Tiverton and Minehead
UK Parliament constituency (since 2024)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tiverton and Minehead is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament.[2] Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election.[3] Its first MP is Liberal Democrat Rachel Gilmour, who defeated Ian Liddell-Grainger, the Conservative MP for Bridgwater then Bridgwater and West Somerset from 2001 to 2024.
| Tiverton and Minehead | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Tiverton and Minehead in South West England | |
| County | Somerset (majority) Devon (minority) |
| Electorate | 70,829 (2023)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2024 |
| Member of Parliament | Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrats) |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Bridgwater and West Somerset, Taunton Deane & Tiverton and Honiton |
The constituency is named after the Devon town of Tiverton and the Somerset town of Minehead.[4]
Boundaries
The constituency, which crosses the boundary between the counties of Devon and Somerset, is defined as composing the following as they existed on 1 December 2020:
- The District of Mid Devon wards of: Canonsleigh; Castle; Clare and Shuttern; Cranmore; Halberton; Lower Culm; Lowman; Upper Culm; Westexe.
- The District of Somerset West and Taunton wards of: Alcombe; Cotford St. Luke & Oake; Dulverton & District; Exmoor; Milverton & District; Minehead Central; Minehead North; Old Cleeve & District; Periton & Woodcombe; Porlock & District; Quantock Vale; South Quantock; Watchet & Williton; Wiveliscombe & District.[5]
With effect from 1 April 2023, the District of Somerset West and Taunton was abolished and absorbed into the new unitary authority of Somerset.[6] In addition, a local government boundary review was carried out in Mid Devon which came into effect in May 2023.[7][8] The constituency therefore now comprises the following from the 2024 general election:
- The District of Mid Devon wards of: Canonsleigh; Clare and Shuttern; Halberton (nearly all); Lower Culm (majority); Tiverton Castle; Tiverton Cranmore; Tiverton Lowman; Tiverton Westexe; Upper Culm.
- The Somerset electoral divisions of: Dulverton and Exmoor; Dunster; Lydeard (majority); Minehead; Upper Tone (most); Watchet and Stogursey.[9]
The seat covers the following areas:[9]
- The town of Tiverton and surrounding rural areas, previously comprising northern parts of the abolished constituency of Tiverton and Honiton (succeeded by Honiton and Sidmouth)
- The area covered by the former District of West Somerset, including the towns of Minehead and Watchet, previously part of the constituency of Bridgwater and West Somerset (renamed Bridgwater)
- Rural areas to the west of Taunton, centred around the small town of Wiveliscombe, transferred from Taunton Deane (renamed Taunton and Wellington)
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Rachel Gilmour | Liberal Democrat | |
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Rachel Gilmour | 18,326 | 38.6 | +19.1 | |
| Conservative | Ian Liddell-Grainger | 14,819 | 31.2 | –30.1 | |
| Reform | Frederick Keen | 7,787 | 16.4 | N/A | |
| Labour | Jonathan Barter | 4,325 | 9.1 | –5.2 | |
| Green | Laura Buchanan | 2,234 | 4.7 | +0.4 | |
| Majority | 3,507 | 7.4 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 47,491 | 66.1 | –3.7 | ||
| Registered electors | 71,843 | ||||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative | Swing |  24.6 |
|||
| 2019 notional result[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Vote | % | |
| Conservative | 30,297 | 61.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 9,632 | 19.5 | |
| Labour | 7,070 | 14.3 | |
| Green | 2,103 | 4.3 | |
| Independent | 309 | 0.6 | |
| Turnout | 49,411 | 69.8 | |
| Electorate | 70,829 | ||