Totnes

[greenhert]

The constituency of Totnes was first created in 1295 but was disenfranchised under the Reform Act 1867 in 1868. It was recreated in 1885 and abolished in 1983, split between South Hams and Teignbridge. The current incarnation of Totnes, created in 1997, covers the eastern part of the South Hams District Council area plus a few villages near Torquay, with a number of villages near Newton Abbot having been moved into the new Central Devon constituency in 2010.

Totnes itself is famous nationally and internationally for being the most New Age town in Britain and perhaps the world. It even has its own local currency, the Totnes Pound, sponsored by the Transition Towns initiative. The Totnes constituency also contains Dartington, once home to Dartington School of Arts until that was moved to Falmouth in 2008, Dartmouth, home to the Royal Naval College, the super-rich coastal enclave of Salcombe with all its yachts and second homes, Kingsbridge, Brixham, and other assorted villages in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Like much of rural Devon, Totnes has an older population although it is not as reliant on seasonal employment as other parts of Devon.

From 1997 to 2010, Totnes was a Conservative-Liberal Democrat marginal but the Liberal Democrats never managed to unseat Anthony Steen, who spent 36 years as a Conservative MP without ever receiving a knighthood, privy counsellorship, or ministerial post. Ironically in winning selection for its predecessor seat, South Hams, he ousted the equally lacklustre Ray Mawby (who spent 28 years as Totnes' MP without any notable achievements; after his death he was later exposed as a Czech spy) in that seat's selection contest in 1983. He was eventually forced out by the expenses scandal and Dr Sarah Wollaston, elected via a US-style primary as part of David Cameron's modernisation initiatives, was elected in 2010. Due to her pro-European stance she defected to Change UK and then the Liberal Democrats; she contested Totnes under that banner but was roundly defeated by Anthony Mangnall despite the Greens not standing a candidate against her. This seat has good prospects for the Green Party although most of the Green support locally and nationally is in Totnes town itself (which also has a notable Labour base); in 2015 they polled 10.3%, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fifth place. Only under Dr Wollaston's recent candidature did the Liberal Democrats make a significant recovery from their 2015 drubbing here. 

[Deleted]

The Labour base appears to have almost entirely defected to the Greens in Totnes, certainly at local level.

[Pete Whitehead]

Apr 7, 2020 13:43:08 GMT greenhert said:

The constituency of Totnes was first created in 1295 but was disenfranchised under the Reform Act 1867 in 1868. It was recreated in 1885 and abolished in 1983, split between South Hams and Teignbridge. The current incarnation of Totnes, created in 1997, covers the eastern part of the South Hams District Council area plus a few villages near Torquay, with a number of villages near Newton Abbot having been moved into the new Central Devon constituency in 2010.

Totnes itself is famous nationally and internationally for being the most New Age town in Britain and perhaps the world. It even has its own local currency, the Totnes Pound, sponsored by the Transition Towns initiative. The Totnes constituency also contains Dartington, once home to Dartington School of Arts until that was moved to Falmouth in 2008, Dartmouth, home to the Royal Naval College, the super-rich coastal enclave of Salcombe with all its yachts and second homes, Kingsbridge, Brixham, and other assorted villages in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Like much of rural Devon, Totnes has an older population although it is not as reliant on seasonal employment as other parts of Devon.

From 1997 to 2010, Totnes was a Conservative-Liberal Democrat marginal but the Liberal Democrats never managed to unseat Anthony Steen, who spent 36 years as a Conservative MP without ever receiving a knighthood, privy counsellorship, or ministerial post. Ironically in winning selection for its predecessor seat, South Hams, he ousted the equally lacklustre Ray Mawby (who spent 28 years as Totnes' MP without any notable achievements; after his death he was later exposed as a Czech spy) in that seat's selection contest in 1983. He was eventually forced out by the expenses scandal and Dr Sarah Wollaston, elected via a US-style primary as part of David Cameron's modernisation initiatives, was elected in 2010. Due to her pro-European stance she defected to Change UK and then the Liberal Democrats; she contested Totnes under that banner but was roundly defeated by Anthony Magnall despite the Greens not standing a candidate against her. This seat has good prospects for the Green Party although most of the Green support locally and nationally is in Totnes town itself (which also has a notable Labour base); in 2015 they polled 10.3%, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fifth place. Only under Dr Wollaston's recent candidature did the Liberal Democrats make a significant recovery from their 2015 drubbing here. 

Your 'few villages near Torquay' include Brixham which is by some way the largest town in this constituency and Blatchcombe - the Western edge of Paignton which on its own has more voters than the town of Totnes itself. Overall the Torbay section of this constituency accounts for 40% of the electorate.

[froome]

Apr 7, 2020 13:43:08 GMT greenhert said:

The constituency of Totnes was first created in 1295 but was disenfranchised under the Reform Act 1867 in 1868. It was recreated in 1885 and abolished in 1983, split between South Hams and Teignbridge. The current incarnation of Totnes, created in 1997, covers the eastern part of the South Hams District Council area plus a few villages near Torquay, with a number of villages near Newton Abbot having been moved into the new Central Devon constituency in 2010.

Totnes itself is famous nationally and internationally for being the most New Age town in Britain and perhaps the world. It even has its own local currency, the Totnes Pound, sponsored by the Transition Towns initiative. The Totnes constituency also contains Dartington, once home to Dartington School of Arts until that was moved to Falmouth in 2008, Dartmouth, home to the Royal Naval College, the super-rich coastal enclave of Salcombe with all its yachts and second homes, Kingsbridge, Brixham, and other assorted villages in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Like much of rural Devon, Totnes has an older population although it is not as reliant on seasonal employment as other parts of Devon.

From 1997 to 2010, Totnes was a Conservative-Liberal Democrat marginal but the Liberal Democrats never managed to unseat Anthony Steen, who spent 36 years as a Conservative MP without ever receiving a knighthood, privy counsellorship, or ministerial post. Ironically in winning selection for its predecessor seat, South Hams, he ousted the equally lacklustre Ray Mawby (who spent 28 years as Totnes' MP without any notable achievements; after his death he was later exposed as a Czech spy) in that seat's selection contest in 1983. He was eventually forced out by the expenses scandal and Dr Sarah Wollaston, elected via a US-style primary as part of David Cameron's modernisation initiatives, was elected in 2010. Due to her pro-European stance she defected to Change UK and then the Liberal Democrats; she contested Totnes under that banner but was roundly defeated by Anthony Magnall despite the Greens not standing a candidate against her. This seat has good prospects for the Green Party although most of the Green support locally and nationally is in Totnes town itself (which also has a notable Labour base); in 2015 they polled 10.3%, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fifth place. Only under Dr Wollaston's recent candidature did the Liberal Democrats make a significant recovery from their 2015 drubbing here. 

Having its own currency isn't that unusual. Many towns in the south-west have local currencies, though how well they are used varies a lot. Bristol have made a big push on the Bristol Pound, which is widely used in the city.

[Foggy]

Apr 7, 2020 15:46:30 GMT froome said:

Apr 7, 2020 13:43:08 GMT greenhert said:

Totnes itself is famous nationally and internationally for being the most New Age town in Britain and perhaps the world. It even has its own local currency, the Totnes Pound, sponsored by the Transition Towns initiative. The Totnes constituency also contains Dartington, once home to Dartington School of Arts until that was moved to Falmouth in 2008, Dartmouth, home to the Royal Naval College, the super-rich coastal enclave of Salcombe with all its yachts and second homes, Kingsbridge, Brixham, and other assorted villages in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Like much of rural Devon, Totnes has an older population although it is not as reliant on seasonal employment as other parts of Devon.

Having its own currency isn't that unusual. Many towns in the south-west have local currencies, though how well they are used varies a lot. Bristol have made a big push on the Bristol Pound, which is widely used in the city.

It's not just a south west thing. I'm fairly sure that there is/was a Lewes Pound as well.

My paternal grandparents will doubtless have voted for Steen here in 2001 and 2005 (in 1997 they were in the process of moving house, but were probably still registered in Wells). It was a constituency I knew well at the time as I seemed to visit it every other weekend! I hadn't realised that the arts school at Dartington has since closed.

[andrewp]

Given the slogan 'Totnes needs improvement', I have an entry to compliment the earlier entry on Totnes.

The most southerly constituency in Devon is named after the medieval market town of Totnes. The majority of this seat is the eastern half of the picturesque South Hams district containing, in addition to the eponymous town, the yachting creek towns of Dartmouth and Salcombe, and the inland town of Kingsbridge. The largest town, however, is the fishing port of Brixham, part of the Torbay conurbation.
There has been a constituency called Totnes since 1295, apart from brief gaps between 1867 and 1885, and 1983-1997 when the seat was named after the South Hams district.

This is predominantly older and heavily white constituency, usual indicators for a preference for the Conservative party. It is ranked 10th nationally on the percentage of people aged over 65 with more than 1 in 4 being in that age bracket. It is 98.3% white. It is also in the top 10 constituencies nationwide for the percentage of self employed people, due to the lack of any largescale industry or public sector.

Brixham is slightly different to the rest of the constituency. It has a population of 17000 and is a hilly town set above a working fishing harbour. It is more gritty and more Eurosceptic than the rest of the constituency. In the local elections of 2019 its two wards elected 5 Independents. In general elections it will vote Conservative, will be a tricky place for the Lib Dems, and would probably have been a decisive factor in the close Conservative/Liberal Democrat contests here between 1997 and 2005. The constituency as a whole is estimated to have voted 54% leave, which given that Totnes in particular is likely to have favoured remain, suggests that Brixham would have voted heavily Leave.

Totnes is the second largest town ( population 8000). It’s an ancient market town at the head of the Dart Estuary, with a quaint high street. It has virtually no national chain stores, its own Totnes pound and a sizeable alternative community. This is the weakest part of the seat for the Conservatives. In the 2019 Local elections Totnes split between Lib Dem and Green councillors.

Further to the south are the Yachting centres of Dartmouth and Salcombe. Salcombe is a very affluent small town, albeit suffering from some of the social issues found in parts of Cornwall, where young locals can’t afford housing and second home owners are in abundance, leaving an empty town in the Winter. Salcombe is very Conservative. Dartmouth, is a sophisticated yachting centre up the Dart estuary. It’s a place for messing about in boats and walking along the promenade. Dartmouth does however contain the Townstal area, a council estate up the valley from the town, which when it formed its own ward, was capable of electing a Labour councillor in 2011 and helped Labour to within 200 votes of victory in Dartmouth in 2019.

Overall however, this feels like a Conservative heartland. Even in the poor Conservative party showing of 2019, this seat elected 12 Conservative councillors, 7 Independents, 7 Liberal Democrats and 3 Greens.

When the seat was named Totnes again in 1997, sitting South Hams MP Anthony Steen survived a close battle with the Liberal Democrats by 877 votes. He had further close calls in 2001 ( 3597 majority) and 2005 ( 1947). This is one of those seats like Tiverton, where the Liberal Democrats never quite made it over the line. Upon Steen’s retirement the Conservatives selected their replacement through an open primary, GP Sarah Wollaston. Wollaston won in 2010 by 5000, and then following the Liberal Democrat collapse increased that to 18000 in 2015, with UKIP second. In 2017 Labour advanced fully 14% in Totnes to take second place and cut Wollaston’s majority to 13477. Following Brexit, Wollaston was one of 3 Conservative MP’s to defect to Change UK in 2019, and then following that party’s demise, defected to the Liberal Democrats in August 2019. Given the Liberal Democrat history in the seat, her candidacy wasn’t in a completely no hope cause here, and she increased the Lib Dem share by 16% to 29%. She still trailed in 12724 votes behind new Conservative candidate special advisor Anthony Mangnall.

[Robert Waller]

2011 Census

Age 65+ 26.3% 10/650
Age 45-64 30.9% 7/650
Age 25-44 18.6% 646/650
Age 16-24 8.6% 636/650
Age 0-15 15.5% 612/650
Owner-occupied 70.3% 207/650
Private rented 15.2% 267/650
Social rented 12.0% 492/650
White 98.4% 70/650
Black 0.1% 607/650
Asian 0.5% 639/650
Managerial & professional 31.8%
Routine & Semi-routine 24.9%
Self employed 16.6% 8/650
Retired 22.5% 5/650
Degree level 28.8% 215/650
No qualifications 21.9% 373/650
Students 5.4% 592/650

2021 Census

Owner occupied 70.6% 156/573
Private rented 17.1% 340/573
Social rented 12.3% 410/573
White 97.3%
Black 0.2%
Asian 0.8%
Managerial & professional 33.5% 259/573
Routine & Semi-routine 22.6% 327/573
Degree level 34.2% 223/573
No qualifications 15.8% 388/573




General Election 2019: Totnes

Party Candidate Votes % ±%

Conservative Anthony Mangnall 27,751 53.2 -0.5
Liberal Democrats Sarah Wollaston 15,027 28.8 +15.9
Labour Louise Webberley 8,860 17.0 -9.8
Independent John Kitson 544 1.0

C Majority 12,724 24.4 -2.5

Turnout 52,182 74.7 +1.6

Conservative hold

Swings

8.2 C to LD

4.6 Lab to C