Devon and East Plymouth was a

European Parliament constituency Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected by the population of the member states of the European Union (EU). The European Electoral Act 2002 allows member states the choice to allocate electoral subdivisions or constituencies (, ...

covering all of

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 ...

in England, with the exception of the city of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

. It was created in 1994 to replace the majority of

and a small part of

Cornwall and Plymouth Cornwall and Plymouth was a European Parliament constituency covering the county of Cornwall and the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past- ...

. Prior to its uniform adoption of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

in 1999, the United Kingdom used

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast the ...

for the European elections in England,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The

European Parliament constituencies Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected by the population of the member states of the European Union (EU). The European Electoral Act 2002 allows member states the choice to allocate electoral subdivisions or constituencies (, ...

used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

each. The constituency consisted of the Westminster Parliament constituencies (on their 1983 boundaries) of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Plymouth Sutton Plymouth, Sutton was, from 1918 until 2010, a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. History Pl ...

South Hams South Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Services divide between those provided by its own Council headquartered in Totnes, and those provided by Devon County Council headquartered in the city of Exeter ...

Teignbridge Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot. Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish and Teignmouth. It is named for the old Teignbridge hundred. ...

, Tiverton,

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 ...

and Torridge and West Devon. The seat became part of the much larger South West England constituency in 1999.

Members of the European Parliament

Results

Only one election was held in the seat, in 1994. When nominations closed, it was revealed that

Richard Huggett Richard John Huggett (born January 1944) is a British former teacher who has been a candidate in a number of elections, using descriptions which were similar to those of established political parties, leading to this practice being outlawed under ...

was a candidate with the description "Literal Democrat", a name very similar to that of the Liberal Democrats. The latter launched legal action in the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC ( Engl ...

alleging that the

Returning Officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

had wrongly accepted a nomination which was designed to confuse voters. The Judge ruled that the nomination had to stand.Patricia Wynn Davies, "Historic win for Ashdown in West Country", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', 13 June 1994. Huggett won more than 10,000 votes, while Liberal Democrat candidate

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 ...

finished only 700 votes behind the winner. This prompted a change in the law, banning potentially confusing party descriptions.

References

External links

David Boothroyd's United Kingdom Election Results
European Parliament constituencies in England (1979–1999) Politics of Cornwall Politics of Plymouth, Devon 1994 establishments in England 1999 disestablishments in England Constituencies established in 1994 Constituencies disestablished in 1999 {{EU-stub