BBC Profile:
Ken Weetch held the seat for Labour between October 1974 and 1987, when he lost out to Conservative Michael Irvine.

In turn Irvine was beaten by just 335 votes in 1992 by Labour's Jamie Cann, who held the seat until he died in 2001.

Mr Cann's successor Chris Mole won the November 2001 by-election with a majority of 4,087 votes. In 2005 Mr Mole increased his majority to more than 5,000.

At the election, boundary changes see the loss of the part-ward of Whitton and the gain of three part-wards from the constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

Situated around the estuary that marks the beginning of the river Orwell, the constituency of Ipswich takes in the urban area of Suffolk's county town and the majority of its suburbs. Ipswich is a large regional town with a burgeoning high-tech industry sector.

Ipswich is also the bureaucratic hub of East Anglia. Major employers include HM Revenue and Customs, the Environment Agency and Axa Insurance, which has a call-centre in the town.

The town's port is still operational, but has been superseded to some extent by nearby Felixstowe. It still serves, however, to transport agricultural cargoes to Europe.

The town has been enjoying a boom, particularly along the waterfront. The Ip-City Centre provides conference rooms and office space; located near the town

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BBC Profile:
Ken Weetch held the seat for Labour between October 1974 and 1987, when he lost out to Conservative Michael Irvine.

In turn Irvine was beaten by just 335 votes in 1992 by Labour's Jamie Cann, who held the seat until he died in 2001.

Mr Cann's successor Chris Mole won the November 2001 by-election with a majority of 4,087 votes. In 2005 Mr Mole increased his majority to more than 5,000.

At the election, boundary changes see the loss of the part-ward of Whitton and the gain of three part-wards from the constituency Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. To find out what might have happened had this boundary change been in force at the last election, see a notional - or estimated - result below.

Situated around the estuary that marks the beginning of the river Orwell, the constituency of Ipswich takes in the urban area of Suffolk's county town and the majority of its suburbs. Ipswich is a large regional town with a burgeoning high-tech industry sector.

Ipswich is also the bureaucratic hub of East Anglia. Major employers include HM Revenue and Customs, the Environment Agency and Axa Insurance, which has a call-centre in the town.

The town's port is still operational, but has been superseded to some extent by nearby Felixstowe. It still serves, however, to transport agricultural cargoes to Europe.

The town has been enjoying a boom, particularly along the waterfront. The Ip-City Centre provides conference rooms and office space; located near the town centre and station, this major business park development has already attracted Hewlett Packard and NTL. It is supported by Ipswich Borough Council, the East of England Development Agency and other local interests.

Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
Lab 19,020 (42.92%)
C 13,785 (31.10%)
LD 9,368 (21.14%)
UKIP 1,207 (2.72%)
Others 940 (2.12%)

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