Editing Sudbury, Suffolk (section)

==Governance==
[[File:Sudbury Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 674497.jpg|thumb|[[Sudbury Town Hall]]]]
In 1892 Sudbury became a [[municipal borough]] which became part of the administrative county of [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]] in 1889, with its headquarters at [[Sudbury Town Hall]], the district contained the parishes of Sudbury and [[Ballingdon]] and until 1935 Sudbury St Bartholomew.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10001572|title=Sudbury MB|publisher=Vision of Britain|access-date=20 May 2021}}</ref> In the local government reorganisation of 1974 the district was abolished to form Babergh, in the non-metropolitan county of Suffolk. A [[successor parish]] was formed covering the same area as the former district.<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=13 January 2024}}</ref> Being an urban area the parish council and its chair are known as the 'Town Council' and 'Town Mayor' respectively.

{{Emblem table
|collapsed = y
|name = Arms of Sudbury Town Council
|image = Sudbury Achievement.png
|shield = Sable a Talbot sejant Argent on a <br> Chief Gules a Lion passant guardant between two Fleurs-de-Lis Or.
|crest = On a Wreath of the Colours a Talbot's <br> Head erased Or between two Ostrich Feathers erect Argent.
|notes = Granted 20 September 1576 <ref>{{cite web|url=http://civicheraldry.co.uk/east_of_england.html#hertsmere%20bc |title= SUDBURY TOWN COUNCIL (SUFFOLK) |publisher=Robert Young |access-date=31 October 2019}}</ref>}}

From 1559 until 1844 the [[United Kingdom constituencies|parliamentary constituency]] of [[Sudbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Sudbury]] returned two Members of Parliament,<ref name=Kelly1/> before it was disenfranchised for corruption. The Sudbury election of 1835, which [[Charles Dickens]] reported for the ''[[Morning Chronicle]]'', is thought by many experts to be the inspiration for the famous Eatanswill election in his novel ''[[Pickwick Papers]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofreal00rint/page/872 872]|author=M.C. Rintoul|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1993|isbn=9780415059992|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofreal00rint}}</ref> In the previous year's by-election a dead heat of 263 votes each was recorded for the two candidates, [[Edward Barnes (British Army officer)|Edward Barnes]] and J. Bagshaw. The mayor of Sudbury gave a [[casting vote]] to Barnes despite having already voted, and the decision led to serious riots in the town.<ref>{{cite book|volume=76|page=98|year=1835|publisher=BALDWIN AND CRADOCK; JG & F RIVINGTON; LONGMAN, REES, ORME AND CO; JEFFERY AND SON; J.M. RICHARDSON; J BOOTH; J BOOKER; J RODWELL; SHERWOOD, GILBERT AND PIPER; HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO; G LAWFORD; J DOWDING; WHITTAKKER AND CO; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL AND CO; T LAYCOCK AND H RENSHAW|title=The Annual register of world events: a review of the year 1834}}</ref> A [[county constituency]] of the same name was established by the [[Redistribution of Seats Act 1885]] for the [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885 general election]], electing one MP by the [[first past the post]] voting system. It was abolished for the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|1950 general election]] when it was merged with the [[Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Woodbridge]] constituency to form [[Sudbury and Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Sudbury and Woodbridge]]. In 1983 this constituency was abolished, and Sudbury formed part of the new [[South Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency)|South Suffolk]] constituency. The current MP is [[James Cartlidge]] ([[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]).