South Hams (UK Parliament constituency)

South Hams
South Hams
Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
	South Hams in Devon, showing boundaries used from 1983 to 1997.
County	Devon
Major settlements	Totnes, Ivybridge, Brixham, part of Paignton
1983–1997
Seats	One
Created from	Totnes, Torbay and Devon West
Replaced by	Totnes and Devon South West

South Hams was a county constituency based on the South Hams district of Devon. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, and abolished for the 1997 general election. The constituency covered a vast part of the English Riviera on the south Devon coast.

History

This was a safe seat for the Conservative Party. During the fourteen years and three parliaments of its existence, it was held by a single member, Anthony Steen.

In the 1987 general election the well-known Labour MP and staunch republican Willie Hamilton contested the seat, finishing third.

Boundaries

The District of South Hams wards of Avon and Harbourne, Avonleigh, Bickleigh and Shaugh, Brixton, Charterlands, Cornwood and Harford, Dart Valley, Dartington, Dartmouth Clifton, Dartmouth Hardness, Erme Valley, Garabrook, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge, Kingswear, Malborough, Marldon, Modbury, Newton and Noss, Salcombe, Saltstone, Skerries, South Brent, Sparkwell, Stoke Gabriel, Stokenham, Thurlestone, Totnes, Totnes Bridgetown, Ugborough, West Dart, Wembury, and Yealmpton, and the Borough of Torbay wards of Blatchcombe, Furzeham with Churston, and St Peter's with St Mary's.

The main towns of this South Devon constituency were Totnes and Ivybridge. It was divided in 1997 to form parts of the new constituencies of Totnes and Devon South West.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[2]	Party
	1983	Anthony Steen	Conservative
	1997	constituency abolished: see Totnes and Devon South West

Elections

General election 1983: South Hams^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Anthony Steen	31,855	57.24
	Liberal	Anthony H. Rogers	19,454	34.96
	Labour	Graham Morris	3,824	6.87
	Ecology	Wendy Morgan	518	0.93
Majority			12,401	22.28
Turnout			55,133	74.92
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: South Hams^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Steen	34,218	55.4
	Liberal	Robert Chave	21,072	34.09
	Labour	Willie Hamilton	5,060	8.2
	Green	Christopher Titmuss	1,178	1.9
	Monster Raving Loony	Timothy Langsford	277	0.45	New
Majority			13,146	21.3
Turnout			61,805	78.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1992: South Hams^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Anthony Steen	35,951	53.4	―2.0
	Liberal Democrats	RV Evans	22,240	33.0	―1.1
	Labour	E Cohen	8,091	12.0	+3.8
	Green	Christopher Titmuss	846	1.3	―0.6
	Natural Law	LJ Somerville	227	0.3	New
Majority			13,711	20.4	―0.9
Turnout			67,355	81.0	+2.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	―0.5