Torbay is a
constituency in
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. Devo ...
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. T ...
of the
UK Parliament
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 ...
since
2015 by
Kevin Foster, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
. He defeated
Adrian Sanders
Adrian Mark Sanders (born 25 April 1959) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon from 1997 until his defeat in the 2015 general election.
Early life
Sanders is the ...
of the
Liberal Democrats, who had held the seat since
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
.
Boundaries
1974–1983: The County Borough of Torbay.
1983–2010: The Borough of Torbay wards of Cockington with Chelston, Coverdale, Ellacombe, Preston, St Marychurch, St Michael's with Goodrington, Shiphay, Tormohun, and Torwood.
2010–present: The Borough of Torbay wards of Clifton with Maidenway, Cockington with Chelston, Ellacombe, Goodrington with Roselands, Preston, Roundham with Hyde, St Marychurch, Shiphay with the Willows, Tormohun, Watcombe, and Wellswood.
The constituency covers the majority of the
Torbay
Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
in Devon, including the seaside resorts of
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...
and most of
Paignton
Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...
. The remainder of the borough is covered by the
Totnes
Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...
constituency.
History
;Political history
After being held for several Parliaments (taking together various predecessor areas) by
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, from 1997 the seat was held by
Liberal Democrats until 2015 when a Conservative re-took it.
;Prominent frontbenchers
Sir
Frederic Bennett
Sir Frederic Mackarness Bennett (2 December 1918 – 14 September 2002) was a British journalist, author, barrister and Conservative politician who served as a Member of Parliament for 35 years. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1985, a ...
did not achieve his own ministry nationally, but he chaired in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
the
European Democrats
The European Democrats were a loose association of conservative political parties in Europe. It was a political group in the European Parliament from 1979 until 1992, when it became a subgroup of the European People's Party–European Democr ...
group.
Constituency profile
Consisting almost entirely of coastal towns and villages, the constituency has a range of shopping, tourist and visitor facilities from
Paignton Zoo, safe bathing and boating to mini-golf, as well as a few nearby luxury resorts. Perhaps owing to the seasonal rise in employment, workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly higher than the national average of 3.8%, at 5.0% of the population based on a statistical compilation by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''.
Unemployment claimants by constituency
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
The seat is home to the Plainmoor football ground, home to Torquay United. Past MP Adrian Sanders is a notable supporter of the football club.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
The 12 vote majority in Torbay was originally the second smallest in any of the 659 constituencies contested at the 1997 general election, with only the Liberal Democrats' majority of 2 in Winchester being smaller. However the Winchester result was subsequently challenged and declared void resulting in a by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
.
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
See also
* List of parliamentary constituencies in Devon
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torbay (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Parliamentary constituencies in Devon
Torbay
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1974