Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°21′07″N 1°59′42″W / 51.352°N 1.995°W / 51.352; -1.995

Devizes
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Devizes in Wiltshire.
Location of Wiltshire within England.
County	Wiltshire
Electorate	68,846 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Devizes, Marlborough, Durrington, Pewsey
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Claire Perry (Conservative)
Number of members	One
1331–1885
Number of members	Two until 1868, then One
Type of constituency	Borough constituency
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	South West England

Devizes /dɨvaɪzɨz/ is a constituency in Wiltshire, England, which is represented in the House of Commons of the U.K. Parliament and includes four towns and many villages in the middle and east of the county.^{[n 1]} The area's representative has been a Conservative since 1924.

History

Until 1885 Devizes was a parliamentary borough, electing two Members of Parliament (MPs) by the bloc vote system until the 1868 election, when the Reform Act 1867 reduced its representation to one MP, elected by the first-past-the-post system of election. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 abolished the parliamentary borough, and created a new county constituency of the same name, covering a wider area and electing one member. It has returned a Conservative MP at every election since 1924.

Its most notable MP was Henry Addington, who held the seat during his term as Prime Minister, as well as when he was Speaker of the House of Commons.

Boundaries

The Devizes constituency covers Devizes in Wiltshire and the surrounding former Kennet district, which includes the towns of Marlborough, Durrington and Tidworth.

Members of Parliament

1295-1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1386	Richard Gobet	William Salter^[2]
1388 (Feb)	Richard Cardmaker	William Salter^[2]
1388 (Sep)	Richard Cardmaker	William Spicer^[2]
1390 (Jan)	Richard Gobet	William Spicer^[2]
1390 (Nov)
1391
1393	William Coventre I	William Spicer^[2]
1394	John Tapener	Richard Brunker ^[2]
1395	Richard Cardmaker	William Spicer^[2]
1397 (Jan)	William Salter	Henry Webbe^[2]
1397 (Sep)	William Salter	John Peyntour^[2]
1399	Richard Cardmaker	William Salter^[2]
1401
1402	Simon Skinner	Richard Smith^[2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	John Huwet	John Kingston^[2]
1407	John Peyntour	Simon Skinner^[2]
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	John Coventre	Simon Skinner^[2]
1414 (Apr)	Thomas Coventre	Robert Smith^[2]
1414 (Nov)	William Coventre III	Thomas Coventre^[2]
1415	William Coventre III	Roger Barbour^[2]
1416 (Mar)	Richard Litelcote	John Peyntour^[2]
1416 (Oct)
1417	William Coventre III	Robert Tyndale^[2]
1419	Robert Tyndale	William Hendelove^[2]
1420	John Coventre I	Robert Chandler^[2]
1421 (May)	William Coventre III	Robert Smith^[2]
1421 (Dec)	John Baker	John Fauconer^[2]
1425	Robert Chandler^[3]
1429	Robert Chandler^[3]
1442	Henry Long
1492	Richard Pudsey^[4]
1510-1523	No names known^[5]
1529	John Poyntz	Richard Mytton^[5]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Clement Throckmorton	Geoffrey Danielle^[5]
1547	Sir George Howard	Nicholas Throckmorton^[5]
1553 (Mar)	?
1553 (Oct)	William Rede	Thomas Hull^[5]
1554 (Apr)	Thomas Highgate	Henry Leke^[5]
1554 (Nov)	Thomas Hull	Edward Heynes^[5]
1555	Thomas Hull	James Webbe^[5]
1558	Thomas Hull	Henry Morris^[5]
1558	John Young	Edward Heynes^[6]
1562/3	Hugh Powell	Edward Heynes^[6]
1571	Edward Baynton	William Clerke^[6]
1572	George Reynolds, died and replaced 1580 by John Snell	Henry Grube^[6]
1584	Edward Baynton I	Henry Brounker^[6]
1586	Edward Baynton I	Henry Brounker^[6]
1588	Henry Brounker	John Delabere^[6]
1593	Henry Baynton I or Henry Baynton II	Richard Mompesson^[6]
1597	John Kent	Robert Drew^[6]
1601	Giles Fettiplace	Robert Drew^[6]
1604	Sir Henry Baynton	Robert Drew
1614	Sir Edward Baynton	William Kent
1621	Sir Henry Ley	John Kent
1624	Edward Bayntun	John Kent
1625	Edward Bayntun	Robert Drew
1626	Robert Long	Sir Henry Ley
1628	Robert Long	Thomas Kent
1629–1640	No Parliaments summoned

1640–1832

Election			2nd Party
March 1640	Edward Bayntun	Henry Danvers
November 1640	Edward Bayntun	Robert Nicholas
1653	Devizes not represented in Barebones Parliament
September 1654	Edward Bayntun	One seat only
September 1656	Edward Scotton	One seat only
January 1659	Chaloner Chute jnr	Edward Scotton
March 1660	William Lewis	Robert Aldworth
April 1661	William Yorke	John Kent
December 1666	John Norden	John Kent
October 1669	Edward Lewis	George Johnson
April 1675	Sir Edward Bayntun	George Johnson
February 1679	Sir Edward Bayntun	Sir Walter Ernle
September 1679	Sir Giles Hungerford	John Eyles
February 1681	Sir Walter Ernle	George Johnson
March 1685	Sir John Talbot	Walter Grubbe
January 1689	Sir William Pynsent
March 1690	Sir Thomas Fowle
December 1690	John Methuen
November 1695		Sir Edward Ernle
July 1698		Sir Francis Child
January 1701	Francis Merewether
November 1701	John Methuen
November 1702		John Child
March 1703		Francis Merewether
May 1705		Sir Francis Child
December 1706	Josiah Diston	Sir Francis Child
May 1708	Josiah Diston	Paul Methuen
October 1710	Sir Francis Child	Thomas Richmond Webb
August 1713	Robert Child	John Nicholas
January 1715	Josiah Diston	Francis Eyles (expelled)
February 1721	Josiah Diston	Benjamin Haskins-Stiles
March 1722	Sir Joseph Eyles
August 1727	Francis Eyles
April 1734		Sir Joseph Eyles
February 1740		John Garth
July 1742	George Lee
July 1747	William Willy
January 1765	William Willy	Charles Garth
June 1765	James Sutton
September 1780	Sir James Tylney Long, 7th Bt.
November 1780		Henry Jones
April 1784		Henry Addington	Tory
December 1788	Joshua Smith	Henry Addington	Tory
January 1805	Joshua Smith	Thomas Grimston Estcourt
June 1818	John Pearse	Thomas Grimston Estcourt
March 1826	John Pearse	George Watson-Taylor

1832–1868

Election	1st Member^[7]		1st Party		2nd Party
1832		Wadham Locke		Montague Gore	Whig
February 1834		Wadham Locke		Admiral Sir Philip Charles Durham
November 1835		Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron-Estcourt	Conservative	Admiral Sir Philip Charles Durham
February 1836				James Whitley Deans Dundas
May 1838				George Heneage Walker Heneage
February 1844		William Heald Ludlow Bruges
February 1848		James Bucknall Bucknall-Estcourt
1852		John Neilson Gladstone
1857		Simon Watson Taylor		Christopher Darby Griffith
1859		John Neilson Gladstone
Feb 1863		William Wells Addington
Apr 1864		Sir Thomas Bateson, Bt.	Conservative
1868	Second Reform Act: representation reduced to one member

Since 1868

Devizes has been a safe Conservative seat since 1945. The current Member of Parliament is Claire Perry who was first elected at the 2010 general election, succeeding Michael Ancram, who had stood down at that election on health grounds.^[8]

Charles Hobhouse

	Member^[7]	Party
1868	Sir Thomas Bateson, Bt.	Conservative
1885	Walter Hume Long	Conservative
1892	Charles Hobhouse	Liberal
1895	Edward Goulding	Unionist
1906	Francis Rogers	Liberal
January 1910	Basil Peto	Unionist
1918	Cory Bell	Coalition Conservative
1922	Cory Bell	Conservative
1923	Eric Macfadyen	Liberal
1924	Percy Hurd	Conservative
1945	Christopher Hollis	Conservative
1955	H. Percivall Pott	Conservative
1964 by-election	Charles Morrison	Conservative
1992	Michael Ancram	Conservative
2010	Claire Perry	Conservative

Fictional Member of Parliament

Devizes was the stated constituency of fictional Conservative MP The Honourable Sir Piers Fletcher-Dervish, Baronet, later Junior Minister for Housing, in the TV sitcom The New Statesman, which was produced and set during the same decade (1980s) that Charles Andrew Morrison was MP for the real-life seat. He was portrayed by actor Michael Troughton.

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Devizes^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Emma Dawnay^[10]
	Conservative	Claire Perry^[11]
	UKIP	David Pollitt
	Liberal Democrat	Manda Rigby^[12]
	Labour	Chris Watts^[13]

General Election 2010: Devizes^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claire Perry	25,519	55.1	+4.0
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Hornby	12,514	27.0	+4.7
	Labour	Junab Ali	4,711	10.2	-12.2
	UKIP	Patricia Bryant	2,076	4.5	+0.2
	Green	Mark Fletcher	813	1.8	N/A
	Independent	Martin Houlden	566	1.2	N/A
	Libertarian	Nic Coome	141	0.3	N/A
Majority			13,005	28.1
Turnout			46,340	68.8	+3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ancram	27,253	48.5	+1.3
	Liberal Democrat	Fiona Hornby	14,059	25.0	+2.9
	Labour	Sharon Charity	12,519	22.3	−2.6
	UKIP	Alan Wood	2,315	4.1	+1.2
Majority			13,194	23.5
Turnout			56,146	65.2	+1.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.8

General Election 2001: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ancram	25,159	47.2	+4.4
	Labour	Jim Thorpe	13,263	24.9	+0.7
	Liberal Democrat	Helen Frances	11,756	22.1	-4.5
	UKIP	Alan Wood	1,521	2.9	+1.8
	Independent	Sir Ludovic Kennedy	1,078	2.0	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Long Tall Sally Potter	472	0.9	N/A
Majority			11,896	22.3
Turnout			53,249	64.2	-10.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ancram	25,710	42.82
	Liberal Democrat	Antony Vickers	15,928	26.53
	Labour	Frank Jeffrey	14,551	24.24
	Referendum Party	John Goldsmith	3,021	5.03
	UKIP	S. Oram	622	1.04
	Natural Law	Stephen Haysom	204	0.34
Majority			9,782	16.29
Turnout				74.69
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Devizes^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ancram	39,090	53.3	−1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Ms. Jane L. Mactaggart	19,378	26.4	−1.5
	Labour	Ms. Rosemary J. Berry	13,060	17.8	+0.5
	Liberal	S.C. Coles	962	1.3	−26.6
	Green	David Ripley	808	1.1	+1.1
Majority			19,712	26.9	+0.0
Turnout			73,298	81.7	+4.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.0

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	36,372	54.78
	Liberal	Linda E Siegle	18,542	27.92
	Labour	RW Buxton	11,487	17.30
Majority			17,830	26.85
Turnout				77.17
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	33,644	53.95
	Social Democratic	E Palmer	18,020	28.89
	Labour	D Hulme	10,468	16.78
	Wessex Regionalist	G Ewen	234	0.38
Majority			15,624	25.05
Turnout				74.95
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	32,439	50.92
	Labour	VE Finlayson	16,351	25.67
	Liberal	John Bernard Ainslie	14,059	22.07
	Ecology	R Burcham	713	1.12
	Wessex Regionalist	AB Mockler	142	0.22
Majority			16,088	25.25
Turnout				79.60
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	24,842	42.45
	Labour	VE Finlayson	17,821	30.46
	Liberal	John Bernard Ainslie	15,851	27.09
Majority			7,021	12.00
Turnout				75.22
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	27,878	44.53
	Labour	Richard Oliver Faulkner	17,980	28.72
	Liberal	J Crawford	16,753	26.76
Majority			9,898	15.81
Turnout				81.29
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	28,475	51.65
	Labour	Richard Oliver Faulkner	20,442	37.08
	Liberal	John Jones	6,210	11.26
Majority			8,033	14.57
Turnout				76.15
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	21,429	44.65
	Labour	Ian Hamilton	18,832	39.24
	Liberal	Prof. Michael Patrick Fogarty	7,730	16.11
Majority			2,597	5.41
Turnout				81.02
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	21,118	46.75
	Labour	Irving HH Rogers	17,170	38.01
	Liberal	Prof. Michael Patrick Fogarty	6,881	15.23
Majority			3,948	8.74
Turnout				81.37
	Conservative hold		Swing

Devizes By-Election, 1964
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. Charles Andrew Morrison	19,554
	Labour	Irving HH Rogers	17,884
	Liberal	Prof. Michael Patrick Fogarty	4,281
Majority			1,670
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Percivall Pott	20,682	51.41
	Labour	Wilfrid Edward Cave	16,844	41.87
	Independent Liberal	Jack Norton	2,707	6.73
Majority			3,838	9.54
Turnout				79.23
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Percivall Pott	20,317	52.69
	Labour	Wilfrid Edward Cave	18,242	47.31
Majority			2,075	5.38
Turnout				78.62
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maurice Christopher Hollis	20,319	52.02
	Labour	Wilfrid Edward Cave	18,742	47.98
Majority			1,577	4.04
Turnout				81.41
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Devizes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maurice Christopher Hollis	17,401	45.26
	Labour	Wilfrid Edward Cave	16,216	42.18
	Liberal	Richard William Thomas Aston	4,832	12.57
Majority			1,185	3.08
Turnout				82.11
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945 Electorate 40,216
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Maurice Christopher Hollis	12,796	47.0
	Labour	Wilfrid Edward Cave	8,120	29.9
	Liberal	Frances Louise Josephy	6,278	23.1
Majority			4,676	17.2
Turnout				67.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

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: Sir Percy Hurd,
Liberal: Frances Josephy

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935 Electorate 33,715
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Percy Angier Hurd	14,438	59.32
	Liberal	Frances Louise Josephy	9,903	40.68
Majority			4,535	18.63
Turnout				72.20
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1931 Electorate 32,371
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Percy Angier Hurd	16,702	66.27
	Liberal	Joseph William Molden	8,501	33.73
Majority			8,201	32.54
Turnout				76.20
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Percy Angier Hurd	11,979	47.8
	Liberal	Eric Macfadyen	10,728	42.7
	Labour	R. P. Sheppard	2,391	9.5
Majority			1,251	5.1
Turnout				77.5
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1924
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Percy Angier Hurd	12,157	60.9
	Liberal	Eric Macfadyen	7,807	39.1
Majority			4,350	21.8
Turnout				76.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Eric Macfadyen	9,202
	Unionist	William Cory Heward Bell	8,574
Majority			628
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing

Hilda Currie

General Election 1922
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Cory Heward Bell	9,598
	Liberal	Hilda Beatrice Currie	6,576
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918 Electorate 25,091
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Cory Heward Bell	8,512
	Liberal	James Currie	4,823
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist hold		Swing

denotes candidate who was endorsed by the Coalition Government.

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906 Devizes^[16] Electorate 8,988
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francis Edward Newman Rogers	4,247	53.9	+8.5
	Conservative	Godfrey Dalrymple Dalrymple-White	3,633	46.1	-8.5
Majority			614	7.8	17.0
Turnout				87.7
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.5

References

Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

Notes and references

Notes

↑ As with all constituencies, Devizes elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

↑ "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/chandler-robert-ii
↑ Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485-1504. |accessdate= requires |url= (help)
↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
↑ "Tories select successor to Ancram". BBC News. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/devizes/
↑ "Press release: Green Party announces new candidates for Chippenham and Devizes constituencies". Kennet and North Wiltshire Green Party. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/devizes-2015.html
↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South West
↑ http://electionresults.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/devizes-2015.html
↑ Kerr, Andrew (20 April 2010). "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). Electoral Services. Wiltshire County Council. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
↑ British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 (Craig)

Devizes

Suburbs	Wick Roundway Hartmoor Jump Farm Nursteed Southbroom

History	History of Devizes Devizes Branch Line Devizes wireless station Devizes Railway Station Devizes Prison Battle of Roundway Down Devizes Prosecution Society

Places of interest	Devizes Castle Caen Hill Kennet and Avon Canal Wiltshire Heritage Museum Roundway Down and Covert Wadworth Brewery Devizes White Horse

Politics	Devizes Constituency Claire Perry MP Devizes Guardians Wiltshire Council Kennet District Council

Churches	St. Peter's St. John's St. James'

Other	Devizes School Devizes Town F.C. Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon Wiltshire Police Green Lane Hospital

Twin towns	Mayenne Oamaru Tornio Waiblingen Baja Jesi

Constituencies in South West England (55)

Conservative (36)	Bournemouth East Bournemouth West Bridgwater and West Somerset Bristol North West Camborne and Redruth Central Devon Christchurch Devizes East Devon Filton and Bradley Stoke Forest of Dean Gloucester Kingswood Newton Abbot North Dorset North East Somerset North Somerset North Swindon North Wiltshire Plymouth Sutton and Devonport Poole Salisbury South Dorset South East Cornwall South Swindon South West Devon South West Wiltshire Stroud Tewkesbury The Cotswolds Tiverton and Honiton Torridge and West Devon Totnes Truro and Falmouth West Dorset Weston-super-Mare

Liberal Democrats (15)	Bath Bristol West Cheltenham Chippenham Mid Dorset and North Poole North Cornwall North Devon St Austell and Newquay St Ives Somerton and Frome Taunton Deane Thornbury and Yate Torbay Wells Yeovil

Labour (4)	Bristol East Bristol South Exeter Plymouth Moor View

South West England European constituency: Conservative (2) Green (1) Labour (1) UKIP (2)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Buckinghamshire	Constituency represented by the Speaker 1789–1801	Succeeded by East Looe
Preceded by Cambridge University	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1801–1804	Succeeded by Cambridge University