South West Devon is a constituency represented by Rebecca Smith, a Conservative, since 2024.
Constituency profile
South West Devon is a constituency in Devon in South West England, covering parts of the City of Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon districts. It includes the Plymouth suburbs of Plympton and Plymstock, the town of Ivybridge and the villages of Yelverton and Yealmpton.
Plympton and Plymstock serve as commuter suburbs for Plymouth and are both located around east of the city centre. Plymstock was a rural area that was developed for housing after World War II, whilst Plympton was traditionally an important stannary town and seaport in its own right. Both suburbs are affluent and consist mostly of semi-detached housing. The rest of the constituency is rural and covers an area of rolling hills and small villages between the upland moors of Dartmoor and the English Channel coast. This area has a history of kaolinite and tin mining and has average levels of wealth. Like Plymstock, Ivybridge is a rural settlement which experienced rapid suburban expansion in the late 20th century. House prices across the constituency are generally lower than the regional and UK averages.
South West Devon has a low proportion of young adults and a large retired population. Residents have above-average rates of income, high levels of homeownership, and the child poverty rate is low. They have average levels of education and a high proportion work in the retail, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. The percentage claiming unemployment benefits is around half the UK-wide rate. White people made up 98% of the population at the 2021 census.
At the local council level, Ivybridge and the rural areas are mostly represented by Liberal Democrats, Plymstock by the Labour Party and Plympton by independents. An estimated 55% of voters in South West Devon supported leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum, marginally higher than the UK-wide figure of 52%.
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 review of Westminster constituencies, enacted by the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, from the 2024 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.
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.
Members of Parliament Election Member Party 1997 Gary Streeter Conservative2024Rebecca SmithConservative
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
2019 notional result Party Vote % Conservative 35,102 62.6 Labour 12,012 21.4 Liberal Democrats 6,807 12.1 Green 2,179 3.9Turnout56,10074.4Electorate75,371
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
See also Parliamentary constituencies in Devon
Notes
References
External links South West Devon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK South West Devon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK South West Devon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK