Post by andrewp on Dec 4, 2020 20:39:12 GMT
So here we are on the English Riviera, home to England’s grumpiest hotelier and where views are of Torbay and most defitnely not of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or herds of Wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain. Election results have traditionally been declared early down here on the Riviera, on a stage amongst fake palm trees and pictures of glorious sweeping views.
The Torbay constituency is a compact urban seat consisting of two of the three towns which make up the Torbay conurbation, Torquay and Paignton. The third town on the Riviera, the fishing port of Brixham was removed in the 1983 boundary changes into the Totnes constituency.
Torquay grew from a fishing port to a busy Victorian seaside resort during the 19th century. It is a hilly town set on steep slopes above a marina. For a town it’s size, it has a surprisingly small and run down feeling town centre. Paignton is a more traditional southern seaside resort with a sandy beach and a pier.
As one might expect from a Southern English seaside constituency, this is well within the top 100 seats nationally for the percentage of people over 65 (22.5%) and for the percentage of retired people. Although not quite as elderly as say, East Devon. Also, in common with many other seaside resorts, there isn’t a great deal of industry in Torbay and it is has a below average percentage of people in managerial occupations. As the roads have improved, the 18 miles to get to Exeter have become a quicker journey and its wide range of industries means that Torbay is now an attractive option for commuting to Exeter.
At a local level, many of the wards here are very close between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats got more than 50% of the vote in any ward in the 2019 local elections, so in the past there have been quite big swings in seat hauls at local elections. The best Conservative ward is leafy Wellswood set on the clifftops above the bay, and full of big houses and flats with sea views. The best Liberal Democrat ward is Barton with Watcombe in the North of the town, which is fairly middle class suburbia in the most part. Labour’s last councillor elected here was in the Central Tormohun ward in 2011.
Torbay had an elected Mayor between 2005 and 2016, with the Conservatives winning all three elections to that position before a referendum in 2016 voted 62/37 to abolish the position.
At parliamentary level. Torbay was historically quite a safe Conservative seat, but became less so after the 1983 boundary changes. In 1997, the second closest result in the country occurred here when local Lib Dem councillor Adrian Sanders unseated Conservative Rupert Allason by just 12 votes. Many thought a Conservative regain was likely in 2001, but Sanders increased his majority to 6,700. Sanders held twice more with smaller majorities but was beaten by Conservative Coventry city Councillor Kevin Foster by 3286 in 2015, far from the worst Lib Dem performance in that disastrous year for the party. Without Sanders on the parliamentary ballot paper, Foster has won very comfortably by 14000 in 2017 and nearly 18000 in 2019. The constituency is estimated to have voted 63% leave and, unlike some other west country seats, the Lib Dem’s continued to go backwards in 2019. A chink of light for the Lib Dems were modest gains in the 2019 local council elections, which were enough to eliminate the Conservative majority on the council and give the Lib Dems chance to go into coalition with the Independent group. This does feel like one of those South West seats where its quite a long way back for the Liberal Democrats.
The Torbay constituency is a compact urban seat consisting of two of the three towns which make up the Torbay conurbation, Torquay and Paignton. The third town on the Riviera, the fishing port of Brixham was removed in the 1983 boundary changes into the Totnes constituency.
Torquay grew from a fishing port to a busy Victorian seaside resort during the 19th century. It is a hilly town set on steep slopes above a marina. For a town it’s size, it has a surprisingly small and run down feeling town centre. Paignton is a more traditional southern seaside resort with a sandy beach and a pier.
As one might expect from a Southern English seaside constituency, this is well within the top 100 seats nationally for the percentage of people over 65 (22.5%) and for the percentage of retired people. Although not quite as elderly as say, East Devon. Also, in common with many other seaside resorts, there isn’t a great deal of industry in Torbay and it is has a below average percentage of people in managerial occupations. As the roads have improved, the 18 miles to get to Exeter have become a quicker journey and its wide range of industries means that Torbay is now an attractive option for commuting to Exeter.
At a local level, many of the wards here are very close between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats got more than 50% of the vote in any ward in the 2019 local elections, so in the past there have been quite big swings in seat hauls at local elections. The best Conservative ward is leafy Wellswood set on the clifftops above the bay, and full of big houses and flats with sea views. The best Liberal Democrat ward is Barton with Watcombe in the North of the town, which is fairly middle class suburbia in the most part. Labour’s last councillor elected here was in the Central Tormohun ward in 2011.
Torbay had an elected Mayor between 2005 and 2016, with the Conservatives winning all three elections to that position before a referendum in 2016 voted 62/37 to abolish the position.
At parliamentary level. Torbay was historically quite a safe Conservative seat, but became less so after the 1983 boundary changes. In 1997, the second closest result in the country occurred here when local Lib Dem councillor Adrian Sanders unseated Conservative Rupert Allason by just 12 votes. Many thought a Conservative regain was likely in 2001, but Sanders increased his majority to 6,700. Sanders held twice more with smaller majorities but was beaten by Conservative Coventry city Councillor Kevin Foster by 3286 in 2015, far from the worst Lib Dem performance in that disastrous year for the party. Without Sanders on the parliamentary ballot paper, Foster has won very comfortably by 14000 in 2017 and nearly 18000 in 2019. The constituency is estimated to have voted 63% leave and, unlike some other west country seats, the Lib Dem’s continued to go backwards in 2019. A chink of light for the Lib Dems were modest gains in the 2019 local council elections, which were enough to eliminate the Conservative majority on the council and give the Lib Dems chance to go into coalition with the Independent group. This does feel like one of those South West seats where its quite a long way back for the Liberal Democrats.
