South West Devon (UK Parliament constituency)

South West Devon is a constituency^{[n 1]} most recently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 1997 to 2024, by Sir Gary Streeter, a Conservative. Plymstock Radford Councillor Rebecca Smith retained the seat for the Conservatives in the 4 July 2024 general election after Sir Gary Streeter didn't stand for re-election. ^{[n 2]}

South West Devon
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of South West Devon in Devon
Location of Devon within England
County	Devon
Electorate	75,731 (2023)[1]
Major settlements	Plympton, Plymstock and Ivybridge
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Rebecca Smith (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Plymouth Sutton, South Hams

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1997–2010: The District of South Hams wards of Bickleigh and Shaugh, Brixton, Charterlands, Cornwood and Harford, Erme Valley, Ivybridge, Modbury, Newton and Noss, Sparkwell, Ugborough, Wembury, and Yealmpton, the City of Plymouth wards of Plympton Erle, Plympton St Mary, Plymstock Dunstone, and Plymstock Radford, and the Borough of West Devon ward of Buckland Monachorum.

2010–2024: The District of South Hams wards of Bickleigh and Shaugh, Charterlands, Cornwood and Sparkwell, Erme Valley, Ivybridge Central, Ivybridge Filham, Ivybridge Woodlands, Newton and Noss, Wembury and Brixton, and Yealmpton, and the City of Plymouth wards of Plympton Chaddlewood, Plympton Erle, Plympton St Mary, Plymstock Dunstone, and Plymstock Radford.

The constituency is a south-western portion of Devon and includes the easternmost part of the city of Plymouth, namely the suburban small towns of Plympton (which as the borough constituency of Plympton Erle returned its own MPs until the Reform Act 1832 abolished the seat as a 'rotten borough') and Plymstock which are so close as to be contiguous with the city's eastern parts, as well as the town of Ivybridge and much of the South Hams. Its landscape includes the edge of Dartmoor and a southern coastline.

2024-present: Further to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the constituency will be composed of the following (as they existed on 1 December 2020):

• The City of Plymouth wards of: Plympton Chaddlewood; Plympton Erle; Plympton St. Mary; Plymstock Dunstone; Plymstock Radford.
• The District of South Hams wards of: Bickleigh & Cornwood; Ermington & Ugborough; Ivybridge East; Ivybridge West; Newton & Yealmpton; Wembury & Brixton; Woolwell.
• The Borough of West Devon wards of: Buckland Monachorum; Burrator.^[2]

Minor changes including the gain of the two West Devon Borough wards from Torridge and West Devon and the loss of the Charterlands ward in the east to the newly named constituency of South Devon.

History

The areas covered in the seat were previously served by the South Hams and Plymouth Sutton seats. Both seats had been represented by the Conservative Party, and Gary Streeter, who became the first MP for the new constituency in 1997, had been MP for Plymouth Sutton from 1992 until 1997.

Constituency profile

Unemployment, at 1.3% in November 2012, was significantly lower than the national average of 3.8%.^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1997	Sir Gary Streeter	Conservative
	2024	Rebecca Smith	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: South West Devon^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rebecca Smith	17,916	34.3	−28.3
	Labour	Sarah Allen	15,804	30.3	+8.9
	Reform UK	Stephen Horner	9,361	17.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Julian Brazil	5,551	10.6	−1.5
	Green	Lauren McLay	2,925	5.6	+1.7
	Independent	Alan Spencer	438	0.8	N/A
	TUSC	Ben Davy	141	0.3	N/A
	Heritage	Darryl Ingram	106	0.2	N/A
Majority			2,112	4.0	−36.2
Turnout			52,242	66.5	−7.9
Registered electors			77,600
	Conservative hold		Swing	−18.6

Elections in the 2010s

2019 notional result[7]
Party		Vote	%
	Conservative	35,102	62.6
	Labour	12,012	21.4
	Liberal Democrats	6,807	12.1
	Green	2,179	3.9
Turnout		56,100	74.4
Electorate		75,371

General election 2019: South West Devon^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	33,286	62.4	+2.6
	Labour	Alex Beverley	11,856	22.2	−7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Sima Davarian	6,207	11.6	+6.4
	Green	Ian Poyser	2,018	3.8	+1.7
Majority			21,430	40.2	+10.3
Turnout			53,367	73.6	−0.4
Registered electors			72,535
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.15

General election 2017: South West Devon^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	31,634	59.8	+3.2
	Labour Co-op	Philippa Davey	15,818	29.9	+13.2
	Liberal Democrats	Caroline Voaden	2,732	5.2	−2.3
	UKIP	Ian Ross	1,540	2.9	−11.6
	Green	Win Scutt	1,133	2.1	−2.7
Majority			15,816	29.9	−10.0
Turnout			52,857	74.0	+3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.0

General election 2015: South West Devon^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	28,500	56.6	+0.6
	Labour	Chaz Singh	8,391	16.7	+4.3
	UKIP	Robin Julian	7,306	14.5	+8.3
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Davies	3,767	7.5	−16.6
	Green	Win Scutt	2,408	4.8	+3.5
Majority			20,109	39.9	+8.0
Turnout			50,372	70.9	−0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.6

General election 2010: South West Devon^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	27,908	56.0	+11.6
	Liberal Democrats	Anna Pascoe	12,034	24.1	+0.3
	Labour	Luke Pollard	6,193	12.4	−11.8
	UKIP	Hugh Williams	3,084	6.2	−1.3
	Green	Vaughan Brean	641	1.3	N/A
Majority			15,874	31.9	+11.2
Turnout			49,860	71.2	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+5.6

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: South West Devon^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	21,906	44.8	−2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Evans	11,765	24.1	+5.7
	Labour	Christopher Mavin	11,545	23.6	−8.0
	UKIP	Hugh Williams	3,669	7.5	+4.3
Majority			10,141	20.7	+5.5
Turnout			48,885	68.6	+2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.8

General election 2001: South West Devon^[15][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	21,970	46.8	+3.9
	Labour	Christopher Mavin	14,826	31.6	+2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Phil Hutty	8,616	18.4	−5.4
	UKIP	Roger Bullock	1,492	3.2	+2.3
Majority			7,144	15.2	+1.2
Turnout			46,904	66.1	−10.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: South West Devon^[16][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Gary Streeter	22,659	42.9
	Labour	Christopher Mavin	15,262	28.9
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Baldry	12,542	23.8
	Referendum	Robert Saddler	1,668	3.2
	UKIP	H.M. King	491	0.9
	Natural Law	Jon Hyde	159	0.3
Majority			7,397	14.0
Turnout			52,781	76.2
	Conservative win (new seat)

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in Devon

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.