The ceremonial county of Devon, which includes the unitary authorities of Torbay and Plymouth, is divided into 12 Parliamentary constituencies: 4 Borough constituencies and 8 County constituencies.

Constituencies

Further information: 2019 United Kingdom general election

  † Conservative   ‡ Labour   ¤ Liberal Democrat   Independent

Constituency[nb 1] Electorate[1] Majority[2][nb 2] Member of Parliament[2] Nearest opposition[2] Map
Central Devon CC 74,926 17,721   Mel Stride†   Lisa Robillard Webb‡
East Devon CC 87,168 6,708   Simon Jupp†   Claire Wright
Exeter BC 82,054 10,403   Ben Bradshaw‡   John Gray†
Newton Abbot CC 72,529 17,501   Anne-Marie Morris†   Martin Wrigley¤
North Devon CC 75,859 14,813   Selaine Saxby†   Alex White¤
Plymouth, Moor View BC 69,430 12,897   Johnny Mercer†   Charlotte Holloway‡
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport BC 77,852 4,757   Luke Pollard‡   Rebecca Smith†
South West Devon CC 72,535 21,430   Gary Streeter†   Philippa Davey‡
Tiverton and Honiton CC 42,707[3] 6,144[3]   Richard Foord¤   Helen Hurford†
Torbay BC 75,054 17,749   Kevin Foster†   Lee Howgate¤
Torridge and West Devon CC 80,403 24,992   Geoffrey Cox†   David Chalmers¤
Totnes CC 69,863 12,724   Anthony Mangnall†   Sarah Wollaston¤

2010 boundary changes

Under the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Boundary Commission for England decided to increase the number of seats in Devon from 11 to 12, with the creation of Central Devon, which impacted on neighbouring constituencies. An adjusted Teignbridge constituency was renamed Newton Abbot. Plymouth, Devonport, and Plymouth, Sutton were renamed Plymouth, Moor View, and Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport respectively following a small realignment of the boundary between the two constituencies.

Former name Boundaries 1997-2010 Current name Boundaries 2010–present
  1. East Devon CC
  2. Exeter BC
  3. North Devon CC
  4. Plymouth, Devonport BC
  5. Plymouth, Sutton BC
  6. South West Devon CC
  7. Teignbridge CC
  8. Tiverton and Honiton CC
  9. Torbay BC
  10. Torridge and West Devon CC
  11. Totnes CC
Parliamentary constituencies in Devon in 2005
Parliamentary constituencies in Devon in 2005
  1. Central Devon CC
  2. East Devon CC
  3. Exeter BC
  4. Newton Abbot CC
  5. North Devon CC
  6. Plymouth, Moor View BC
  7. Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport BC
  8. South West Devon CC
  9. Tiverton and Honiton CC
  10. Torbay BC
  11. Torridge and West Devon CC
  12. Totnes CC
2010 constituencies in Devon
2010 constituencies in Devon

Proposed boundary changes

See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.

Following the abandonment of the Sixth Periodic Review (the 2018 review), the Boundary Commission for England formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021.[4] Initial proposals were published on 8 June 2021 and, following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. The final proposals were published on 28 June 2023.

The commission has proposed that Devon be combined with Avon and Somerset as a sub-region of the South West Region, resulting in significant change to the existing pattern of constituencies. In Devon, East Devon, and Tiverton and Honiton would disappear, being replaced by Exmouth and Exeter East, Honiton and Sidmouth, and the cross-county boundary constituency of Tiverton and Minehead. Torridge and West Devon and Totnes would be renamed Torridge and Tavistock, and South Devon respectively.[5][6]

The following seats are proposed:

Containing electoral wards from East Devon

Containing electoral wards from Exeter

Containing electoral wards from Mid Devon

Containing electoral wards from North Devon

Containing electoral wards from Plymouth

Containing electoral wards from South Hams

Containing electoral wards from Teignbridge

Containing electoral wards from Torbay

Containing electoral wards from Torridge

Containing electoral wards from West Devon

Results history

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[7]

2019

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies comprising Devon in the 2019 general election were as follows:

Party Votes % Change from 2017 Seats Change from 2017
Conservative 355,052 53.9% Increase2.8% 10 0
Labour 150,169 22.8% Decrease6.2% 2 0
Liberal Democrats 96,809 14.7% Increase2.2% 0 0
Greens 22,004 3.3% Increase1.3% 0 0
Brexit 4,337 0.7% new 0 0
Others 30,836 4.6% Decrease0.8% 0 0
Total 659,207 100.0 12

Percentage votes

Election year 1924 1929 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative1 52.3 43.0 49.3 50.3 55.8 55.3 52.9 47.6 47.5 52.8 45.5 45.0 43.9 52.8 49.5 47.6 36.8 39.0 38.1 43.3 46.2 51.1 53.9
Labour 13.7 16.3 34.1 34.1 36.5 33.3 27.6 26.9 32.8 29.4 21.8 24.9 22.1 11.1 13.1 19.2 25.9 23.6 20.4 14.2 18.0 29.0 22.8
Liberal Democrat2 34.0 36.4 16.2 15.6 7.7 11.3 19.5 25.5 19.6 17.8 32.6 29.9 22.8 35.4 36.6 30.3 31.3 31.9 32.7 33.4 13.2 12.5 14.7
Green Party - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * * * 1.6 5.6 2.0 3.3
UKIP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * * * 6.1 14.6 1.7 *
Brexit Party - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.7
Other - 4.2 0.4 0.1 - - - - - - 0.1 0.2 1.2 0.7 0.9 2.9 6.1 5.5 8.8 1.3 2.3 3.7 4.6

1Includes National Liberal Party up to 1966 and one National candidate in 1945

2pre-1979 - Liberal; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

* Included in Other

Meaningful vote percentages are not available for the elections of 1918, 1922, 1923, 1931 and 1935 since at least one seat was gained unopposed.

Seats

Election year 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974

(Feb)

1974

(Oct)

1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019
Conservative1 8 9 10 9 9 7 8 8 8 9 10 10 9 5 4 5 8 11 10 10
Labour 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 3 3 3 2 1 2 2
Liberal Democrat2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 3 4 3 2 0 0 0
Total 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12

1Includes National Liberal Party up to 1966

21950-1979 - Liberal; 1983 & 1987 - SDP-Liberal Alliance

Maps

1885-1910

1918-1945

1950-1979

1983-present

Historical results by party

A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1885 to 1918 (13 MPs)

  Conservative   Liberal   Liberal Unionist

Constituency 1885 1886 91 1892 1895 98 99 00 1900 02 04 1906 08 Jan 1910 Dec 1910 11 12 15 18
Ashburton Seale-Hayne Eve Morrison-Bell Buxton Morrison-Bell →
Barnstaple Pitt-Lewis → Billson Gull Soares Baring
Devonport (two MPs) Puleston Morton Lockie J. Benn Jackson
Price Kearley Kinloch-Cooke
Exeter Northcote Vincent Kekewich Duke St Maur Duke Newman
Honiton Kennaway Morrison-Bell
Plymouth (two MPs) Clarke Guest → Dobson Williams W. Astor
Bates Pearce Harrison Mendl Duke Mallet A. Benn
South Molton Wallop → Lambert
Tavistock Fortescue → Luttrell Spear Luttrell Spear
Tiverton Walrond Walrond jnr Carew
Torquay McIver Mallock Philpotts Layland-Barratt Burn →
Totnes Mildmay → →

1918 to 1950 (11 MPs)

  Coalition Liberal (1918-22) / National Liberal (1922-23)   Common Wealth   Conservative   Independent Conservative   Independent National   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931-68)

Constituency 1918 19 1922 23 1923 1924 28 1929 31 1931 1935 37 42 1945
Barnstaple Rees B. Peto Rees B. Peto R. Dyke Acland → C. Peto
Exeter Newman → Reed Maude
Honiton Morrison-Bell Drewe
Plymouth Devonport Kinloch-Cooke Hore-Belisha → → Foot
Plymouth Drake A. Benn Moses F. Guest C. Guest Medland
Plymouth Sutton W. Astor N. Astor Middleton
South Molton Lambert → Drewe Lambert → Lambert jnr
Tavistock Williams Thornton Kenyon-Slaney Wright Patrick Studholme
Tiverton Carew Sparkes F. Dyke Acland Acland-Troyte Heathcoat-Amory
Torquay Burn Thompson Williams
Totnes Mildmay Harvey Vivian Harvey Rayner

1950 to 1983 (10 MPs)

  Conservative   Labour   Liberal   National Liberal (1931-68)   Social Democratic

Constituency 1950 1951 1955 55 58 1959 60 1964 1966 67 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979 81
Devon North C. Peto Lindsay Thorpe Speller
Exeter Maude Dudley-Williams Dunwoody Hannam
Honiton Drewe Mathew Emery
Plymouth Devonport Foot Vickers → Owen →
Plymouth Drake Fookes
Plymouth Sutton Middleton J. Astor Fraser Owen Clark
Tavistock Studholme Heseltine
Tiverton Heathcoat-Amory Maxwell-Hyslop
Torquay (1950–74) / Torbay (1974-83) Williams Bennett
Torrington (1950–74) / Devon W (1974-83) Lambert jnr Bonham-Carter Browne Mills
Totnes Rayner Mawby

1983 to present (11, then 12 MPs)

  Change UK   Conservative   Independent   Labour   Liberal Democrats   Social Democratic (1983-88) / Social Democratic Party (1988-90)

Constituency 1983 1987 90 1992 95 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 17 17 19 2019 22
Plymouth Drake Fookes
Honiton / East Devon (1997) Emery Swire Jupp
Exeter Hannam Bradshaw
Plymouth Devonport / Plymouth Moor View (2010) Owen → Jamieson Seabeck Mercer
Plymouth Sutton / Plymouth Sutton & Devonport (2010) Clark Streeter Gilroy Colvile Pollard
Teignbridge / Newton Abbot (2010) Nicholls Younger-Ross Morris → → →
Torbay Bennett Allason Sanders Foster
Devon North Speller Harvey Heaton-Jones Saxby
Devon West and Torridge Mills Nicholson → Burnett Cox
South Hams / Totnes (1997) Steen Wollaston → → Mangnall
Tiverton (1983–97) / Tiverton & Honiton (1997) Maxwell-Hyslop Browning Parish → Foord
South West Devon Streeter
Central Devon Stride

See also

Notes

  1. ^ BC denotes borough constituency, CC denotes county constituency.
  2. ^ The majority is the number of votes the winning candidate receives more than their nearest rival.

References

  1. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".
  2. ^ a b c "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The results". Mid Devon District Council. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  4. ^ "2023 Review". Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Electoral map shake-up for Devon". DevonLive. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  6. ^ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report | Boundary Commission for England". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. paras 1127-1178. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  7. ^ Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".
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