The placeConstituency · South West · Electorate 72,261 · 2023 boundaries

South Devon.

Liberal Democrats MP Caroline Voaden holds the seat on 46.0% of the vote — a split-council geography across 2 councils.

Member of ParliamentCaroline Voaden · Liberal Democrats
CouncilsSouth Hams · Torbay
Boundary set2023
ONS codeE14001484
Electorate · 2024
72.3k
Registered to vote
2024 GE — winner
46.0%
Liberal Democrats · +14.5pp over Con
Settlements
14
Largest: Rural & dispersed
Crime · per 1k pop · 3mo
11.7
data.police.uk · 12mo rolling
Dispatch
2 Jun 2026

Coastal erosion, rural banking, and pelvic mesh compensation have dominated Caroline Voaden's recent work -- she has fought the government on several fronts through petitions, Prime Minister's Questions, and parliamentary debates on behalf of South Devon constituents. The most prominent of these is the Slapton Line: storm damage to the coastal road prompted a petition that gathered more than 40,000 signatures and a direct challenge to the Prime Minister for government funding. Separately, she raised pelvic mesh failures in the Commons and publicly criticised the government's exclusion of flood-hit Torcross from emergency funding -- a pattern of vocal, local-first advocacy that has generated significant news coverage.

In Parliament, Voaden votes with the Liberal Democrats 100% of the time and has no rebel votes on record. Her participation rate of 70% sits below the Commons average. She strongly supports Lords scrutiny (97% aligned) and parliamentary accountability (95%), which explains her recent votes backing Lords amendments to the English Devolution Bill and opposing government powers to direct pension fund investment. She voted to refer the Prime Minister to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson appointment, and against asylum seeker support regulations she regards as punitive. Her 365 speech contributions span economy and jobs, social care, education, and local government. She sits on the Education Committee.

One notable gap in her voting record -- she is 32 percentage points below her own party's average on armed forces welfare votes, a deviation without obvious explanation from available data. Her local news coverage is high-volume but mixed in sentiment, reflecting a constituency with pressing infrastructure and rural services pressures. The data covers her since winning South Devon at the 2024 general election.

46.0%
LD vote · 2024 GE
2
Councils overlapping the seat
18
Wards · 30 councillors
§ 01The local picture — wards.18 wards · 30 councillors · 2 councils

Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line. Each ward links to the council that runs it.

WardLatest winnerVotesCouncilLast cycle
Allington Strete Laurel Lawford628South Hams LDMay 2023
Blackawton Stoke Fleming Simon Rake527South Hams LDMay 2023
Charterlands Bernard Taylor523South Hams LDMay 2023
Churston With Galmpton(2 seats)Billings · Tyerman2,194Torbay ConMay 2023
Collaton St Mary Martin Brook325Torbay ConMay 2023
Dartington Staverton Jacqi Hodgson740South Hams LDMay 2023
Dartmouth East Dart(3 seats)Cooper · Yardy · Hawkins3,491South Hams LDMay 2023
Furzeham With Summercombe(3 seats)Strang · Stevens · Hutchings3,006Torbay ConMay 2023
Kings Ash(2 seats)Thomas · Twelves1,176Torbay ConMay 2023
Kingsbridge(2 seats)O'Callaghan · Jackson1,918South Hams LDMay 2023
Loddiswell Aveton Gifford Lee Bonham487South Hams LDMay 2023
Marldon Littlehempston Samantha Penfold355South Hams LDMay 2023
Salcombe Thurlestone(2 seats)Long · Dennis1,778South Hams LDMay 2023
South Brent(2 seats)Hancock · Pannell2,181South Hams LDMay 2023
St Peters With St Marys(2 seats)Tolchard · Bryant1,490Torbay ConMay 2023
Stokenham Julian Brazil712South Hams LDMay 2023
Totnes(3 seats)Presswell · Allen · Birch3,894South Hams LDMay 2023
West Dart John McKay699South Hams LDMay 2023

Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

§ 02Settlements.14 named places

The seat’s population is concentrated in Rural & dispersed (20,648), with Brixham (18,074) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 90,738.

large-town 14,901town 59,294village 16,543

Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021

SettlementPop.Class
Rural & dispersed20,648town
Brixham18,074town
Paignton14,901large town
Totnes9,031town
Kingsbridge6,284town
Dartmouth5,257town
Showing 6 of 14·All 14 settlements
§ 03Demographics.Census 2021 · vs national avg

Headline indicators.

IndicatorLocalNationalΔ
Employment rate50.8%57.1%-11%
Owner-occupied71.1%63.1%+13%
Private rented16.9%20.0%-16%
Social rented12.0%16.8%-28%

Ethnicity.

White97.4%
Asian0.7%
Black0.2%
Mixed1.3%
Other0.4%

Source · Census 2021

Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Male 48.1% Female 51.9% Median seat
MaleAgeFemale
85+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
16-19
10-15
5-9
0-4

Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band

§ 04Local economy.Income · tax · businesses · schools
Median income
£25,400
HMRC SPI · 2024
Mean income
£35,000
HMRC SPI · 2024
Businesses
4,715
VAT/PAYE-registered
Schools
50
32 primary · 4 secondary
GCSE pass
68.4%
Attainment 8: 45.9

Income tax contribution.

Total income tax£240m
Taxpayers47,000
Median per taxpayer£2,330
Mean per taxpayer£5,140

Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence

Where the money flows back in.

For council finance & suppliers

This constituency is served by South Hams and Torbay. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.

For household tax breakdown

Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.

§ 05Recorded crime.data.police.uk · 12-month rolling

Headline rate.

Per 1k pop · 3mo
11.7
-44% vs national
Monthly avg / 1k
3.9
12-month rolling
Top category
Violence & sexual offences
45% of recorded crime

By category.

Violence & sexual offences5.2
Other theft1.8
Criminal damage & arson1.1
Anti-social behaviour0.9
Public order0.6
Shoplifting0.5
Burglary0.5

Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop

Showing 7 of 15·All 15 categories — full monthly trend & settlement breakdown
§ 06Election history.1 contest · created on 2023 boundaries

2024 — full result.

CandidateVotes%
Caroline VoadenWONLD22,54046.0
Anthony MangnallCon15,41331.4
Michael BagleyRef6,36313.0
Daniel SteelLab3,0666.3
Robert BagnallGrn1,4973.0
Becca CollingsInd1250.3

Turnout 49,004

Prior contests.

Created on the 2023 boundary review. 2024 General Election was the first contest on these boundaries.

Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
BoundariesONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundary review
Wards & councilsLGBCE · Democracy Club
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
SettlementsONS Built-Up Areas
Census 2021
DemographicsONS · Nomis · Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
Income & taxHMRC SPI
±8% confidence
SchoolsDfE · attainment data
Crimedata.police.uk
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo
ElectionsElectoral Commission