Editing Lowestoft (section)

==Governance==
Lowestoft is the major settlement in the [[East Suffolk (district)|East Suffolk]] district. In 1885 Lowestoft became a [[municipal borough]] which became part of the administrative county of [[East Suffolk (county)|East Suffolk]] in 1889, the district contained the parish of Lowestoft, from 1890 to 1907 the district also contained the parish of [[Kirkley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10095979|title=Relationships and changes Lowestoft MB through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=3 September 2024}}</ref> On 1 April 1974 the district and parish were abolished and became part of [[Waveney District|Waveney]] in the [[non-metropolitan county]] of Suffolk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1972/2039/schedule/part/35/made|title=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|publisher=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|accessdate=3 September 2024}}</ref> 
In 2008, a Government Boundary Committee proposed that Lowestoft become part of Norfolk, but this proposal was met with strong opposition from residents, and Lowestoft remained in Suffolk. <ref> https://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2008/08/14/places_lowestoft_norfolk_20080814_feature.shtml </ref> It retained a ceremonial mayor elected annually by its district councillors and acting as [[charter trustees]] until 2017.<ref name="mayor">[http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=425&categoryID=1001 Mayor of Lowestoft] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927000456/http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=425&categoryID=1001 |date=27 September 2011}}, Waveney District Council. Retrieved 30 April 2011.</ref> [[Suffolk County Council]] is the county authority. A [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] of Lowestoft was created on 1 April 2017, governed by Lowestoft Town Council, which elects a town mayor annually.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/32379/Waveney-District-Council-Reorganisation-of-Community-Governance-Order-2017.pdf |title=Waveney District Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2017 |publisher=Lgbce |access-date=16 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk/about-the-council/town-mayor/ |access-date=24 December 2020 |title=Town Mayor |author=Lowestoft Town Council}}</ref>

The town is part of the [[Lowestoft (UK Parliament constituency)|Lowestoft parliamentary constituency]].

Before 1 April 2019, Lowestoft, as part of Waveney District Council, was divided into ten electoral wards, with [[Carlton Colville]] treated as a separate electoral area. Harbour, Kirkley, [[Normanston]], [[Pakefield]], St Margarets and [[Whitton, Lowestoft|Whitton]] wards elected three councillors each, and Carlton, Gunton and Corton, Oulton and Oulton Broad wards two.<ref name="elecmap">[http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=645&categoryID=200033&pageNumber=3 Lowestoft ward map] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719115929/http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=645&categoryID=200033&pageNumber=3 |date=19 July 2011}}, Waveney District Council. Retrieved 6 May 2011.</ref> Of the 48 council seats in the district, 26 represented wards within Lowestoft and three were in Carlton Colville. In 2010 the council changed to a system of all seats being elected every four years.<ref name="fouryearelec">[http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/download.php?fileID=129 Changing to Whole Council Elections&nbsp;– Explanatory Document] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719115946/http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/download.php?fileID=129 |date=19 July 2011}}, Waveney District Council, 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2011.</ref>

On 1 April 2019, governance arrangements for Lowestoft changed with the merger of Waveney and [[Suffolk Coastal]] District Councils to form a new district council of [[East Suffolk (district)|East Suffolk]]. Elections were held on 2 May 2019 for the six new Lowestoft wards. The seats, fourteen in all, are allocated to Carlton and Whitton (2), Gunton and St. Margarets (2), Harbour and Normanston (3), Kirkley and Pakefield (3), Lothingland (1), and Oulton Broad (3). There are also changes to wards adjacent to Lowestoft.<ref name="East Suffolk District Council elections">[https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/elections/election-types/district-council-elections/east-suffolk-district-council-elections/ East Suffolk District Council elections 2019] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326103117/https://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/elections/election-types/district-council-elections/east-suffolk-district-council-elections/ |date=26 March 2019}}. Retrieved 26 March 2019.</ref> After the inaugural [[2019 East Suffolk District Council election]] of 2 May, eight of the fourteen Lowestoft seats over the six new wards went to the Conservatives and six to Labour.

On Suffolk County Council, Lowestoft and its district are represented by eight councillors, split equally between four divisions: Gunton, Lowestoft South, Oulton and Pakefield.<ref name="ccelec">[http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=105&categoryID=200033&pageNumber=3 County council elections] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719120004/http://www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=105&categoryID=200033&pageNumber=3 |date=19 July 2011}}, Waveney District Council. Retrieved 6 May 2012.</ref> For county council elections, held every four years, Pakefield division includes Carlton Colville. After the 2017 election, seven of Lowestoft's county councillors represented the Conservatives and one Labour. In 2018, one Conservative councillor left the party and became an Independent.<ref name="lowjournal5May2017">[https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/conservatives-take-all-but-two-seats-in-local-elections-in-waveney-1-5004793] "Lowestoft Journal", 5 May 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2019</ref><ref name="lowjournal1Aug2018">[https://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/councillor-expelled-from-conservatives-over-islamaphobic-comments-1-5634064] "Lowestoft Journal", 1 August 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2019.</ref>