Post by andrewp on Aug 20, 2020 15:00:59 GMT
Devon South West is a bland name for this seat which covers the territory immediately to the East of the city of Plymouth. Its an affluent mixture of suburbia and rural territory. It was formed in the fifth review when the City of Plymouth council area was no longer entitled to 3 constituencies wholly within its boundaries. A constituency needed to be formed with territory from outside of the city boundary. The logical territory from Plymouth City to go into a cross boundary constituency was that East of the River Plym – containing Plympton and Plymstock, independent commuter towns across the River from the City. They were paired with the western half of the affluent South Hams district to make this affluent semi rural constituency. House prices are high compared to the city here, and unlike the city seats, this seat is in the top 100 constituencies nationally of over 65’s. This seat is the 30th most white seat in the country at 98.5%. It is also 79% owner occupied, putting the seat in the top 25 most owner occupied constituencies.
Plympton and Plymstock were quite small villages well into the twentieth century , but have grown into middle class commuter towns, albeit ones with modern shopping precincts as ‘town centres’. They are heavily owner occupied, and more affluent than any of the wards in the city West of the Plym. Plympton has always elected Conservatives to the city council with the exception of Labour winning in their 1995 miracle and a couple of Lib Dem wins in pre coalition years. Plymstock elected Labour councillors in 1995 and 1997, but it too has a solid Conservative history apart from those years. In general elections these towns vote comfortably Conservative with Labour second. These two towns have looked in all different directions for partners in parliamentary constituencies and have been represented by 2 very colourful MP’s. Prior to 1974, they were part of the Tavistock constituency which stretched from here at the southern coast almost as far as the north coast of Devon and was Michael Heseltine’s first constituency. That constituency was effectively abolished in the boundary changes of that year and Heseltine didn’t seek nomination for any of the successor constituencies, preferring to seek a berth nearer London. Plympton and Plymstock were then paired with the eastern Labour inclined wards of Plymouth in the semi marginal Plymouth Sutton seat that sent Alan Clark to parliament for 18 years.
After Plympton and Plymstock, the next largest town is Ivybridge some nine miles to the East on the A38. Ivybridge is also largely a twentieth century town, growing from a population of 1500 in 1921 to 12,000 today. All three of the largest towns in the seat are newish towns with comfortable but fairly bland suburbia.
The rest of the South Hams section includes the Southern edge of Dartmoor and the Creekside and yachting communities of Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo. There is serious wealth in this wonderful coastal stretch of the South Hams.
The Plymouth City councillors from Plympton and Plymstock are currently a full slate of 16 Conservatives. The South Hams wards elected 5 Conservatives and 3 Liberal Democrats in 2019.
The less colourful Gary Streeter followed Alan Clark as MP for Plymouth Sutton in 1992, and then moved to South West Devon on its inception in 1997. Streeter was originally elected as an SDP councillor in Plymouth in 1986, but defected to the Conservatives whilst serving on the council. He won the inaugural contest in that disastrous year for his party by 7,397. The Conservative majority here has often been boosted by a split opposition- with Labour polling second in Plymstock and Plympton and the Lib Dem’s polling second in the South Hams. Labour were second in 1997 and 2001, the Lib Dems in 2005 and 2010, and Labour again since then. The seat is estimated to have voted 55% leave. Streeter achieved his largest ever vote share of 62% and majority of 21430 in 2019. This will be an attractive seat for Conservative hopefuls when Streeter retires.
Plympton and Plymstock were quite small villages well into the twentieth century , but have grown into middle class commuter towns, albeit ones with modern shopping precincts as ‘town centres’. They are heavily owner occupied, and more affluent than any of the wards in the city West of the Plym. Plympton has always elected Conservatives to the city council with the exception of Labour winning in their 1995 miracle and a couple of Lib Dem wins in pre coalition years. Plymstock elected Labour councillors in 1995 and 1997, but it too has a solid Conservative history apart from those years. In general elections these towns vote comfortably Conservative with Labour second. These two towns have looked in all different directions for partners in parliamentary constituencies and have been represented by 2 very colourful MP’s. Prior to 1974, they were part of the Tavistock constituency which stretched from here at the southern coast almost as far as the north coast of Devon and was Michael Heseltine’s first constituency. That constituency was effectively abolished in the boundary changes of that year and Heseltine didn’t seek nomination for any of the successor constituencies, preferring to seek a berth nearer London. Plympton and Plymstock were then paired with the eastern Labour inclined wards of Plymouth in the semi marginal Plymouth Sutton seat that sent Alan Clark to parliament for 18 years.
After Plympton and Plymstock, the next largest town is Ivybridge some nine miles to the East on the A38. Ivybridge is also largely a twentieth century town, growing from a population of 1500 in 1921 to 12,000 today. All three of the largest towns in the seat are newish towns with comfortable but fairly bland suburbia.
The rest of the South Hams section includes the Southern edge of Dartmoor and the Creekside and yachting communities of Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo. There is serious wealth in this wonderful coastal stretch of the South Hams.
The Plymouth City councillors from Plympton and Plymstock are currently a full slate of 16 Conservatives. The South Hams wards elected 5 Conservatives and 3 Liberal Democrats in 2019.
The less colourful Gary Streeter followed Alan Clark as MP for Plymouth Sutton in 1992, and then moved to South West Devon on its inception in 1997. Streeter was originally elected as an SDP councillor in Plymouth in 1986, but defected to the Conservatives whilst serving on the council. He won the inaugural contest in that disastrous year for his party by 7,397. The Conservative majority here has often been boosted by a split opposition- with Labour polling second in Plymstock and Plympton and the Lib Dem’s polling second in the South Hams. Labour were second in 1997 and 2001, the Lib Dems in 2005 and 2010, and Labour again since then. The seat is estimated to have voted 55% leave. Streeter achieved his largest ever vote share of 62% and majority of 21430 in 2019. This will be an attractive seat for Conservative hopefuls when Streeter retires.
