Tiverton (UK Parliament constituency)

Tiverton
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
County	Devon
1885–1997
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Tiverton & Honiton
1621–1885
Number of members	Two
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

Tiverton was a constituency located in east Devon, formerly represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Enfranchised as a parliamentary borough in 1615 and first represented in 1621, it elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the first past the post system of election until 1885. The name was then transferred to a county constituency electing one MP. (Between 1885 and 1918, the constituency was alternatively called Devon, North East.)

In 1997, it was merged with the neighbouring constituency of Honiton to form the Tiverton and Honiton constituency.

Prime Minister Lord Palmerston was a former MP for the seat.

Boundaries

1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Tiverton, and the Sessional Divisions of Collompton and Wonford.

1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Tiverton, the Urban Districts of Bampton and Dawlish, the Rural Districts of Oulmstock and Tiverton, and parts of the Rural Districts of Newton Abbot and St Thomas.

1950-1974: The Municipal Borough of Tiverton, the Urban Districts of Dawlish and Teignmouth, the Rural District of Tiverton, and part of the Rural District of St Thomas.

1974-1983: The Municipal Borough of Tiverton, the Urban Districts of Crediton, Dawlish, and Teignmouth, the Rural Districts of Crediton and Tiverton, and part of the Rural District of St Thomas.

1983-1997: The District of Mid Devon wards of Boniface, Bradninch, Cadbury, Canal, Canonsleigh, Castle, Clare, Cullompton Outer, Cullompton Town, Culm, East Creedy, Halberton, Lawrence, Lowman, Newbrooke, Paullet, Sandford, Shuttern, Silverton, Upper Culm, Upper Yeo, Westexe North, Westexe South, Willand, and Yeo, and the District of East Devon wards of Broadclyst, Clystbeare, Clyst Valley, Exe Valley, Ottery St Mary Rural, Ottery St Mary Town, and Tale Vale.

Members of Parliament

Tiverton borough, 1621–1885

Year	First member[1]		First party	Second member[1]		Second party
1621–1622		John Bampfield			John Davie
1624-March 1625		Sir George Chudleigh			Humphrey Were
April–August 1625		Rowland St John			John Francis
December 1625 – 1626		John Drake sat for Devon replaced by Richard Oliver			Peter Ball
1628–1629		John Bluett
No Parliament summoned 1629-40
April 1640		Peter Sainthill	Royalist		Peter Ball
November 1640					George Hartnall	Royalist
January 1644	Sainthill and Hartnall disabled from sitting - both seats vacant
1646		Robert Shapcote			John Elford
December 1648	Shapcote excluded in Pride's Purge - seat vacant			Elford not recorded as sitting after Pride's Purge
1653	Tiverton was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament
1654		Robert Shapcote		Tiverton had only one seat in the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
1656
January 1659		Francis Warner			Sir Coplestone Bampfylde
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		Robert Shapcote			Thomas Bampfylde
July 1660					Roger Colman
November 1660					Henry Newte
1661		Sir Thomas Carew, Bt			Sir Thomas Stucley
1664					Sir Henry Ford
1673		Samuel Foote
1685		Sir Hugh Acland			William Colman
1689		Samuel Foote
1690					Thomas Bere
1691		Sir Anthony Keck (MP)
1695		Lord Spencer	Whig
1702		Robert Burridge
1708		Richard Mervin
1710 [2]		Sir Edward Northey			John Worth
1715					Thomas Bere
1722		Arthur Arscott
1726					George Deane
1727					Sir William Yonge, Bt [3]	Whig
1728 by-election					James Nelthorpe
1734					(Sir) Dudley Ryder
July 1747		Sir William Yonge, Bt [3]	Whig
December 1747 by-election		Henry Conyngham [4]
1754		Sir William Yonge, Bt	Whig		Henry Pelham
1755 by-election		Thomas Ryder
1756 by-election		Nathaniel Ryder
1758 by-election					Sir Edward Hussey-Montagu
1762 by-election					Charles Gore
1768					Sir John Duntze, Bt
1776 by-election		John Eardley Wilmot
1784		Hon. Dudley Ryder	Tory
1795 by-election					Hon. Richard Ryder	Tory
1803 by-election		William Fitzhugh	Tory
1819 by-election		Viscount Sandon	Tory
1830					Hon. Granville Ryder	Tory
1831		Spencer Perceval	Tory
1832		John Heathcoat	Whig		James Kennedy[5]	Radical
1835 by-election					The Viscount Palmerston	Whig
1859		Hon. George Denman	Liberal			Liberal
1865		John Walrond, of Bradfield, Uffculme	Conservative
1866 by-election					Hon. George Denman	Liberal
1868		John Heathcoat-Amory	Liberal
1872 by-election					William Nathaniel Massey	Liberal
1881 by-election					Viscount Ebrington	Liberal
1885	Reduced to one member

County constituency, 1885–1997

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1885	Sir William Walrond	Conservative
	1906	Hon. William Walrond	Conservative
	1915 by-election	Charles Carew	Conservative
	1922	Herbert Sparkes	Conservative
	1923 by-election	Sir Francis Dyke Acland, Bt	Liberal
	1924	Gilbert Acland-Troyte	Conservative
	1945	Derick Heathcoat-Amory	Conservative
	1960 by-election	Robin Maxwell-Hyslop	Conservative
	1992	Angela Browning	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Tiverton & Honiton

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Tiverton ^[6][7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Hood Walrond	4,563	56.9	n/a
	Liberal	Sydney James Stern	3,460	43.1	n/a
Majority			1,103	13.8	n/a
Turnout				85.8	n/a
	Conservative win (new seat)

General Election 1886: Tiverton ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Hood Walrond	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Tiverton ^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir William Hood Walrond	4,433	58.8	n/a
	Liberal	Sir John Budd Phear	3,101	41.2	n/a
Majority			1,332	17.6	n/a
Turnout				84.0	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1895: Tiverton ^[6][7][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir William Hood Walrond	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Tiverton ^[6][7][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Sir William Hood Walrond	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Reed

General Election 1906: Tiverton ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Lionel Charles Walrond	4,455		n/a
	Liberal	William Henry Reed	3,970		n/a
Majority			485		n/a
Turnout					n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: Tiverton ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Lionel Charles Walrond	4,945
	Liberal	Ian Murray Heathcoat Heathcoat-Amory	4,153
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election December 1910: Tiverton ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	William Lionel Charles Walrond	5,033
	Liberal	Alfred Ernest Yates Trestrail	3,455
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

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: William Lionel Charles Walrond
• Liberal:

Tiverton by-election, 1915 ^[6][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Charles Robert Sydenham Carew	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Unionist hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1918: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Charles Robert Sydenham Carew	9,598	57.2
	Liberal	Sir Edward Penton	4,827	28.7
	Labour	Donald B Fraser	2,377	14.1
Majority			4,771	28.5
Turnout				64.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

• endorsed by Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

Francis Acland

General Election 1922: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Herbert Weston Sheppard Sparkes	10,304	46.9	-10.3
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Francis Dyke Acland	10,230	46.5
	Labour	Frederick Brown	1,457	6.6
Majority			74	0.4
Turnout				80.1	+5.3
	Unionist hold		Swing

Tiverton by-election, 1923

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Francis Dyke Acland	12,041	49.8	+3.4
	Unionist	Gilbert John Acland Troyte	11,639	48.1	+1.2
	Independent Labour	Frederick Brown	495	2.1	-4.6
Majority			403	2.0	2.4
Turnout			24,174	88.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+1.2

General Election 6 December 1923: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Francis Dyke Acland	12,303	50.0	+0.2
	Unionist	Gilbert John Acland Troyte	12,300	50.0	+1.9
Majority			3	0.0	-1.8
Turnout				87.4	-0.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.8

General Election 1924: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Gilbert John Acland Troyte	13,601	53.2	+3.2
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Francis Dyke Acland	11,942	46.8	-3.2
Majority			1,659	6.4	6.4
Turnout				90.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.2

General Election 1929: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Gilbert John Acland Troyte	15,423	50.5	-2.7
	Liberal	Dingle Mackintosh Foot	12,908	42.3	-4.5
	Labour	Heyman Wreford Wreford-Glanville	2,199	7.2	n/a
Majority			2,515	8.2	+1.8
Turnout				86.2	-4.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	+0.9

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert John Acland Troyte	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

General Election 1935: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Gilbert John Acland Troyte	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

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: Gilbert Acland-Troyte
• Liberal: A J Manaton

General Election 1945: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Derick Heathcoat-Amory	16,919	51.3	n/a
	Labour	GC Tompson	8,634	26.2	n/a
	Liberal	Cyril Harry Blackburn	7,418	22.5	n/a
Majority			8,285	25.1	n/a
Turnout				74.0	n/a
	Conservative hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Derick Heathcoat-Amory	20,606	52.11
	Labour	Albert Edward Patrick Duffy	12,055	30.48
	Liberal	Cyril Harry Blackburn	6,885	17.41
Majority			8,551	21.62
Turnout			46,536	84.98
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Derick Heathcoat-Amory	24,532	63.53
	Labour	Albert Edward Patrick Duffy	14,084	36.47
Majority			10,448	27.06
Turnout				81.26
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Derick Heathcoat-Amory	23,475	64.27
	Labour	Albert Edward Patrick Duffy	13,051	35.73
Majority			10,424	28.54
Turnout				76.32
	Conservative hold		Swing

1959 General Election: Tiverton^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Rt Hon. Derick Heathcoat-Amory	21,714	55.6
	Labour	John Elliot Orr Dunwoody	9,836	25.2
	Liberal	James J Collier	7,504	19.2
Majority			11,878	30.4
Turnout			39,054	80.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

Tiverton by-election, 1960^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	15,308	45.7	-9.9
	Liberal	James J Collier	12,268	36.7	+17.5
	Labour	Raymond F H Dobson	5,895	17.6	-7.6
Majority			3,040	9.0	-21.4
Turnout			33,471	68.4	-12.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Tiverton^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	19,280	47.3	-8.3
	Liberal	James J Collier	14,053	34.5	+15.3
	Labour	John T Mitchard	7,393	18.2	-7.6
Majority			5,227	12.8	-17.6
Turnout			40,726	80.1	-0.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1966: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	20,351	48.57
	Labour	F Keith Taylor	11,325	27.03
	Liberal	Frank J Suter	10,225	24.40
Majority			9,026	21.54
Turnout				80.72
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	24,689	55.18
	Labour	Roy Hewetson	10,823	24.19
	Liberal	Frank J Suter	9,229	20.63
Majority			13,866	30.99
Turnout				77.01
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	27,164	47.58
	Liberal	Frank J Suter	21,623	37.87
	Labour	Roy Hewetson	8,308	14.55
Majority			5,541	9.70
Turnout				82.36
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	25,265	46.68
	Liberal	Frank J Suter	19,911	36.79
	Labour	M Phillips	8,946	16.53
Majority			5,354	9.89
Turnout				77.45
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	33,444	56.74
	Liberal	David J Morrish	17,215	29.21
	Labour	AWF Cook	8,281	14.05
Majority			16,229	27.53
Turnout				79.25
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1983: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	27,101	54.78
	Liberal	David J Morrish	19,215	38.84
	Labour	DA Gorbutt	3,154	6.38
Majority			7,886	15.94
Turnout				77.51
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Tiverton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Robin John Maxwell-Hyslop	29,875	54.95
	Liberal	David J Morrish	20,663	38.00
	Labour	JA Northam	3,400	6.25
	Independent	WJ Jones	434	0.80
Majority			9,212	16.94
Turnout				79.71
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Tiverton^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Angela Browning	30,376	51.5	-3.4
	Liberal Democrat	DN Cox	19,287	32.7	-5.3
	Labour	Ms. SC Gibb	5,950	10.1	+3.8
	Liberal	David J Morrish	2,225	3.8	-34.2
	Green	PJ Foggitt	1,007	1.7	+1.7
	Natural Law	BC Rhodes	96	0.2	+0.2
Majority			11,089	18.8	+1.9
Turnout			58,941	83.3	+3.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.9

See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Devon

Notes and references

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 2)
2. At the general election of 1710, three candidates - Thomas Bere, Richard Mervin and John Worth - all received an equal number of votes and the returning officer made a double return. The House of Commons resolved on 1 December 1710 that the election was void, and a new poll was held at which Worth and Sir Edward Northey were elected (Bere having in the interim been appointed a Commissioner of the Victualling Office).
3. Yonge was also elected for Honiton, which he chose to represent, and did not sit for Tiverton in this Parliament
4. Created The Lord Mountcharles (in the peerage of Ireland), September 1753
5. Kennedy's election in 1832 was declared void "due to lack of qualification". A by-election was held on 4 May 1833, when he was re-elected
6. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
7. The Liberal Year Book, 1907
8. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886
9. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
10. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
11. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
12. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
13. Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
14. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950-1973; F W S Craig, Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1973
15. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.

Sources

• Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807)
• D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808)
• F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)
• Henry Stooks Smith, The Parliaments of England from 1715 to 1847, Volume 1 (London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co, 1844)
• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. p. 1.