Devizes
2010 Results:
Conservative: 25519 (55.07%)
Labour: 4711 (10.17%)
Liberal Democrat: 12514 (27%)
UKIP: 2076 (4.48%)
Green: 813 (1.75%)
Independent: 566 (1.22%)
Others: 141 (0.3%)
Majority: 13005 (28.07%)
Notional 2005 Results:
Conservative: 22017 (49.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 11035 (24.7%)
Labour: 9637 (21.6%)
Other: 1972 (4.4%)
Majority: 10982 (24.6%)
Actual 2005 result
Conservative: 27253 (48.5%)
Labour: 12519 (22.3%)
Liberal Democrat: 14059 (25%)
UKIP: 2315 (4.1%)
Majority: 13194 (23.5%)
2001 Result
Conservative: 25159 (47.2%)
Labour: 13263 (24.9%)
Liberal Democrat: 11756 (22.1%)
UKIP: 1521 (2.9%)
Other: 1550 (2.9%)
Majority: 11896 (22.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 25710 (42.8%)
Labour: 14551 (24.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 15928 (26.5%)
Referendum: 3021 (5%)
Other: 826 (1.4%)
Majority: 9782 (16.3%)
Boundary changes: major changes. Around a third of the old oversized Devizes constituency moves into Wiltshire North and the new Chippenham seat, including Calne and Melksham. Devizes gains Durrington and Bulford from Salisbury.
Profile: A safe Conservative seat with the opposition split between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Devizes is largely made up of rural countryside, dotted with historic market towns. Main population centres include Devizes itself, home to Wadworth`s brewery, and Marlborough, with its famous public school. The seat has important military associations; to the South the constituency extends over part of Salisbury Plain and includes the Royal School of Artillery at Larkhill, Bulford Camp (12 Mechanised Brigade) and Tidworth (1st Infantry Brigade (Guards)).
Current MP: Claire Perry (Conservative) Educated at Nailsea Comprehensive and Oxford University. Former banker, now a policy advisor to George Osborne.
Claire Perry (Conservative) Educated at Nailsea Comprehensive and Oxford University. Former banker, now a policy advisor to George Osborne.
Junab Ali (Labour) Fiona Hornby (Liberal Democrat)Mark Fletcher (Green)Pat Bryant (UKIP) Nic Coome (Libertarian)Martin Houlden (Independent)2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 87573
Male: 50.9%
Female: 49.1%
Under 18: 23.6%
Over 60: 19.1%
Born outside UK: 7%
White: 98.6%
Black: 0.2%
Asian: 0.3%
Mixed: 0.6%
Other: 0.4%
Christian: 78.4%
Full time students: 1.7%
Graduates 16-74: 19.3%
No Qualifications 16-74: 22.4%
Owner-Occupied: 63.2%
Social Housing: 18.3% (Council: 2.7%, Housing Ass.: 15.6%)
Privately Rented: 7.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 4.7%
well it was an interesting afternoon…
General Jackson was amazing…
Claire Perry got it as the most local candidate but was a little lucky as the two men – Quin and Zahadi split the vote
She is good but clearly a banker and policy light – in truth no one candidate stood out – hence why there had to be several votes to get a winner.
Of more concern is the fact she was inactive in politics / not a conservative until 2006 when she was 43 – one asks why anyone would join a party, and fight previous elections [as both men had done] now that long term commitment to a cause is deemed such a dirty word? She is Osborne’s protege
Both men had more cabinet material about them, although claire is obviously not stupid
I have to say the comments re Z Zaidi are wrong – she was knocked out first with next to no votes, gave a terrible hectoring speech [ most notable was her "the country needs me comment"] and was more arrogant / in love with herself than anyone I have ever met..
The new Lib Dem candidate is Fiona Hornby who stood here in 2005
The Libertarian Party website seems to have stopped at Nic Coombe’s candidature. Wonder if the party are much of a going concern anymore?
Cons Hold= 13,000 maj
A raft of good candidates. UKIP and Libs may make it a three horse race here.
Labour org site has Junab Ali as Labour PPC for Devizes. (Same also on BBC GE2010 site.) Not sure what happened to Sharon Charity. Change has occurred in last two months.
Andrew Neil’s interview with the leader of the Libertarian Party on Daily Politics was an absolute disgrace.
Con Hold
Maj 12 700
Con maj 14,000
CON HOLD
A good Conservative vote share here, comparing with past decades (of course there’ve been boundary changes over the years).
In fact I think 55% is the largest share the Tories have got in a seat called Devizes, post WW2.
Conversely, 10% is the worst share Labour have got post ’45.
The Third Party has hit 26-28% several times over the past few decades, but I don’t think they’ve ever hit 30% in the post-war era.
This remains the safest Tory seat in Wiltshire.
By the by, the former MP Michael Ancram (who of course holds a hereditary peerage as 13th Marquess of Lothian) now sits in the House of Lords, having been given a life peerage, with the title of Baron Kerr of Monteviot, of Monteviot in Roxburghshire.