North Devon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Ian Roome of the Liberal Democrats.
Constituency profile North Devon is a constituency in Devon and is coterminous with the local government district of the same name. It covers a coastal region along the Bristol Channel and a large, rural inland area. Its largest town is Barnstaple, which has a population of around 33,000. Other settlements include the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton, South Molton and Chulmleigh and the villages of Fremington and Braunton.
This is a rural constituency with seaside resort towns and many small villages. Barnstaple is an ancient town that grew from rural industry and shipbuilding. The coastal area is popular with tourists; the seaside village of Woolacombe and its surroundings contain numerous holiday parks. The constituency has average levels of wealth; there is some deprivation in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe whilst the area around Braunton is mostly affluent. House prices across the constituency are similar to the national and regional averages.
The constituency has a large retired population and a low proportion of young adults. In general, residents have below-average levels of education and average rates of homeownership. Household income is below average and the child poverty rate is in line with the rest of the country. A high proportion of residents work in the agriculture and tourism sectors and the percentage claiming unemployment benefits is lower than the country as a whole. White people made up 97% of the population at the 2021 census.
At the local council level, Barnstaple and its surroundings are represented by Liberal Democrats, Ilfracombe by Green Party councillors and the inland areas by a mixture of Reform UK, Conservatives and independents. An estimated 57% of voters in North Devon supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, higher than the UK-wide figure of 52%.
Boundaries
1832–1868: The Hundreds of Bampton, Black Torrington, Braunton, Crediton, Fremington, Halberton, Hartland, Hayridge, Hemyock, North Tawton and Winkleigh, Shebbear, Sherwill, South Molton, Tiverton, Witheridge, and West Budleigh.
1868–1885: The Hundreds of Bampton, Braunton, Crediton, Fremington, Halberton, Hartland, Hayridge, Hemyock, North Tawton, Shebbear, Sherwill, South Molton, Tiverton, Winkleigh, Witheridge, and West Budleigh.
1950–1974: The Boroughs of Barnstaple and South Molton, the Urban Districts of Ilfracombe and Lynton, and the Rural Districts of Barnstaple and South Molton.
1974–1983: The Boroughs of Barnstaple and Bideford, the Urban Districts of Ilfracombe, Lynton, and Northam, and the Rural Districts of Barnstaple, Bideford, and South Molton.
1983–2010: The District of North Devon, and the District of Mid Devon wards of Taw, Taw Vale, and West Creedy.
2010–present: The District of North Devon.
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies left the boundaries unchanged.
History
A two-seat constituency of the same name existed from 1832 to 1885, formally titled the 'Northern Division of Devon'.
This began at the 1832 general election, when the Reform Act 1832 divided the former two-seat Devon into Northern and Southern divisions, each of which elected two MPs using the bloc vote system of election. The constituency was abolished for the 1885 general election, when the Redistribution of Seats Act split the county into smaller single-seat divisions. Its second creation is current, and began at the 1950 general election (covering a smaller area than before). Prior to 1950, its territory was split between the old constituencies of Barnstaple and South Molton.
In the 20th century this area had a prominent national MP, Jeremy Thorpe, who led a Liberal Party revival countrywide, with particular strength in the south-west. The Liberal Democrats and its predecessor the Liberal Party have, since the Second World War, performed strongly in this seat; it was held for twenty years by Thorpe as the Liberal leader. He lost it in the 1979 general election, amid a scandal as a married man in love with Norman Scott and Thorpe's alleged involvement in a plot to murder him, of which he was found not guilty the same year.
At the 1992 general election Liberal Democrat Nick Harvey regained the seat from the Conservatives. He held the seat for 23 years until he lost it at the 2015 general election. Conservatives Peter Heaton-Jones, then Selaine Saxby held the seat for the next nine years, until it switched back to the Liberal Democrats in 2024, with the election of Ian Roome.
Members of Parliament MPs 1832–1885 ElectionFirst memberFirst partySecond memberSecond party 1832 Viscount Ebrington Whig Hon. Newton Fellowes Whig 1837 Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bt Conservative 1839 by-election Lewis William Buck Conservative 1857 James Wentworth Buller Whig Charles Trefusis Conservative 1859 Liberal 1865 by-election Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bt Liberal 1866 by-election Sir Stafford Northcote, Bt Conservative 1885 by-election John Moore-Stevens Conservative 1885 constituency abolished by Redistribution of Seats Act
MPs since 1950 The Member of Parliament for the constituency is Ian Roome of the Liberal Democrats who succeeded the previous Conservative MP Selaine Saxby at the 2024 general election.
ElectionMemberParty 1950 Christopher Peto Conservative 1955 James Lindsay Conservative 1959 Jeremy Thorpe Liberal 1979 Tony Speller Conservative 1992 Nick Harvey Liberal Democrats 2015 Peter Heaton-Jones Conservative 2019 Selaine Saxby Conservative2024Ian RoomeLiberal Democrats
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1880s
Caused by Northcote's appointment as First Lord of the Treasury and elevation to the peerage, becoming Earl of Iddesleigh.
Elections in the 1870s
Caused by Northcote's appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Elections in the 1860s
Caused by Northcote's appointment as Secretary of State for India
Caused by Northcote's appointment as President of the Board of Trade
Caused by Trefusis' elevation to the peerage, becoming Lord Clinton.
Caused by Buller's death.
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1830s
Caused by Fortescue's succession to the peerage as 2nd Earl Fortescue
See also List of parliamentary constituencies in Devon
Notes
References
Sources
External links North Devon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK North Devon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK North Devon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK