Editing Southwold (section)

==Governance==
[[File:Southwold Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 461899.jpg|thumb|[[Southwold Town Hall]]]]
Up to 1 April 2019, Southwold was part of the Southwold and Reydon [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] in the [[Waveney District Council]] area. The ward population at the 2011 census was 3,680; the resident population of the neighbouring village of [[Reydon]] was more than double that of the town of Southwold.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/southwold-and-reydon-e05007245#sthash.uWXf5iho.dpbs |title=Southwold and Reydon ward population 2011 |access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref> Although the town lost its independent [[municipal boroughs|Municipal Borough]] status in the [[Local Government Act 1972|Local Government reforms of 1974]] and consequent incorporation in Waveney District, it continues to have an elected, [[non-partisan democracy|non-partisan]] [[Town Council]] and Mayor, based at [[Southwold Town Hall]].<ref>{{Cite web |website=Southwold Town Council |date=27 May 2021 |title=Southwold Town Council - Councillors |url=https://southwoldtown.com/southwold-town-council/}}</ref>

With the 1 April 2019 amalgamation of the [[Waveney District Council|Waveney]] and [[Suffolk Coastal]] districts into a new [[East Suffolk (district)|East Suffolk]] district, Southwold became an expanded ward with Reydon and [[Walberswick]], represented by a single councillor. Previously, the Southwold and Reydon ward, under Waveney District, elected two councillors. At the 2021 Census, the ward population overall had increased, by the inclusion of Walberswick (346 souls), to 3,843; of which Southwold was 950 and Reydon 2547.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2021 Census data for Southwold Ward (Geographic Code: E05012758) |url=https://censusdata.uk/e05012758-southwold |access-date=1 July 2023 |website=Censusdata UK}}</ref>