Parliamentary representation from Devon

Last updated December 30, 2021

The historic county of Devon in south west England was represented in Parliament from the 13th century. This article provides a list of constituencies constituting the Parliamentary representation from Devon.

In 1889 Devon became an administrative county. Unlike many other counties there has been no major change between the historic and administrative county boundaries. The first part of this article covers the constituencies wholly or predominantly within the area of the historic county. The second part refers to constituencies mostly in another historic county, which included some territory from the historic county of Devon (if any). The summaries section only refers to the constituencies included in the first section of the constituency list.

List of constituencies

Article names are followed by (UK Parliament constituency). The constituencies which existed in 1707 were those previously represented in the Parliament of England.

Key to abbreviations:-

(Type) BC Borough constituency, CC County constituency.

Constituencies wholly or predominantly in the historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes
Ashburton	BC	1298	1301	2	Unrepresented 1654-1659
	BC	1640	1868	2 (1640–1832)
	BC	1640	1868	1 (1832–1868)
	CC	1885	1918	1
Barnstaple	BC (1295-1885)	1295	1950	2 (1295-1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
	CC (1885–1950)			1 (1885–1950)
Bere Alston	BC	1584	1832	2	Also spelt Beeralston. Unrepresented 1654-1659
Dartmouth	BC	1298	1301	2	Includes Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardness 1654-1659
	BC	1351	1868	2 (1351-1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1832)
				1 (1832–1868)
Central Devon	CC	next	*	1
Devon	CC	1290	1832	2 (1290-1654)
				11 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1832)
East Devon	CC	1868	1885	2
East Devon	CC	1997	*	1
North Devon	CC	1832	1885	2
North Devon	CC	1950	*	1
South Devon	CC	1832	1885	2
South West Devon	CC	1997	*	1
West Devon	CC	1974	1983	1
Devonport	BC	1832	1918	2
Exeter	BC	1295	*	2 (1295-1885)
Exeter	BC	1295	*	1 (1885-*)
Honiton	BC	1301	1307	2
	BC (1640–1885)	1640	1997	2 (1640–1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
	CC (1885–1997)			1 (1885–1997)
Newton Abbot	CC	next	*	1
Okehampton	BC	1301	1307	2	Unrepresented 1654-1659
Okehampton	BC	1640	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654-1659
Plymouth	BC	1298	1301	2
Plymouth	BC	1442	1918	2
Plymouth Devonport	BC	1918	next	1
Plymouth Drake	BC	1918	1950	1
Plymouth Drake	BC	1974	1997	1
Plymouth Moor View	BC	next	*	1
Plymouth Sutton	BC	1918	next	1
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport	BC	next	*	1
Plympton Erle	BC	1295	1832	2	Unrepresented 1654-1659
South Hams	CC	1983	1997	1
South Molton	CC	1885	1950	1
Tavistock	BC	1295	1296	2	Unrepresented 1654-1659
	BC (1330-1885)	1330	1974	2 (1330-1868)
	CC (1885–1974)	1330	1974	1 (1868–1974)
Teignbridge	CC	1983	next	1
Tiverton	BC (1621–1885)	1621	1997	2 (1621–1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1885)
	CC (1885–1997)			1 (1885–1997)
Tiverton and Honiton	CC	1997	*	1
Torbay	BC	1974	*	1
Torquay	CC (1885–1950)	1885	1974	1
Torquay	BC (1950–1974)	1885	1974	1
Torridge and West Devon	CC	1983	*	1
Torrington	BC	1295	1307	2
Torrington	CC	1950	1974	1
Totnes	BC	1295	1868	2 (1295-1654)
				1 (1654–1659)
				2 (1659–1868)
	CC	1885	1983	1
	CC	1997	*	1

Constituencies mostly in another historic county

Constituency	Type	From	To	MPs	Notes

Periods constituencies represented

	1290–1295	1295–1296	1298–1301	1301–1307	1330–1351	1351–1442	1442–1584	1584–1621
Ashburton			1298–1301
Barnstaple		1295–1950
Bere Alston								1584–1654
Dartmouth			1298–1301			1351–1868
Devon	1290–1832
Exeter		1295–*
Honiton				1301–1307
Okehampton				1301–1307
Plymouth			1298–1301				1442–1918
Plympton Erle		1295–1654
Tavistock		1295–1296			1330–1654
Torrington		1295–1307
Totnes		1295–1868

	1621–1640	1640–1654	1659–1832	1832–1868	1868–1885	1885–1918	1918–1950	1950–1974
Ashburton		1640–1654	1659–1868
Barnstaple	1295–1950
Bere Alston	1584–1654		1659–1832
Dartmouth	1351–1868
Devon	1290–1832
East Devon					1868–1885
North Devon				1832–1885				1950–*
South Devon				1832–1885
Devonport				1832–1918
Exeter	1295–*
Honiton		1640–1997
Okehampton		1640–1654	1659–1832
Plymouth	1442–1918
Plymouth Devonport							1918–next
Plymouth Drake							1918–1950
Plymouth Sutton							1918–next
Plympton Erle	1295–1654		1659–1832
South Molton						1885–1950
Tavistock	1330–1654		1659–1974
Tiverton	1621–1997
Torquay						1885–1974
Torrington								1950–1974
Totnes	1295–1868					1885–1983

	1974–1983	1983–1997	1997–next	next–*
Central Devon				next–*
East Devon			1997–*
North Devon	1950–*
South West Devon			1997–*
West Devon	1974–1983
Exeter	1295–*
Honiton	1640–1997
Newton Abbot				next–*
Plymouth Devonport	1918–next
Plymouth Drake	1974–1997
Plymouth Moor View				next–*
Plymouth Sutton	1974–next
Plymouth Sutton and Devonport				next–*
South Hams		1983–1997
Teignbridge		1983–next
Tiverton	1621–1997
Tiverton and Honiton			1997–*
Torbay	1974–*
Torridge and West Devon		1983–*
Totnes	1885–1983		1997–*

Summaries

Summary of Constituencies by Type and Period

Note: Dates of representation prior to 1509 are provisional.

Type	1290	1295	1296	1298	1301	1307	1330	1351	1442	1584	1621	1640	1654	1659	1832	1868	1885	1918	1950	1974	1983
Borough	-	6	5	8	7	4	5	6	7	8	9	12	7	12	10	7	3	4	4	5	5
County	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	8	7	6	5	5
Total	1	7	6	9	8	5	6	7	8	9	10	13	8	13	12	10	11	11	10	10	10

Type	1997	next
Borough	4	4
County	7	8
Total	11	12

Summary of Members of Parliament by Type and Period

Type	1290	1295	1296	1298	1301	1307	1330	1351	1442	1584	1621	1640	1654	1659	1832	1868	1885	1918	1950	1974	1983
Borough	-	12	10	16	14	8	10	12	14	16	18	24	9	24	18	13	5	4	4	5	5
County	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	11	2	4	6	8	7	6	5	5
Total	2	14	12	18	16	10	12	14	16	18	20	26	20	26	22	19	13	11	10	10	10

Type	1997	next
Borough	4	4
County	7	8
Total	11	12

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References

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972)
British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (The Macmillan Press 1977)
The House of Commons 1509-1558, by S.T. Bindoff (Secker & Warburg 1982)
The House of Commons 1558-1603, by P.W. Hasler (HMSO 1981)
The House of Commons 1660-1690, by Basil Duke Henning (Secker & Warburg 1983)
The House of Commons 1715-1754, by Romney Sedgwick (HMSO 1970)
The House of Commons 1754-1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and John Brooke (HMSO 1964)
The House of Commons 1790-1820, by R.G. Thorne (Secker & Warburg 1986)
The Parliaments of England by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) out of copyright

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