I'm in Norfolk all this week, so expect a mild dose of
The News From Norfolk
In politics the news is that after the recent General Election Norfolk has more Labour MPs than Conservative MPs. That's very unusual in what's normally true blue territory, indeed it hasn't happened since 1945. What's even more unusual is that Norfolk now has MPs from five different parties, thereby making it the most electorally diverse county in Great Britain.
• Labour tends to win in the city - Norwich South more often than Norwich North - and slammed both with a five-figure majority this time. South Norfolk has been safe Tory for 70 years but turned red this time, perhaps aided by annexing Wymondham in the recent constituency shake-up. But the biggest prize was South West Norfolk where, in the biggest moment of Election Night, seven-week PM Liz Truss was turfed out by a majority of 630 and the nation cheered. Labour wouldn't have won had Reform not taken 22% of the vote, making this technically now a three-way marginal.
• The Conservatives won three of the more rural constituencies, as they always do, though with much reduced majorities. The margin was really slim in Broadland and Fakenham where my brother lives, again aided by a strong Reform vote. In Mid Norfolk the Tory vote more than halved, but my dad gets to keep his oleaginous MP anyway.
• The Liberal Democrats took back North Norfolk which they'd held from 2001 to 2019. Labour were way behind in 4th place here because everyone knew the Lib Dems had historical form and tactical voting works.
• Reform took Great Yarmouth, indeed coastal communities provided most of their MPs, grabbing about a third of the vote. The previously-victorous Conservatives were relegated to third place. New MP Rupert Lowe is an ex-banker who lives in Gloucestershire, perhaps best known as the chairman of Southampton FC from 1996 to 2009.
• And the Greens took Waveney Valley, a newly created constituency which straddles Norfolk and Suffolk. It's one of the four seats they piled resources into nationwide, aided here by there being no existing tribal loyalties, and Adrian Ramsay was rewarded with the county's largest majority outside the city of Norwich.
None of this is necessarily a good indication of how Norfolk'll turn out in 2028/29, but expect a lot of interest from the media during the campaign because reporting from a five-coloured county would be excellent for balance.
