Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket: MP, 2024 result and local figures
Dr Peter Prinsley (Labour) is the MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, elected at the general election of 4 July 2024. On 4 July 2024 Peter Prinsley (Labour) won 16,745 votes, 32.9% of the valid vote; Will Tanner (Conservative) came second with 15,293. 50,893 valid votes were cast by an electorate of 78,479, 64.8% of those registered. The majority was 1,452.
Key figures
What the figures show
Residents of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket earned more than jobs based there paid in April 2025: median full-time pay was £37,710 for workplace jobs and £41,488 for residents. In April 2024 the residents' figure was £38,424. The residents' figure ranks 194th highest of 632 constituencies with an estimate. The latest year is provisional.
In mid-2024 the ONS put the number of residents at 108,700; the estimate for 2014 was 99,691. 25,252 were aged 65 or over and 18,528 were under 16.
In 2024/25, 20.2% of children under 16 in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (3,744) lived in relative low income families once housing costs are taken off, says the DWP; the UK figure is 26.0%. On the before-housing-costs measure it rose from 11.8% in 2021/22 to 13.1% in 2024/25.
Workplaces in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket accounted for 73,000 jobs in 2024; the business register lists 5,015 local units for March 2026.
HM Land Registry sales put the middle house price at £290,000 for the year to March 2026. Ten years earlier, in the year to March 2016, it was £225,000. The highest March-year median in the series was £317,500, in the year to March 2023. It ranks 276th highest of 575 constituencies. 1,546 sales were registered in the period, against 1,935 in the year to March 2025.
At the 2021 Census there were 45,175 households and 252.4 residents per square kilometre; 26.8% of workers mainly worked from home and 26.5% of residents aged 16 and over were retired.
The Annual Population Survey puts the employment rate for 16 to 64 year olds at 76.3% for April 2025 to March 2026, give or take 8.5 points. 20.9% were economically inactive.
The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits stood at 1,595 in September 2026, a claimant rate of 2.5%. A year earlier the count was 1,510.
MP
Dr Peter Prinsley, Labour
- MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket since 4 July 2024
Official UK Parliament page · Statements by Dr Peter Prinsley on this site
In Parliament
The 5 most recent spoken contributions by Dr Peter Prinsley in Hansard, from 19 October 2026 to 26 October 2026, quoted from the official report. Hansard search returns 352 spoken contributions by Dr Peter Prinsley since 4 July 2024.
In the summer of 1914, as Britain was on the brink of war, Mr Asquith, 62, the Prime Minister, was having an affair with Venetia Stanley, 26.
Read in Hansard (opening words; the full contribution is longer)
The problem is that that is not the screening test—the screening test is the PSA, which, as we have said, is unreliable.
Thank you for chairing this debate, Dr Murrison. I declare an interest in that I am a surgeon and appointed chair of the all-party parliamentary group on prostate cancer. Prostate cancer bewilders people. They think, “Surely it must be like other cancers we know about?
Read in Hansard (opening words; the full contribution is longer)
I welcome this important report. I am a Zionist, for Zionism is the belief that Jewish people have a right to self-determination in their ancient homeland—nothing more, nothing less. Let us teach that to our children.
Read in Hansard (opening words; the full contribution is longer)
Many United States servicemen from RAF Lakenheath live off base in my constituency. As we all know, lately the United States’ bombers were removed from RAF Fairford.
Read in Hansard (opening words; the full contribution is longer)
Read from the Hansard API on 26 October 2026. Up to two items per debate; remarks under 40 characters are left out. All contributions in Hansard.
General election, 4 July 2024
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Prinsley | Labour | 16,745 | 32.9% | +12.1 |
| Will Tanner | Conservative | 15,293 | 30.0% | −32.9 |
| Scott Hussey | Reform UK | 8,595 | 16.9% | |
| Emma Buckmaster | Green Party | 5,761 | 11.3% | −1.1 |
| Peter McDonald | Liberal Democrat | 3,154 | 6.2% | +5.1 |
| Jeremy Lee | Independent | 819 | 1.6% | |
| Richard Baker-Howard | Rejoin EU | 350 | 0.7% | |
| Darren Turner | Communist Party of Britain | 176 | 0.3% |
Result summary as published: Lab gain from Con. Change in share is in percentage points against the notional 2019 result on the new boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library, election results (data, read 14 October 2026).
Results on these boundaries
| Date | Election | First | Second | Majority | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 July 2024 | General election | Labour 32.9% | Conservative 30.1% | 1,452 | 64.9% |
| 12 December 2019 | General election (notional result on these boundaries) | Conservative 62.9% | Labour 20.8% | 22,085 | 69.4% |
Only results on the constituency boundaries first used at the 2024 general election are shown. The 2019 figures are the House of Commons Library's notional estimates of how votes cast in 2019 would have fallen on these boundaries, not a result that was declared. Source: House of Commons Library, constituency results.
Councils
Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket covers wards in 2 local authority areas, listed by the number of wards in the constituency.
- West Suffolk E07000245
- Mid Suffolk E07000203
Who has power over Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket
Every body that makes decisions for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, from the street up to the G20. Each one links to its page on the official record. How the ten levels work.
Level 1: Neighbourhood and community power
Residents' and tenants' groups, neighbourhood forums and local policing panels.
Level 2: Parish, town and community councils
Parish, town and community councils, where the area has them, sit below the council.
Level 5: Devolved and state governments
England has no devolved parliament of its own: its laws are made by the UK Parliament.
Level 6: National government
- Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket this page: Dr Peter Prinsley (Labour) MP
- All 650 MPs votes, interests and costs
- UK government and Parliament official figures and sources
Level 7: Regional blocs and supranational bodies
- Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (CoE / ECtHR) The UK Government says the United Kingdom was one of the Council of Europe's founding members.
Level 8: The UN and global treaty bodies
- United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council) The UN lists the United Kingdom as a member admitted on 24 October 1945.
- United Nations Security Council (UNSC) The UK is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and holds the veto, according to the UN.
- NATO NATO lists the United Kingdom among its 12 founding members, which signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.
- World Health Organization (WHO) WHO's list of member states includes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO says the United Kingdom has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 1 January 1948.
- Commonwealth of Nations The UK is one of the 56 members, one of three European members with Cyprus and Malta, and the Commonwealth Secretariat is headquartered at Marlborough House in London.
Level 9: The IMF, World Bank and global finance
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) The UK has been a member since 27 December 1945 and has a quota of SDR 20,155.1 million (IMF country page for the United Kingdom).
- World Bank Group (WBG) The UK holds 3.75% of voting power in the IBRD (data as of 30 June 2026) and 6.92% in IDA (as of 30 June 2026), according to the World Bank's voting tables.
Level 10: G7, G20, Davos and global forums
Sources
| Figure | Period | Publisher | Read | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | mid-2024 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Claimants as a share of residents aged 16 to 64 | September 2026 | ONS | 29 October 2026 | data · area |
| Claimant count | September 2026 | ONS | 29 October 2026 | data · area |
| Employment rate, aged 16 to 64 | April 2025 to March 2026 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Median full-time pay of residents | April 2025 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Median full-time pay of people working here | April 2025 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Median house price | the year to March 2026 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · release |
| Homes sold | the year to March 2026 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · release |
| Children in relative low income families, after housing costs | 2024/25 | DWP | 14 October 2026 | data · release |
| Children in relative low income families, before housing costs | 2024/25 | DWP | 14 October 2026 | data · release |
| Business sites (local units) | March 2026 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| People employed by businesses here | 2024 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Economically inactive, aged 16 to 64 | April 2025 to March 2026 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Households | Census 2021 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Residents per square kilometre | Census 2021 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Workers mainly working from home | Census 2021 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
| Residents aged 16+ who are retired | Census 2021 | ONS | 14 October 2026 | data · area |
"Data" is the file or query each figure was read from (its SHA-256 is in the link title); "area" shows the same table for this constituency alone.
Common questions
Who is the MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket?
Dr Peter Prinsley (Labour), elected on 4 July 2024, according to UK Parliament records.
What was the 2024 general election result in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket?
The House of Commons Library records 16,745 votes for Peter Prinsley of Labour and a majority of 1,452; 64.8% of the electorate cast a valid vote.
What is the unemployment claimant rate in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket?
The ONS claimant count for September 2026 is 1,595, 2.5% of the 16 to 64 population.
What is the average house price in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket?
£290,000: the middle price of homes sold in the year to March 2026, published by the ONS from Land Registry records.
What is the average salary in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket?
For full-time employees living here the ONS puts median annual pay at £41,488 (April 2025).
How many children in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket live in low income families?
3,744 children under 16, 20.2%, after housing costs in 2024/25, according to the Department for Work and Pensions.
What is the population of Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket?
108,700 in mid-2024, the latest ONS estimate.
Built 14 October 2026 from official records; how these pages are compiled. This page lists what the record shows and gives no verdict on the MP or the area. Link moved or figure wrong? Tell us.