South Hams
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
South Hams in Devon, showing boundaries used from 1983 to 1997.
CountyDevon
Major settlementsTotnes, Ivybridge, Brixham, part of Paignton
1983–1997
SeatsOne
Created fromTotnes, Torbay and Devon West[1]
Replaced byTotnes and Devon South West

South Hams was a county constituency based on the South Hams district of Devon. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election. The constituency covered a vast part of the English Riviera on the south Devon coast.

History

This was a safe seat for the Conservative Party. During the fourteen years and three parliaments of its existence, it was held by a single member, Anthony Steen.

In the 1987 general election the well-known Labour MP and staunch republican Willie Hamilton contested the seat, finishing third.

Boundaries

The District of South Hams wards of Avon and Harbourne, Avonleigh, Bickleigh and Shaugh, Brixton, Charterlands, Cornwood and Harford, Dart Valley, Dartington, Dartmouth Clifton, Dartmouth Hardness, Erme Valley, Garabrook, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge, Kingswear, Malborough, Marldon, Modbury, Newton and Noss, Salcombe, Saltstone, Skerries, South Brent, Sparkwell, Stoke Gabriel, Stokenham, Thurlestone, Totnes, Totnes Bridgetown, Ugborough, West Dart, Wembury, and Yealmpton, and the Borough of Torbay wards of Blatchcombe, Furzeham with Churston, and St Peter's with St Mary's.

The main towns of this South Devon constituency were Totnes and Ivybridge. It was divided in 1997 to form parts of the new constituencies of Totnes and Devon South West.

Members of Parliament

Election Member[2] Party
1983 Anthony Steen Conservative
1997 constituency abolished: see Totnes and Devon South West

Elections

General election 1983: South Hams[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Steen 31,855 57.24
Liberal Anthony H. Rogers 19,454 34.96
Labour Graham Morris 3,824 6.87
Ecology Wendy Morgan 518 0.93
Majority 12,401 22.28
Turnout 55,133 74.92
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: South Hams[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Steen 34,218 55.4
Liberal Robert Chave 21,072 34.09
Labour Willie Hamilton 5,060 8.2
Green Christopher Titmuss 1,178 1.9
Monster Raving Loony Timothy Langsford 277 0.45 New
Majority 13,146 21.3
Turnout 61,528 78.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1992: South Hams[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Anthony Steen 35,951 53.4 ―2.0
Liberal Democrats RV Evans 22,240 33.0 ―1.1
Labour E Cohen 8,091 12.0 +3.8
Green Christopher Titmuss 846 1.3 ―0.6
Natural Law LJ Somerville 227 0.3 New
Majority 13,711 20.4 ―0.9
Turnout 67,355 81.0 +2.3
Conservative hold Swing ―0.5

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "'South Hams', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 4)
  3. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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