Editing Aldeburgh (section)

==Governance==
[[File:Lady mayoress.jpg|thumb|left|[[Elizabeth Garrett Anderson]], Mayor of Aldeburgh, 1908]]

Aldeburgh has a town council and lies within the [[East Suffolk (district)|East Suffolk]] [[non-metropolitan district]]. Aldeburgh ward, including [[Thorpeness]] and other communities, had a population of 3225 in the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]], when the [[arithmetical mean|mean]] age of the inhabitants was 55 and the [[median]] age 61.<ref>Aldeburgh demographics. [http://localstats.qpzm.co.uk/stats/england/east-of-england/suffolk-coastal/aldeburgh Retrieved 15 December 2014.]</ref>

The town is located within the [[Suffolk Coastal (UK Parliament constituency)|Suffolk Coastal]] parliamentary constituency represented since 2024 by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] MP [[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter]]. The constituency was previous seen as a [[safe seat]] for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]], having been represented by [[John Gummer]] from 1979 to 2010 and [[Thérèse Coffey]] from 2010 to 2024. 

[[Aldeburgh (UK Parliament constituency)|Aldeburgh]] was a parliamentary borough from 1571 and returned two [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs), the right to vote being vested in the town's freemen. By the mid-18th century it was classed as a [[rotten borough]], as the votes were controlled by a City of London merchant, [[Thomas Fonnereau]]:<ref>L. Namier, ''[[The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III]]'' (London 1929) I, pp. 70 and 180.</ref> and memorably described as "a venal little borough in Suffolk".<ref>Crabbe, quoted in [[E. M. Forster]], ''Two Cheers for Democracy'' (Penguin 1965) p. 178.</ref> It lost its representation under the [[Reform Act 1832]].

In 1908 Aldeburgh became the first British town to elect a female mayor: [[Elizabeth Garrett Anderson]], whose father, [[Newson Garrett]], had been mayor in 1889. In 2006, Sam Wright became Aldeburgh's town crier and mace bearer at 15, and so the youngest in the world.<ref>[http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/rain_fails_to_take_shine_off_carnival_1_76752. Rain fails to take shine off carnival Retrieved 22 August 2006.]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1885 Aldeburgh 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 Aldeburgh.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10107805|title=Relationships and changes Aldeburgh MB through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=1 July 2024}}</ref> On 1 April 1934 part of [[Hazlewood, Suffolk|Hazlewood]] parish was added Aldeburgh parish and district from [[Plomesgate Rural District]] when Hazlewood was abolished.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10249430|title=Relationships and changes Aldeburgh AP/CP through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=1 July 2024}}</ref> On 1 April 1974 the district was abolished and became part of [[Suffolk Coastal]] 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=1 July 2024}}</ref> A [[successor parish]] was formed covering the same area as the former district and its parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1973/1110/made|title=The Local Government (Successor Parishes) Order 1973|publisher=legislation.gov.uk|accessdate=1 July 2024}}</ref> In 2019 Aldeburgh became part of East Suffolk district.