The present study numerically investigates two-dimensional laminar flow past a circular cylinder in an aligned magnetic field using the spectral method. Numerical simulations are performed for flow fields with Re=100 and 200 in the range of 0$leq$N$leq$10, where Ν is the Stuart number that is the ratio of electromagnetic force to inertial force. The present study reports the detailed information of flow quantities on the cylinder surface at different Stuart numbers. It is shown that the vortex shedding can be controlled by the magnetic force representing the Stuart number. As Ν increases, the vortex shedding becomes weaker, resulting in drag reduction whose magnitude is the largest at a critical value. In addition, as the magnetic force increases, the lift amplitude decreases, reaching zero at the critical number.