East Devon is a constituency 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 2019 by

Simon Jupp Simon James Jupp (born 8 September 1985) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Devon at the 2019 general election. Early life and career Jupp was born in Plymouth at Freedom Fields Hos ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. A report by the

Electoral Reform Society The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...

found the seat (and its precursors) has been held by the Conservative Party since 1835, meaning it has been held for 186 years. This is currently the longest held seat by one party anywhere in the country.

Boundaries

1868–1885: The Hundreds of Axminster, Cliston, Colyton, East Budleigh, Exminster, Ottery St. Mary, Haytor, and Teignbridge, and Exeter Castle, and the parts of the hundred of Wonford that are not included in the city of Exeter. 1997–2010: 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, Lympstone, Newbridges, Newton Poppleford and Harpford, Raleigh, Seaton, Sidmouth Rural, Sidmouth Town, Sidmouth Woolbrook, Trinity, Upper Axe, Woodbury, and Yarty. 2010–present: The District of East Devon wards of Broadclyst, Budleigh, Clyst Valley, Exmouth Brixington, Exmouth Halsdon, Exmouth Littleham, Exmouth Town, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh, Newton Poppleford and Harpford, Ottery St Mary Rural, Ottery St Mary Town, Raleigh, Sidmouth Rural, Sidmouth Sidford, Sidmouth Town, Whimple, and Woodbury and Lympstone, and the City of Exeter wards of St Loyes and Topsham. The constituency is in the county 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 ...

, including eastern wards of Exeter, and has a shoreline on the

Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-Decembe ...

. Following a review of parliamentary representation in

by the

Boundary Commission for England The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

, which has increased the number of seats in the county from 11 to 12, East Devon was subject to significant boundary changes at the 2010 general election. In particular, the towns of

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Ax ...

and Seaton were transferred to the Tiverton and Honiton constituency. In addition, two wards from the City of Exeter are now part of the East Devon seat.

Constituency profile

The main settlements in the constituency are the City Of Exeter Ward, St Loyes and neighbouring Topsham , the resorts of

Exmouth Exmouth is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon. Histo ...

Budleigh Salterton Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at t ...

and

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town h ...

, and the inland towns of

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, F ...

and Cranbrook .

Members of Parliament

MPs 1868–1885

* ''Constituency created – two seats'' (1868) The two-seat constituency of East Devon was abolished at the 1885 general election.

MPs 1997-present

At the 1997 general election a new constituency of East Devon was established. Sir Peter Emery, MP for

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 ...

since a 1967 by-election, represented the new East Devon seat until standing down in 2001, when

Hugo Swire Hugo George William Swire, Baron Swire, (born 30 November 1959) is a British politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Devon from 2001 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has had several ministerial roles, ...

was elected. In 2015, 2017 and 2019, the seat saw an unusually strong

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

performance, by the anti-austerity candidate Claire Wright, a Devon county councillor. She won 24% of the vote in 2015, 35.2% in 2017 and 40.4% in 2019, coming second (and significantly ahead of any other candidate) each time.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

In 2019, East Devon was one of five English constituencies (the others being Cheltenham,

Esher and Walton Esher and Walton () is a constituency in Surrey represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2010, it has been represented by Dominic Raab of the Conservative Party, who is the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, ...

Westmorland and Lonsdale Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

and Winchester) where Labour failed to obtain over 5% of the vote, and thus lost its deposit.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1880s

* Caused by Walrond's appointment as a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

Elections in the 1870s

* Caused by Courtenay's resignation.

Elections in the 1860s

Notes

References

Sources

* ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832–1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886–1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978) {{DEFAULTSORT:Devon East Parliamentary constituencies in Devon Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1868 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1885 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1997