South Norfolk.
Labour Party MP Ben Goldsborough holds the seat on 35.0% of the vote.
8 Jun 2026
Rural seat south of Norwich, contested and in flux
South Norfolk is a rural seat south and west of Norwich, where no single town dominates and the largest share of the population lives in scattered villages and open country. Wymondham, with roughly a sixth of residents, is the principal town, followed by Hethersett, Poringland, Long Stratton and Cringleford, each a modest settlement rather than an urban centre. The seat is older than the national average, overwhelmingly White and somewhat above the average for degree-level education. Local services fall to a single body, South Norfolk District Council, which handles the district-tier functions of planning, housing and waste across the constituency's seventeen wards.
The ward-level picture, drawn largely from contests in 2023, tilts Conservative but is far from settled. Of the most recent results, the Conservatives hold the largest bloc, with the Liberal Democrats and Labour each winning a comparable cluster and one independent in the mix. Turnouts vary widely between the larger settlements and the smaller rural wards. At Westminster the seat changed hands in 2024, when Labour took it on a 35 per cent share against a Conservative runner-up on 29 per cent -- a narrow margin in a seat the Conservatives had held five years earlier on a commanding 58 per cent. Ben Goldsborough, Labour, has represented it since.
The direction of travel appears genuinely open rather than fixed. The 2024 result rested on a slim plurality, the ward map remains mixed, and recent local coverage has carried a marked administrative tenor, dominated by planning, housing growth and routine council business. The broader county picture, meanwhile, suggests a fluid contest in which the older two-party pattern no longer holds with any certainty. On the figures available the seat reads as contested and in flux, a recent Labour gain on a thin margin sitting over a fragmented local base and an unsettled wider trend.
Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line.
| Ward | Latest winner | Votes | Council | Last cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooke | John Charles Fuller | 609 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Central Wymondham(2 seats) | Hurn · Savage | 1,356 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Cringleford(2 seats) | Elmer · Sacks | 1,448 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Easton | Margaret Dewsbury | 304 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Forncett | Kim Carsok | 361 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Hempnall | Martyn Hooton | 508 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Hethersett(3 seats) | Bills · Morland · Cross | 2,819 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Loddon & Chedgrave(2 seats) | Rowe · Billig | 1,833 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Mulbarton & Stoke Holy Cross | Bob McClenning | 667 | South Norfolk Con | Sept 2023 |
| Newton Flotman | John Cook | 414 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| North Wymondham(2 seats) | Roberts · Rosen | 1,368 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Old Costessey(3 seats) | Cork · Blundell · Laidlaw | 2,119 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Poringland, Framinghams & Trowse(3 seats) | Overton · Neal · Fowler | 3,343 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Rockland | Vic Thomson | 472 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| South Wymondham | Carmina Claire McConnell | 286 | South Norfolk Con | Sept 2023 |
| Stratton(2 seats) | Race · Carver | 712 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
| Thurlton | Andrew Evans | 405 | South Norfolk Con | May 2023 |
Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The seat’s population is concentrated in Rural & dispersed (18,672), with Wymondham (South Norfolk) (16,675) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 92,034.
Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021
| Settlement | Pop. | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Rural & dispersed | 18,672 | town |
| Wymondham (South Norfolk) | 16,675 | town |
| Hethersett | 7,201 | town |
| Poringland | 6,766 | town |
| Long Stratton | 5,961 | town |
| Cringleford | 5,172 | town |
Headline indicators.
| Indicator | Local | National | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment rate | 59.5% | 57.1% | +4% |
| Owner-occupied | 75.8% | 63.1% | +20% |
| Private rented | 13.3% | 20.0% | -34% |
| Social rented | 10.9% | 16.8% | -35% |
Ethnicity.
Source · Census 2021
Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band
Income tax contribution.
| Total income tax | £331m |
| Taxpayers | 51,000 |
| Median per taxpayer | £3,300 |
| Mean per taxpayer | £6,530 |
Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence
Where the money flows back in.
This constituency is served by South Norfolk. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.
Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.
Headline rate.
By category.
Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop
2024 — full result.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben GoldsboroughWON | Lab | 17,353 | 35.0 |
| Poppy Simister-Thomas | Con | 14,527 | 29.3 |
| Chris Harrison | Ref | 7,583 | 15.3 |
| Christopher Brown | LD | 5,746 | 11.6 |
| Catherine Rowett | Grn | 3,987 | 8.0 |
| Paco Davila | Ind | 254 | 0.5 |
| Jason Maguire | Ind | 129 | 0.3 |
Turnout 49,579
Prior contests.
| Year | Winner | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Richard Bacon | Con | 58.0 |
| 2017 | Richard Bacon | Con | 58.2 |
| 2015 | Richard Bacon | Con | 54.3 |
| 2010 | Bacon, Richard | Con | 49.3 |
Sources, methods & last update
2023 boundary review
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
±8% confidence
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo