]] (Labour)
|-
|[[Waveney Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Waveney Valley]]||[[Adrian Ramsay]] ([[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]])
|}

In the [[1945 United Kingdom general election]], all seats in Norfolk were won by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and the [[National Liberal Party (UK, 1931)|National Liberal Party]].

In the 2010 General Election seven seats were held by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]s and two by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]. The [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] no longer held the urban constituencies they once held in Norwich North and Great Yarmouth, leaving them with no MP's in the whole of [[East Anglia]]; the former Labour [[Home Secretary]] [[Charles Clarke]] was a high level casualty of that election.

In the 2015 General Election seven seats were won by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], with [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] winning Norwich South and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] winning North Norfolk.

In the 2017 General Election the 2015 result was repeated.

In the 2024 General Election, Norfolk became the only county in the United Kingdom to be represented by MPs from five different parties.

===Norwich Unitary Authority dispute (2006–2010)===
In October 2006, the [[Department for Communities and Local Government]] produced a Local Government White Paper inviting councils to submit proposals for unitary restructuring. In January 2007 Norwich submitted its proposal, but this was rejected in December 2007 as it did not meet the criteria for acceptance. In February 2008, the [[Boundary Committee for England]] (from 1 April 2010 incorporated in the [[Local Government Boundary Commission for England]]) was asked to consider alternative proposals for the whole or part of Norfolk, including whether Norwich should become a [[unitary authority]], separate from Norfolk County Council. In December 2009, the Boundary Committee recommended a single unitary authority covering all of Norfolk, including Norwich.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=3679 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080801125709/http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=3679 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 August 2008 |title=Local Government White Paper, Strong and Prosperous Communities |publisher=Norfolk County Council |access-date=10 September 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.norwich.gov.uk/site_files/pages/City_Council__Unitary_Council__The_business_case.html |title=The business case for unitary Norwich |publisher=Norwich City Council |access-date=13 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207121634/http://www.norwich.gov.uk/site_files/pages/City_Council__Unitary_Council__The_business_case.html |archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1509022 |title=Proposals for future unitary structures: Stakeholder consultation |publisher=[[Communities and Local Government]] |access-date=13 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823153938/http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1509022 |archive-date=23 August 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lgbce.org.uk/__documents/lgbce-documents/draftfinal-reports-and-consultation-papers/2009/norfolk-sr-final-dec09.pdf |title=Our advice to the Secretary of State on unitary local government in Norfolk (PDF Document) |publisher=The Boundary Committee |date=7 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111080052/http://www.lgbce.org.uk/__documents/lgbce-documents/draftfinal-reports-and-consultation-papers/2009/norfolk-sr-final-dec09.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2012}}</ref>

However, on 10 February 2010, it was announced that, contrary to the December 2009 recommendation of the Boundary Committee, Norwich would be given separate unitary status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/localgovernment/1463780 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100304114510/http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/localgovernment/1463780 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 March 2010 |title=Minister's Statement of 10 February 2010 |publisher=[[Communities and Local Government]] |access-date=13 February 2010}}</ref> The proposed change was strongly resisted, principally by Norfolk County Council and the Conservative opposition in Parliament.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090224/halltext/90224h0001.htm |title=Unitary Authorities |date=24 February 2009 |work=House of Commons Hansard Debates |publisher=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] |access-date=13 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424123857/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090224/halltext/90224h0001.htm |archive-date=24 April 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Reacting to the announcement, Norfolk County Council issued a statement that it would seek leave to challenge the decision in the courts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&ssDocName=NCC074317&ssSourceNodeId=&ssTargetNodeId=3018 |title=Reaction to announcement on Local Government Reorganisation Announcement |date=10 February 2010 |work=News Archive |publisher=Norfolk County Council |access-date=13 February 2010}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A letter was leaked to the local media in which the Permanent Secretary for the Department for Communities and Local Government noted that the decision did not meet all the criteria and that the risk of it "being successfully challenged in judicial review proceedings is very high".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Peter Housden's letter in full |newspaper=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |date=12 February 2010 |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=NewsSplash&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED11%20Feb%202010%2020%3A18%3A28%3A560}}</ref> The Shadow Local Government and Planning Minister, [[Bob Neill]], stated that should the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] win the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], they would reverse the decision.<ref name=edp2feb>{{Cite news |title=At last, a verdict on Norfolk councils' future |author=Shaun Lowthorpe |newspaper=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |date=2 February 2010 |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=NewsSplash&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED02+Feb+2010+09%3A25%3A04%3A570}}</ref>

Following the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], [[Eric Jack Pickles|Eric Pickles]] was appointed [[Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government]] on 12 May 2010 in a [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government]]. According to press reports, he instructed his department to take urgent steps to reverse the decision and maintain the status quo in line with the Conservative Party manifesto.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Government chief moves to axe Norwich unitary plans |first=Shaun |last=Lowthorpe |newspaper=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |date=14 May 2010 |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED13%20May%202010%2019%3A12%3A43%3A450}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/159177711 |title=Pickles stops unitary councils in Exeter, Norwich and Suffolk |publisher=Department for Communities and Local Government |access-date=25 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530091541/http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/159177711 |archive-date=30 May 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the unitary plans were supported by the Liberal Democrat group on the city council, and by [[Simon Wright (politician)|Simon Wright]], LibDem MP for [[Norwich South (UK Parliament constituency)|Norwich South]], who intended to lobby the party leadership to allow the changes to go ahead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/new-bid-to-end-unitary-plans-1-472147 |title=New bid to end unitary plans |date=30 June 2010 |website=[[Great Yarmouth Mercury]] |language=en |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=15 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215175844/https://www.greatyarmouthmercury.co.uk/news/new-bid-to-end-unitary-plans-1-472147 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Local Government Act 2010]] to reverse the unitary decision for Norwich (and Exeter and Suffolk) received Royal Assent on 16 December 2010. The disputed award of unitary status had meanwhile been referred to the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]], and on 21 June 2010 the court ([[Mr. Justice Ouseley]], judge) ruled it unlawful, and revoked it. The city has therefore failed to attain unitary status, and the two-tier arrangement of County and District Councils (with Norwich City Council counted among the latter) remains as of 2017.<ref>{{cite news |title=September by-elections for Exeter and Norwich |work=BBC News |access-date=19 July 2010 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-10687867 |date=19 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724060449/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-10687867 |archive-date=24 July 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>