Honiton was a

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

centred on the town of

Honiton Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...

in east

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, formerly represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. It sent members intermittently from 1300, consistently from 1640. It elected two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(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 Tiverton and Honiton is a constituency in Devon, England. The current MP is Richard Foord of the Liberal Democrats, elected at a by-election on 23 June 2022. Prior to the by-election, the constituency had always returned a Conservative MP ...

constituency. The remainder continued as the East Devon constituency. Honiton was regarded as a

potwalloper A potwalloper (sometimes potwalloner or potwaller) or householder borough was a parliamentary borough in which the franchise was extended to the male head of any household with a hearth large enough to boil a cauldron (or "wallop a pot").Edward ...

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.

Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet (1678 – 31 December 1741), of Colcombe Castle, near Colyton and Shute, near Honiton, Devon was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1701 and 1734. ...

(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". __TOC__

History

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Sessional Divisions of Axminster, Honiton, Ottery, and Woodbury. 1918–1974: The 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 part of the Rural District of St Thomas. 1974–1983: The Borough of Honiton, the Urban Districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton, and Sidmouth, the Rural Districts of Axminster and Honiton, and part of the Rural District of St Thomas. 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 The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

* 1640-1643:

William Poole William Poole (July 24, 1821 – March 8, 1855), also known as Bill the Butcher, was the leader of the Washington Street Gang, which later became known as the Bowery Boys gang. He was a local leader of the Know Nothing political movement ...

(

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

) - ''disabled to sit, June 1643'' * 1640-1648: Walter Yonge ( Parliamentarian) - ''not recorded as sitting after

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

, December 1648; died December 1649'' * 1645(?)-1648: Charles Vaughan - ''excluded in

, December 1648'' ''Honiton was unrepresented in the

Barebones Parliament Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the ins ...

.''

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the Hou ...

* 1654:

John Yonge John Yonge (c. 1465 – 25 April 1516) was an English ecclesiastic and diplomatist, who also served as Master of the Rolls from 1507 until his death. He is not to be confused with his contemporary John Young (suffragan bishop in London) (1463 ...

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

* 1656: Samuel Serle

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

* 1659: Walter Yonge ''(grandson of the Member from 1640 -1648)'' * 1659: Samuel Serle Long Parliament (restored) * 1659-1660: Not represented

MPs 1660–1868

MPs 1885–1997

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Locke's death caused a by-election. Goldsmid's death caused a by-election. In 1868, the seat was absorbed into

East Devon East Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council has been based in Honiton since February 2019, and the largest town is Exmouth (with a population of 34,432 at the time of the 2011 census). ...

. It was later recreated for 1885.

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1914–15: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; *Unionist:

Clive Morrison-Bell Sir Arthur Clive Morrison-Bell, 1st Baronet (19 April 1871 – 16 April 1956), known as Clive Morrison-Bell, was a British soldier and Conservative Party parliamentarian. Biography Arthur was the son of Sir Charles Morrison-Bell, 1st Baronet an ...

*Liberal:

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

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 Sir Cedric Drewe (26 May 1896 – 21 January 1971) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the son of Julius Drewe, the English businessman, retailer, and entrepreneur. At the 1924 general election, he was elected to the House of ...

*Labour: J WhiteReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honiton (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in Devon (historic) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1868 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997 Rotten boroughs Honiton