North Devon (UK Parliament constituency)

North Devon
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of North Devon in Devon.
Location of Devon within England.
County	Devon
Electorate	75,098 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Barnstaple and Ilfracombe
Current constituency
Created	1950
Member of parliament	Peter Heaton-Jones (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1832–1885
Number of members	Two
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Devon
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

North Devon is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Peter Heaton-Jones of the Conservative Party.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1950-1974: The Municipal Boroughs of Barnstaple and South Molton, the Urban Districts of Ilfracombe and Lynton, and the Rural Districts of Barnstaple and South Molton.

1974-1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Barnstaple and Bideford, the Urban Districts of Ilfracombe, Lynton, and Northam, and the Rural Districts of Barnstaple, Bideford, and South Molton. (All these Districts had been abolished in 1974).

1983-2010: The District of North Devon, and the District of Mid Devon wards of Taw, Taw Vale, and West Creedy.

2010-present: The District of North Devon.

History

A previous two-seat constituency of the same name existed from 1832 to 1885, formally titled the 'Northern Division of Devon'. In the 20th century this area had a prominent national MP, Jeremy Thorpe, who led a Liberal revival countrywide, with particular strength in the South West.

The North Devon constituency was first created for the 1832 general election, when the Reform Act 1832 divided the former two-seat Devon into Northern and Southern divisions, each of which elected two MPs using the bloc vote system of election. The constituency was abolished for the 1885 general election, when the Redistribution of Seats Act split the county into smaller single-seat divisions. Its second creation is current and began at the 1950 general election (covering a smaller area than before). Before 1950 its territory was split between the old constituencies of Barnstaple and South Molton.

The Liberal Democrats and their predecessors the Liberal Party have, since World War II, shown a strong performance in this seat, which was held for twenty years by Thorpe as the Liberal leader. He lost it in the 1979 general election amid a scandal surrounding his relationship with homosexual Norman Scott and alleged involvement in a plot to murder him, of which he was found not guilty the same year. At the 1992 general election, Liberal Democrat Nick Harvey regained the seat from the Conservatives. Harvey lost the seat 23 years later.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1832–1885

Election	1st Member[2]		1st Party	2nd Member[2]		2nd Party
1832		Viscount Ebrington	Whig		Hon. Newton Fellowes	Whig
1837					Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bt	Conservative
1839 by-election		Lewis William Buck	Conservative
1857		James Wentworth Buller	Liberal		Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 20th Baron Clinton	Conservative
1865 by-election		Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bt	Liberal
1866 by-election					Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt	Conservative
1885 by-election					John Moore-Stevens	Conservative
1885	constituency abolished by Redistribution of Seats Act

MPs since 1950

The Member of Parliament for the constituency since 2015 is Peter Heaton-Jones of the Conservatives.

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1950	Sir Christopher Peto, 3rd Baronet	Conservative
	1955	James Lindsay	Conservative
	1959	Jeremy Thorpe	Liberal
	1979	Antony Speller	Conservative
	1992	Nick Harvey	Liberal Democrat
	2015	Peter Heaton-Jones	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: North Devon^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Peter Heaton-Jones[4]	22,341	42.7	+6.7
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Harvey[5]	15,405	29.4	−17.9
	UKIP	Steve Crowther[6]	7,719	14.8	+7.5
	Labour	Mark Cann[4]	3,699	7.1	+1.9
	Green	Ricky Knight[4]	3,018	5.8	+4.4
	Communist	Gerry Sables	138	0.3	+0.1
Majority			6,936	13.3	+2.0
Turnout			52,453	70.2	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	+12.3

General Election 2010: North Devon^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Harvey	24,305	47.4	+0.9
	Conservative	Philip Milton	18,484	36.0	+0.3
	UKIP	Steve Crowther	3,720	7.2	+2.0
	Labour	Mark Cann	2,671	5.2	−3.7
	Green	L'Anne Knight	697	1.4	-2.3
	BNP	Gary Marshall	614	1.2	N/A
	Independent	Rodney Cann	588	1.1	N/A
	English Democrat	Nigel Vidler	146	0.3	N/A
	Communist	Gerry Sables	96	0.2	N/A
Majority			5,821	11.3
Turnout			51,321	68.9	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+0.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: North Devon^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Harvey	23,840	45.9	+1.7
	Conservative	Orlando Fraser	18,868	36.3	−1.9
	Labour	Mark Cann	4,656	9.0	−1.1
	UKIP	John Browne	2,740	5.3	+0.3
	Green	Ricky Knight	1,826	3.5	+1.1
Majority			4,972	9.6	+3.5
Turnout			51,930	68.1	−0.2
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+1.8

General Election 2001: North Devon^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Harvey	21,784	44.2	−6.6
	Conservative	Clive E.J. Allen	18,800	38.2	−1.3
	Labour	Vivian G. Gale	4,995	10.1	+0.3
	UKIP	Roger Knapman	2,484	5.0	+5.0
	Green	Anthony J. Bown	1,191	2.4	+2.4
Majority			2,984	6.1	−5.2
Turnout			49,254	68.3	−9.4
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	-5.8%[n 3]

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: North Devon^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Harvey	27,824	50.8	+3.7
	Conservative	Richard Ashworth	21,643	39.5	−6.2
	Labour	Mrs. Eithne Anne "Annie" Brenton	5,347	9.8	+3.9
Majority			6,181	11.3	+9.9
Turnout			54,814	77.7	-6.7
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+5.0

General Election 1992: North Devon^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Harvey	27,414	47.1	+4.3
	Conservative	Antony Speller	26,620	45.7	−5.2
	Labour	Paul Bernard Donner	3,410	5.9	−0.4
	Green	Ms. Cathrine Hannah Simmons	658	1.1	N/A
	Natural Law	Gray Cooper Treadwell	107	0.2	N/A
Majority			794	1.4	−6.7
Turnout			58,209	84.4	+2.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: North Devon^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Antony Speller	28,071	50.9	−4.2
	Liberal	Michael Azariah Pinney	23,602	42.8	+4.9
	Labour	Mrs. Ann Christine Marjoram	3,467	6.3	+0.6
Majority			4,469	8.1	−9.1
Turnout			55,140	81.7	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: North Devon^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Antony Speller	28,066	55.1	+4.7
	Liberal	Roger Blackmore	19,339	37.9	+1.5
	Labour	Peter Edward James	2,893	5.7	−5.6
	Ecology	Roger Norman Joanes	669	1.3	N/A
Majority			8,727	17.2	+3.2
Turnout			50,967	80.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Antony Speller	31,811	50.1	+13.5
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	23,338	36.7	−11.4
	Labour	Antony John Saltern	7,108	11.2	−3.0
	Ecology	Tony Whittaker	729	1.2	N/A
	National Front	John Morley Price	237	0.4	N/A
	English National	Frank Hansford-Miller	142	0.2	−0.8
	Dog Lover's Party	Auberon Waugh	79	0.1	N/A
	Wessex Regionalist	Henrietta Elizabeth Rous	50	0.1	N/A
	Democratic Monarchist Public Safety White Resident	Bill Boaks	20	0.0	N/A
Majority			8,473	13.3
Turnout			63,514	81.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election October 1974: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	28,209	48.1	−5.8
	Conservative	Antony Speller	21,488	36.6	+0.2
	Labour	Mrs Alexandra Jessie Golant	8,536	14.2	+4.5
	English National	Frank Hansford-Miller	568	1.0	N/A
Majority			6,721	11.5
Turnout			58,621	74.58
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	34,052	53.9
	Conservative	Timothy Carleton Keigwin	22,980	36.4
	Labour	Terence Kendrick Marston	6,140	9.7
Majority			11,072	17.5
Turnout			63,172	86.49
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1970: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	18,893	44.1
	Conservative	Timothy Carleton Keigwin	18,524	43.2
	Labour	Christopher John Mullin	5,268	12.3
	Democratic Party	Barry Gray Morris	175	0.4
Majority			369	0.9
Turnout			42,860	84.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	16,797	43.57
	Conservative	Timothy Carlton Keigwin	15,631	40.54
	Labour	James H. Rayner	6,127	15.89
Majority			1,166	3.02
Turnout			38,555	85.31
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1964: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	19,031	50.71
	Conservative	Michael Henry Basil Peto	13,895	37.02
	Labour	Frank Paton	4,603	12.27
Majority			5,136	13.69
Turnout			37,529	84.32
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	15,831	42.94
	Conservative	James Lindsay	15,469	41.96
	Labour	Geoffrey W. Pitt	5,567	15.10
Majority			362	0.98
Turnout			36,867	84.78
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1955: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	James Lindsay	16,784	47.13
	Liberal	Jeremy Thorpe	11,558	32.45
	Labour	H. Heslop	7,272	20.42
Majority			5,226	14.67
Turnout			35,614	81.11
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Christopher Peto, 3rd Baronet	19,780	52.41
	Labour	William H. Wilkey	10,632	28.17
	Liberal	G. Alexander Halse	7,326	19.41
Majority			9,148	24.24
Turnout			35,614	81.11
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: North Devon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Christopher Peto, 3rd Baronet	17,724	46.33	N/A
	Liberal	Guy Naylor	11,640	30.43	N/A
	Labour	Maj. W.A. Barker	8,892	23.24	N/A
Majority			6,084	15.90	N/A
Turnout			38,256	85.69	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Devon

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.
3. This was in 2001 the largest two-party swing locally, (LD-UKIP)

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
3. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
4. "Ricky is Green's 2015 candidate". North Devon Journal. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
5. "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
6. "Steve Crowther to stand for UKIP in North Devon at 2015 general election". North Devon Journal. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
7. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
8. Pratt, D J (20 April 2010). "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (MS Word). Acting Returning Officer, North Devon Council. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
14. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

• The Times House of Commons 1945. 1945.
• The Times House of Commons 1950. 1950.
• The Times House of Commons 1955. 1955.