Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)

Honiton
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Devon
1885–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	East Devon, Tiverton and Honiton
1640–1868
Number of members	Two

Honiton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Honiton in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) until it was abolished in 1868. It was recreated in 1885 as a single-member constituency.

For the 1997 general election, the town of Honiton was added to the neighbouring constituency of Tiverton to form the Tiverton & Honiton constituency. The remainder continued as the East Devon constituency.

Honiton was regarded as a potwalloper borough by the time of Thomas Cochrane. It was notorious for the bribes demanded by its electors, and was therefore a very expensive seat for a candidate to seek election in. The Yonge family of Colyton, patrons of the borough, were almost ruined by representing Honiton on several occasions.^[1][2] Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet (1678–1741) who had twice represented Honiton at great personal financial expense, made an "earnest request and recommendation" in his will that his son would "never stand as a candidate or if chosen will never be prevailed upon to represent or serve in Parliament for the borough of Honiton".^[3]

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Sessional Divisions of Axminster, Honiton, Ottery, and Woodbury.

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Honiton, the Urban Districts of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, and Sidmouth, the Rural Districts of Axminster and Honiton, and in the Rural District of St Thomas the civil parishes of Aylesbeare, Bicton, Clyst Honiton, Clyst St George, Clyst St Mary, Colaton Raleigh, East Budleigh, Farringdon, Lympstone, Newton Poppleford, Otterton, Rockbeare, Sowton, and Woodbury.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Honiton, the Urban Districts of Axminster, Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, and Sidmouth, the Rural Districts of Axminster and Honiton, and in the Rural District of St Thomas the civil parishes of Aylesbeare, Bicton, Clyst Honiton, Clyst St George, Clyst St Mary, Colaton Raleigh, East Budleigh, Farringdon, Harpford, Lympstone, Otterton, Rockbeare, Sowton, Topsham, and Woodbury.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Honiton, the Urban Districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, and Sidmouth, the Rural Districts of Axminster and Honiton, and in the Rural District of St Thomas the civil parishes of Aylesbeare, Bicton, Clyst Honiton, Clyst St George, Clyst St Mary, Colaton Raleigh, East Budleigh, Farringdon, Lympstone, Newton Poppleford and Harpford, Otterton, Rockbeare, Sowton, and Woodbury.

1983-1997: The District of East Devon wards of Axminster Hamlets, Axminster Town, Beer, Budleigh Salterton, Colyton, Edenvale, Exmouth Brixington, Exmouth Halsdon, Exmouth Littleham Rural, Exmouth Littleham Urban, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh, Exmouth Withycombe Urban, Honiton St Michael's, Honiton St Paul's, Lympstone, Newbridges, Newton Poppleford and Harpford, Otterhead, Patteson, Raleigh, Seaton, Sidmouth Rural, Sidmouth Town, Sidmouth Woolbrook, Trinity, Upper Axe, Woodbury, and Yarty.

Members of Parliament

Honiton re-enfranchised by Parliament in Nov 1640

MPs 1640–1660

Long Parliament

• 1640-1643: William Poole (Royalist) - disabled to sit, June 1643
• 1640-1648: Walter Yonge (Parliamentarian) - not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge, December 1648; died December 1649
• 1645(?)-1648: Charles Vaughan - excluded in Pride's Purge, December 1648

Honiton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament.

First Protectorate Parliament

• 1654: John Yonge

Second Protectorate Parliament

• 1656: Samuel Serle

Third Protectorate Parliament

• 1659: Walter Yonge (grandson of the Member from 1640 -1648)
• 1659: Samuel Serle

Long Parliament (restored)

• 1659-1660: Not represented

MPs 1660–1868

Election		First member[4]	!First party		Second member[4]	Second party
1660		Sir John Yonge			Samuel Serle
1661		Sir Courtenay Pole			Peter Prideaux
1679		Sir Walter Yonge			Sir Thomas Putt
1685		Edmond Walrond
1689					Richard Courtenay
1690		Sir William Drake			Sir Walter Yonge
1711					James Sheppard
1715		Sir William Courtenay			Sir William Yonge	Whig
1716		Sir William Pole
1727		James Sheppard
1731		Sir William Pole
1734		William Courtenay
1741		Henry Reginald Courtenay
1747		John Heath (later John Duke)
1754		Henry Reginald Courtenay			Sir George Yonge
1761					John Duke
1763		Sir George Yonge
1768					Brass Crosby
1774					Laurence Cox
1780					Alexander Macleod
1781					Jacob Wilkinson
1784					Sir George Collier
1790					George Templer (1755–1819), of Shapwick, Somerset
1796		George Chambers			George Shum
1802		Sir John Honywood
1805					Augustus Cavendish-Bradshaw
1806 (April)		Richard Bateman-Robson
1806 (October)		Thomas Cochrane
1807		Sir Charles Hamilton
1812		Richard Howard-Vyse			George Abercrombie Robinson
1818		Hon. Peregrine Cust[5]			Samuel Crawley
1826		Josiah John Guest[6]			Henry Baines Lott[7]
1830					Sir George Warrender
1831		Henry Baines Lott[8]
1832		Viscount Villiers	Conservative		James Ruddell-Todd	Whig
1835		Hugh Duncan Baillie	Conservative		Arthur Chichester	Conservative
1837					James Stewart	Whig
1841					Forster Alleyne McGeachy	Conservative
1847		Joseph Locke	Whig		Sir James Weir Hogg 1st Bt	Conservative
1857					Archibald Stuart-Wortley	Conservative
1859			Liberal		Alexander Baillie-Cochrane	Conservative
1860		George Moffatt	Liberal
1865		Frederick Goldsmid	Liberal
1866		Julian Goldsmid	Liberal
1868	Constituency abolished, but re-established in 1885

MPs 1885–1997

Election		Member[4]	Party	Notes
	1885	John Kennaway	Conservative
	Jan 1910	Clive Morrison-Bell	Conservative
	1931	Cedric Drewe	Conservative
	1955	Robert Mathew	Conservative	Died 1966
	1967 by-election	Peter Emery	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Tiverton and Honiton & Devon East

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Honiton[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Lt-Col. Arthur Clive Morrison-Bell	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

• endorsed by the Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Honiton[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Arthur Clive Morrison-Bell	Unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1923: Honiton[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Clive Morrison-Bell	12,470	50.6	n/a
	Liberal	John George Hawkins Halse	12,177	49.4	n/a
Majority			293	1.2	n/a
Turnout				81.0	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1924: Honiton[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Clive Morrison-Bell	14,804	55.2	+4.6
	Liberal	John George Hawkins Halse	12,025	44.8	-4.6
Majority			2,779	10.4	+9.2
Turnout				85.5	+4.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	+4.6

General Election 1929: Honiton[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Sir Arthur Clive Morrison-Bell	17,911	50.9	-4.3
	Liberal	John George Hawkins Halse	16,353	46.5	+1.7
	Labour	Florence Rose Davies	915	2.6	n/a
Majority			1,558	4.4	-6.0
Turnout				84.3	-1.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	-3.0

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Honiton[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cedric Drewe	21,854	60.0	+9.1
	Liberal	John George Hawkins Halse	14,563	40.0	-6.5
Majority			7,291	20.0	+15.6
Turnout				83.5	-0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+7.8

General Election 1935: Honiton[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cedric Drewe	22,805	71.9	+11.9
	Labour	J R Morris	8,916	28.1	n/a
Majority			13,889	43.8	+23.8
Turnout				69.6	-13.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Cedric Drewe
• Labour: J White^[16]

General Election 1945: Honiton[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cedric Drewe	24,499	65.8	-6.1
	Labour	Henry Thomas Langdon	12,739	34.2	+6.1
Majority			11,760	31.6	-12.2
Turnout				70.3	+0.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	-6.1

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cedric Drewe	26,767	57.78
	Labour	GR Sargeant	10,816	23.35
	Liberal	Guy Barrington	8,742	18.87
Majority			15,951	34.43
Turnout				84.43
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Cedric Drewe	27,015	58.42
	Liberal	John B Halse	9,858	21.32
	Labour	Norman L Stevens	9,369	20.26
Majority			17,157	37.10
Turnout				82.54
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Mathew	25,808	57.63
	Liberal	John B Halse	11,067	24.71
	Labour	Frederick W Thornton	7,907	17.66
Majority			14,741	32.92
Turnout				79.68
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Mathew	25,959	56.69
	Liberal	John B Halse	12,906	28.18
	Labour	Frederick W Morgan	6,928	15.13
Majority			13,053	28.50
Turnout				80.10
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Mathew	26,475	55.04
	Liberal	Warwick Deal	12,354	25.68
	Labour	Marjorie Clark	9,273	19.28
Majority			14,121	29.36
Turnout				78.77
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Mathew	26,966	54.4
	Labour	Marjorie Clark	13,257	26.7
	Liberal	Raymond Hicks	9,342	18.9
Majority			13,707	27.7
Turnout			49,565	78.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Honiton by-election, 1967
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Emery	26,501	57.0	+2.6
	Liberal	Bridget Trethewey	10,509	22.6	+3.9
	Labour	Marjorie Clark	9,501	20.4	-6.3
Majority			15,992	34.4	+6.8
Turnout			46,511	72.6	-6.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.7

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	32,885	59.48
	Liberal	Bridget Trethewey	11,330	20.49
	Labour	Malyn DD Newitt	11,072	20.03
Majority			21,555	38.99
Turnout				76.66
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	32,429	54.48
	Liberal	V Howell	18,306	30.75
	Labour	Malyn DD Newitt	8,791	14.77
Majority			14,123	23.73
Turnout				81.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	29,720	53.77
	Liberal	V Howell	16,500	29.85
	Labour	RL Spiller	9,048	16.37
Majority			13,220	23.92
Turnout				75.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	37,832	62.42
	Liberal	R Ruffle	12,601	20.79
	Labour	T Luesby	8,756	14.45
	Ecology	MH Bacon	1,423	2.35
Majority			25,231	41.63
Turnout				77.41
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	32,602	60.58
	Social Democratic	A Sampson	17,833	33.14
	Labour	RAC Sharpe	3,377	6.28
Majority			14,769	27.45
Turnout				74.50
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Honiton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	34,931	59.17
	Social Democratic	G Tatton-Brown	18,369	31.12
	Labour	S Pollentine	4,988	8.45
	Monster Raving Loony	S Hughes	747	1.27
Majority			16,562	28.05
Turnout				76.41
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Honiton[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Peter Emery	33,533	52.4	−6.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs JM Sharratt	17,022	26.6	−4.5
	Labour	R Davison	8,142	12.7	+4.3
	Independent Conservative	DA Owen	2,175	3.4	+3.4
	Raving Loony Green Giant	SBF Hughes	1,442	2.3	+2.3
	Liberal	GJ Halliwell	1,005	1.6	+1.6
	Green	AJ Tootill	650	1.0	+1.0
Majority			16,511	25.8	−2.2
Turnout			63,969	80.7	+4.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.1

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Devon

Notes and references

1. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1754-1790/constituencies/honiton#constituency-main-article
2. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/constituencies/honiton
3. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/pole-sir-william-1678-1741
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 3)
5. P W Cust lived 1791-1873, according to Rayment
6. 1826 General Election The Times, Saturday 27 May 1826; p.4; Issue 12978; col E: "Mr. Guest, a great iron founder of Wales comes in for Honiton, without opposition, instead of Mr Cust, who retires". General Election: The Times, Saturday 1 July 1826; p.2; Issue 13008; col A: From the London Gazette, Friday, June 30 - List of members returned to the new parliament . . . Josiah John Guest . . .
7. H B Lott lived 1781-1833, according to Rayment. Bridgewater Advertiser reported Harry Lott - magistrate died 1 July 1833, age 51 at Tracey House near Honiton. . . Hansard says Mr Henry Lott served the Honiton Constituency 16 June 1826 - 30 July 1830 and 5 May 1831 - 13 December 1832.
8. The Times, Saturday 7 May 1831; pg. 2; Issue 14533; col F: General Election. Members Returned To The New Parliament: HONITON: Sir G Warrender and H B Lott Esq. The Times, Saturday, 28 May 1831; p.3; Issue 14550; col E: "From the London Gazette, Friday, May 27". - "Members Returned To The New Parliament: HONITON: Sir G Warrender and Harry Baines Lott of Tracey-house in the parish of Awliscombe in the county of Devon, Esq."
9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
11. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
13. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
15. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
16. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
17. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.