Tiverton and Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 50°49′37″N 3°20′56″W / 50.827°N 3.349°W

Tiverton and Honiton
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Tiverton and Honiton in Devon.
Location of Devon within England.
County	Devon
Electorate	75,839 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Tiverton, Honiton, Axminster, Seaton and Cullompton
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of parliament	Neil Parish (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Tiverton, Honiton
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Tiverton and Honiton is a constituency^{[n 1]} represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Neil Parish, a Conservative.^{[n 2]}

Boundaries

1997-2010: The District of Mid Devon except the wards of Taw, Taw Vale, and West Creedy (which were in Devon North), and the District of East Devon wards of Broadclyst, Clystbeare, Clyst Valley, Exe Valley, Honiton St Michael's, Honiton St Paul's, Otterhead, Ottery St Mary Rural, Ottery St Mary Town, Patteson, and Tale Vale.

2010-present: The District of Mid Devon wards of Canonsleigh, Castle, Clare and Shuttern, Cranmore, Cullompton North, Cullompton Outer, Cullompton South, Halberton, Lower Culm, Lowman, Upper Culm, and Westexe, and the District of East Devon wards of Axminster Rural, Axminster Town, Beer and Branscombe, Coly Valley, Dunkeswell, Feniton and Buckerell, Honiton St Michael’s, Honiton St Paul’s, Newbridges, Otterhead, Seaton, Tale Vale, Trinity, and Yarty.

The constituency is in east Devon, covering the towns of Tiverton and Honiton and their surrounding villages (which include extensive farmland, rivers popular with kayakers and part of the Blackdown Hills) These settlements are in the Mid Devon and East Devon districts.

Boundary changes for 2010

Parliament accepted the Boundary Commission's Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which slightly altered this constituency for the 2010 general election, and gave Devon 12 seats instead of 11. Some wards of Mid Devon District in this seat were transferred to the new Central Devon constituency; however, parts of the East Devon constituency, including the towns of Axminster and Seaton, were gained in return.

History

The seat came about when the town of Honiton from the Honiton constituency was added to the Tiverton constituency in 1997. Both were long-established seats, with the former having existed from 1640 and the latter from 1615. Both elected two Members of Parliament until the 1884 Reform Act reduced the number for both to one and their area was widened to cover two divisions of the county under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.

Political history

Prominent holders of the seats in the 19th century included Whig politician Joseph Locke, a railway pioneer, who was MP for Honiton, and Lord Palmerston, who, while MP for Tiverton, served as the first Prime Minister from the newly formed Liberal Party (1855-1858 and 1859-1865).

The seat can be regarded as a safe Conservative seat, if including either of its predecessors, the area served by the constituency has not been represented by another party in Westminster since 1923.

Constituency profile

Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.^[2]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1997	Angela Browning	Conservative
	2010	Neil Parish	Conservative

Elections

General Election 2015: Tiverton and Honiton[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Parish	29,013	54.0	+3.7
	UKIP	Graham Smith	8,857	16.5	+10.5
	Labour	Caroline Kolek	6,835	12.7	+3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Stephen Kearney	5,626	10.5	-22.9
	Green	Paul Edwards	3,415	6.4	+4.9
Majority			20,156	37.5	+20.5
Turnout

General Election 2010: Tiverton and Honiton[5][6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Neil Parish	27,614	50.3	+3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Jon Underwood	18,294	33.3	+4.2
	Labour	Vernon Whitlock	4,907	8.9	-4.4
	UKIP	Daryl Stanbury	3,277	6.0	+1.2
	Green	Cathy Connor	802	1.5	-1.3
Majority			9,320	17.0
Turnout			54,894	71.5	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.3

General Election 2005: Tiverton and Honiton[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angela Browning	27,838	47.9	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	David Nation	16,787	28.9	-6.9
	Labour	Fiona Bentley	7,944	13.7	+1.8
	UKIP	Bob Edwards	2,499	4.3	+2.0
	Liberal	Roy Collins	1,701	2.9	+1.8
	Green	Colin Matthews	1,399	2.4	+0.6
Majority			11,051	19.0
Turnout			58,168	69.8	0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.8

General Election 2001: Tiverton and Honiton[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angela Browning	26,258	47.1	+5.7
	Liberal Democrat	Jim Barnard	19,974	35.8	-2.7
	Labour	Isabel Owen	6,647	11.9	-0.9
	UKIP	Alan Langmaid	1,281	2.3	N/A
	Green	Matthew Burgess	1,030	1.8	+1.0
	Liberal	Jenny Roach	594	1.1	N/A
Majority			6,284	11.3
Turnout			55,784	69.2	-8.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Tiverton and Honiton[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Angela Browning	24,438	41.33
	Liberal Democrat	Jim Barnard	22,785	38.53
	Labour	J King	7,598	12.85
	Referendum	S Lowings	2,952	4.99
	Liberal	Jenny Roach	635	1.07
	Green	E McIvor	485	0.82
	National Democrat	Del Charles	236	0.40
Majority			1,653	2.80
Turnout				77.64
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Devon

Notes and references

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.

References

1. "Electorate Figures - Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. Unemployment claimants by constituency The Guardian
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 2)
4. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
5. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
6. Finan, Kevin (20 April 2010). "Statement of Persons Nominated - Tiverton & Honiton" (MS Word). Acting Returning Officer, Mid Devon District Council. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
7. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
8. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
9. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Sources

• David Boothroyd. "Constituencies in the unreformed House". Constituency enfranchisment dates. Retrieved August 6, 2005.