The current constituency was formed for the 1997 general election, from parts of the former South Hams constituency. This had largely replaced the previous Totnes constituency, which had existed in a wide form since 1885, but in a much narrower form from the Model Parliament.
The modern constituency has been served by two Conservatives since its 1997 recreation, which suggests a safe seat, though it came close to falling to the Liberal Democrats in 1997.
Boundaries
1885-1918: The Municipal Borough of Totnes, and the Sessional Divisions of Ermington and Plympton, and Stanborough and Coleridge.
1918-1950: The Municipal Borough of Totnes, the Urban Districts of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Kingsbridge, Newton Abbot, Salcombe, and Teignmouth, the Rural District of Kingsbridge, and parts of the Rural Districts of Newton Abbot and Totnes.
1950-1974: The Municipal Boroughs of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardness, and Totnes, the Urban Districts of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Kingsbridge, Newton Abbot, and Salcombe, the Rural Districts of Kingsbridge and Newton Abbot, and part of the Rural District of Totnes.
1974-1983: The Municipal Boroughs of Clifton, Dartmouth, Hardness, and Totnes, the Urban Districts of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Kingsbridge, Newton Abbot, and Salcombe, and the Rural Districts of Kingsbridge, Newton Abbot, and Totnes.
1997-2010: The District of South Hams wards of Avon and Harbourne, Avonleigh, Dartington, Dartmouth Clifton, Dartmouth Hardness, Dart Valley, Eastmoor, Garabrook, Kingsbridge, Kingswear, Malborough, Marldon, Salcombe, Saltstone, Skerries, South Brent, Stoke Gabriel, Stokenham, Thurlestone, Totnes, Totnes Bridgetown, and West Dart, the Borough of Torbay wards of Blatchcombe, Furzeham with Churston, and St Peter's with St Mary's, and the District of Teignbridge wards of Ambrook, Ashburton, and Buckfastleigh.
2010-present: The District of South Hams wards of Allington and Loddiswell, Avon and Harbourne, Dartington, Dartmouth and Kingswear, Dartmouth Townstal, East Dart, Eastmoor, Kingsbridge East, Kingsbridge North, Marldon, Salcombe and Malborough, Saltstone, Skerries, South Brent, Stokenham, Thurlestone, Totnes Bridgetown, Totnes Town, West Dart, and Westville and Alvington, and the Borough of Torbay wards of Berry Head with Furzeham, Blatchcombe, Churston with Galmpton, and St Mary’s with Summercombe.
The seat covering the undulating Totnes area in south Devon. Workless claimants, registered jobseekers, were in November 2012 significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%, at 2.4% of the population based on a statistical compilation by The Guardian.[4]
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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;
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;
On petition, Pender was unseated on 22 March 1866. No writ was issued to replace him and, in 1868, the seat was disenfranchised and absorbed into South Devon.
^ abBoth Baldwin and Blount received equal votes at the 1839 by-election and were declared elected. However, this was declared void on 8 April 1840 and a by-election was called
^"'Totnes', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^‘CAIRNS, John Arthur Robert’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 20 Sept 2017
^"Totnes". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 16 April 1859. p. 5. Retrieved 15 July 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
^"Totnes". Kerry Evening Post. 17 December 1862. p. 5. Retrieved 25 March 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
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