Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1868-2024

Devizes is a constituency of the UK Parliament. It is in Wiltshire, England. The current MP for it is Danny Kruger, a Conservative. He was elected in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.

Devizes
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Devizes in Wiltshire
Outline map
Location of Wiltshire within England
CountyWiltshire
Electorate68,846 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsDevizes, Marlborough, Durrington, Pewsey
Current constituency
Created1885
Member of ParliamentDanny Kruger (Conservative)
Number of membersOne
1331–1885
Number of membersTwo until 1868, then one
Type of constituencyBorough constituency

The constituency has four towns and many villages inside it. The area's MP has been someone from the Conservative Party since 1924.

History

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Devizes originally elected two Members of Parliament (MPs). They did this until the 1868 general election. They stopped because the Reform Act 1867 lowered its their amount of MPs to one MP. MPs are elected by first-past-the-post. The seat has had a Conservative MP elected at every election since 1924.

Its most well-known MP was Henry Addington. Addington was the MP for the seat when he was Prime Minister. He also was the MP for the seat when he was Speaker of the House of Commons.

Members of Parliament

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1295–1640

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Parliament First MP Second MP
1386 Richard Gobet William Salter[2]
1388 (Feb) Richard Cardmaker William Salter[2]
1388 (Sep) Richard Cardmaker William Spicer[2]
1390 (Jan) Richard Gobet William Spicer[2]
1390 (Nov)
1391
1393 William Coventre I William Spicer[2]
1394 John Tapener Richard Brunker[2]
1395 Richard Cardmaker William Spicer[2]
1397 (Jan) William Salter Henry Webbe[2]
1397 (Sep) William Salter John Peyntour[2]
1399 Richard Cardmaker William Salter[2]
1401
1402 Simon Skinner Richard Smith[2]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406 John Huwet John Kingston[2]
1407 John Peyntour Simon Skinner[2]
1410
1411
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May) John Coventre Simon Skinner[2]
1414 (Apr) Thomas Coventre Robert Smith[2]
1414 (Nov) William Coventre III Thomas Coventre[2]
1415 William Coventre III Roger Barbour[2]
1416 (Mar) Richard Litelcote John Peyntour[2]
1416 (Oct)
1417 William Coventre III Robert Tyndale[2]
1419 Robert Tyndale William Hendelove[2]
1420 John Coventre I Robert Chandler[2]
1421 (May) William Coventre III Robert Smith[2]
1421 (Dec) John Baker John Fauconer[2]
1425 Robert Chandler[3]
1429 Robert Chandler[3]
1442 Henry Long
1492 Richard Pudsey[4]
1510–1523 No names known[5]
1529 John Poyntz Richard Mytton[5]
1536 ?
1539 ?
1542 ?
1545 Clement Throckmorton Geoffrey Danielle[5]
1547 Sir George Howard Nicholas Throckmorton[5]
1553 (Mar) ?
1553 (Oct) William Rede Thomas Hull[5]
1554 (Apr) Thomas Highgate Henry Leke[5]
1554 (Nov) Thomas Hull Edward Heynes[5]
1555 Thomas Hull James Webbe[5]
1558 Thomas Hull Henry Morris[5]
1558 John Young Edward Heynes[6]
1562/3 Hugh Powell Edward Heynes[6]
1571 Edward Baynton William Clerke[6]
1572 George Reynolds, died
and replaced 1580 by
John Snell
Henry Grube[6]
1584 Edward Baynton I Henry Brouncker[6]
1586 Edward Baynton I Henry Brouncker[6]
1588 Henry Brouncker John Delabere[6]
1593 Henry Baynton I or Henry Baynton II Richard Mompesson[6]
1597 John Kent Robert Drew[6]
1601 Giles Fettiplace Robert Drew[6]
1604 Sir Henry Baynton Robert Drew
1614 Sir Edward Baynton William Kent
1621 Sir Henry Ley John Kent
1624 Edward Bayntun John Kent
1625 Edward Bayntun Robert Drew
1626 Robert Long Sir Henry Ley
1628 Robert Long Thomas Kent
1629–1640 No Parliaments summoned

1640–1832

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Election 1st member[7] 1st party 2nd member[7] 2nd party
March 1640 Edward Bayntun Henry Danvers
November 1640 Edward Bayntun Robert Nicholas
1653 Devizes not represented in Barebones Parliament
September 1654 Edward Bayntun One seat only
September 1656 Edward Scotton One seat only
January 1659 Chaloner Chute jnr Edward Scotton
March 1660 William Lewis Robert Aldworth
April 1661 William Yorke John Kent
December 1666 John Norden
October 1669 Edward Lewis George Johnson
April 1675 Sir Edward Bayntun
February 1679 Sir Walter Ernle
September 1679 Sir Giles Hungerford John Eyles
February 1681 Sir Walter Ernle George Johnson
March 1685 John Talbot of Lacock Walter Grubbe
January 1689 Sir William Pynsent
March 1690 Sir Thomas Fowle
December 1690 John Methuen
November 1695 Sir Edward Ernle
July 1698 Sir Francis Child
January 1701 Francis Merewether
November 1701 John Methuen
November 1702 John Child
March 1703 Francis Merewether
May 1705 Sir Francis Child
December 1706 Josiah Diston
May 1708 Paul Methuen
October 1710 Sir Francis Child Thomas Richmond Webb
August 1713 Robert Child John Nicholas
January 1715 Josiah Diston Francis Eyles (expelled)
February 1721 Benjamin Haskins-Stiles
March 1722 Sir Joseph Eyles Whig
August 1727 Francis Eyles Whig
April 1734 Sir Joseph Eyles Whig
February 1740 John Garth Whig
July 1742 George Lee Whig
July 1747 William Willy
January 1765 Charles Garth
June 1765 James Sutton
September 1780 Sir James Tylney-Long
November 1780 Henry Jones
April 1784 Tory[8] Henry Addington Tory[8]
December 1788 Joshua Smith Tory[8]
January 1805 Thomas Grimston Estcourt Tory[8]
June 1818 John Pearse Tory[8]
March 1826 George Watson-Taylor Tory[8]

1832–1868

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Election 1st member[7] 1st party 2nd member[7] 2nd party
1832 Wadham Locke Whig[9][10][11][8] Montague Gore Whig[12][13][8]
February 1834 Admiral Sir Philip Charles Durham Tories[8]
December 1834 Conservative[8]
November 1835 T. H. S. Sotheron-Estcourt Conservative[8]
February 1836 James Whitley Deans Dundas Whig[14][15][16][17][8]
May 1838 George Heneage Walker Heneage Conservative[8]
February 1844 William Heald Ludlow Bruges Conservative
February 1848 James Bucknall Bucknall-Estcourt Conservative
1852 John Neilson Gladstone Conservative
1857 Simon Watson Taylor Peelite[18][19] Christopher Darby Griffith Conservative
1859 John Neilson Gladstone Conservative
Feb 1863 William Addington Conservative
Apr 1864 Sir Thomas Bateson, Bt. Conservative
1868 Second Reform Act: representation reduced to one member

Since 1868

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Devizes has been a usual Conservative seat since 1945. The current Member of Parliament is Danny Kruger. He was first elected at the 2019 general election. The MP before him was Claire Perry. Perry decided not to run at the next election.[20]

Election Member[7] Party
1868 Sir Thomas Bateson Conservative
1885 Walter Long Conservative
1892 Charles Hobhouse Liberal
1895 Edward Goulding Conservative
1906 Francis Rogers Liberal
1910 Basil Peto Unionist
1918 Cory Bell Unionist
1923 Eric Macfadyen Liberal
1924 Percy Hurd Conservative
1945 Christopher Hollis Conservative
1955 Percivall Pott Conservative
1964 Charles Morrison Conservative
1992 Michael Ancram Conservative
2010 Claire Perry Conservative
2019 Danny Kruger Conservative
change

Devizes was the constituency of the fictional (fake) Conservative MP The Honourable Sir Piers Fletcher-Dervish, Baronet, later Junior Minister for Housing, in the TV sitcom The New Statesman. The actor Michael Troughton played the MP. The show was set in the 1980s. This was when Charles Andrew Morrison was MP for the actual seat.

References

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  1. "Electorate Figures – Boundary Commission for England". 2011 Electorate Figures. Boundary Commission for England. 4 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "CHANDLER, Robert II, of Devizes, Wilts. | History of Parliament Online".
  4. Cavill. The English Parliaments of Henry VII 1485–1504.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  6. 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 "History of Parliament". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
  8. 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 112–114.
  9. Farrell, Stephen (2009). "Wiltshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  10. "Election Talk". The Spectator. 24 November 1836. p. 13. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  11. Roebuck, John Arthur (1835). Pamphlets for the people. [36 political pamphlets, written or ed. by J.A. Roebuck. Wanting the general title-leaves and lists of contents]. p. 11. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  12. Disraeli, Benjamin (1982). Gunn, John A. W.; Matthews, John P.; Schurman, Donald M.; Wiebe, Melvin G. (eds.). Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1835–1837. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 549. ISBN 9781442639546. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  13. "The State and Prospects of Toryism". Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Volume 9. James Fraser. 1834. p. 368. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  14. "Admiral Sir J. W. Deans Dundas GCB". The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 213. 1862. p. 782. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  15. Mosse, Richard Bartholomew (1838). The Parliamentary Guide: a concise history of the Members of both Houses, etc. p. 163. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  16. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 77. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  17. Dod, Charles Roger; Dod, Robert Phipps (1843). Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Volume 11. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. p. 147. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  18. "Election Intelligence". Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser. 18 March 1857. p. 7. Retrieved 6 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "Election Intelligence". Berkshire Chronicle. 14 March 1857. p. 5. Retrieved 6 May 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. "Tories select successor to Ancram". BBC News. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2010.