Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency)

Tavistock was a parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the town of Tavistock; it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, when its representation was reduced to one member. From 1885, the name was transferred to a single-member county constituency covering a much larger area. (Between 1885 and 1918, the constituency had the alternative name of West Devon.)

Tavistock
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
1885–February 1974
Seats	one
Replaced by	West Devon
1330–1885
Seats	two (1330–1868), one (1868–1885)
Type of constituency	Borough constituency

The constituency was abolished for the February 1974 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new West Devon constituency.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Boroughs of Devonport and Plymouth, and the Sessional Divisions of Hatherleigh, Holsworthy, Lifton, Midland Roborough, and Tavistock.

1918–1950: The Urban Districts of Holsworthy, Ivybridge, and Tavistock, the Rural Districts of Broadwoodwidger, Plympton St Mary, and Tavistock, and part of the Rural District of Holsworthy.

1950–1951: The Urban Districts of Holsworthy and Tavistock, the Rural Districts of Broadwoodwidger, Holsworthy, and Tavistock, and the Rural District of Plympton St Mary except the parishes of Bickleigh and Tamerton Foliot.^[1]

1951–1974: The Urban Districts of Holsworthy and Tavistock, the Rural Districts of Broadwoodwidger, Holsworthy, and Tavistock, and the Rural District of Plympton St Mary less the parts of the parishes of Bickleigh and Tamerton Foliot added to the county borough of Plymouth by the Plymouth Extension Act 1950.^[2]

In 1965 Tavistock was one of the largest seats in England, in terms of land area. It included the towns of Plympton and Plymstock (effectively eastern suburbs of Plymouth). It also included a great deal of rural land, including two-thirds of Dartmoor.^[3]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1295–1640

Parliament	First member	Second member
1335	Richard Crocker[4]
Oct. 1377	Thomas Raymond[5]
1381	Peter Hadley[6]
1384		Thomas Raymond[5]
1386	John Wyndout	John Tryll[7]
1388 (Feb)	Ranulph Hunt	John atte Pole[7]
1388 (Sep)	John Ford	William Walreddon[7]
1390 (Jan)	Walter Milemead	John Bithewater[7]
1390 (Nov)
1391	Ranulph Hunt	John Whitham[7]
1393	Ranulph Hunt	Matthew Row[7]
1394	Ranulph Hunt	John Crocker[7]
1395	Ranulph Hunt	Walter Dimmock[7]
1397 (Jan)	William Whitham	John Plenty[7]
1397 (Sep)
1399
1401
1402	Ranulph Hunt	John Kene[7]
1404 (Jan)
1404 (Oct)
1406	John Plenty	Roger Baker[7]
1407	John Godfrey	William Brit[7]
1410
1411	John Lopynford	Richard Secheville[7]
1413 (Feb)
1413 (May)	William May	John Julkin[7]
1414 (Apr)
1414 (Nov)	William May	John Julkin[7]
1415
1416 (Mar)
1416 (Oct)
1417
1419	Richard Secheville	?[7]
1420	Richard Secheville	William Bentley[7]
1421 (May)	John Fortescue	William May[7]
1421 (Dec)	John Fortescue	Nicholas Fitzherbert[7]
1467–1468	Richard Edgcumbe
1472	John Say
1485	Richard Edgcumbe
1510-1512	No names known[8]
1515	Richard Lybbe	John Amadas[8]
1523	?
1529	William Honychurch	John Dynham[8]
1536	?
1539	?
1542	?
1545	Sir Peter Carew	Richard Fortescue[8]
1547	Sir Edward Rogers	John Gale[8]
1553 (Mar)	Edward Underhill	Anthony Lyte[8]
1553 (Nov)	Richard Wilbraham	Thomas Smyth
Parliament of 1554	Richard Mayo	John Fitz, junior
Parliament of 1554–1555	John Onebyche
Parliament of 1555	Richard Mayo	Thomas Southcote
Parliament of 1558	Thomas Browne	George Southcote
Parliament of 1559	Unknown: the return has been lost
Parliament of 1563–1567	Sir Nicholas Throckmorton	Richard Cooke
Parliament of 1571	Nathaniel Bacon	Robert Ferrers died after 1572 In his place Charles Morison
Parliament of 1572–1581
Parliament of 1584–1585	Edward Bacon	Valentine Knightley
Parliament of 1586–1587	John Glanville
Parliament of 1588–1589	Michael Heneage	Anthony Ashley
Parliament of 1593	Hugh Vaughan	Richard Codrington
Parliament of 1597–1598	Edward Montagu	Valentine Knightley
Parliament of 1601	Henry Grey	Walter Wentworth
Parliament of 1604–1611	Sir George Fleetwood	Edward Duncombe
Addled Parliament (1614)	(Sir) Francis Glanville
Parliament of 1621–1622		Sir Baptist Hicks, Bt
Happy Parliament (1624–1625)	Sampson Hele	John Pym
Useless Parliament (1625)	Sir Francis Glanville
Parliament of 1625–1626	Sir John Ratcliffe
Parliament of 1628–1629	Sir Francis Glanville
No Parliament summoned 1629-1640

MPs 1640–1868

Year	First member		First party	Second member		Second party
April 1640		Lord Russell	Royalist		John Pym	Parliamentarian
November 1640
1641		Hon. John Russell	Royalist
December 1643				Pym died - seat vacant
January 1644	Russell disabled from sitting - seat vacant
1646		Elisha Crimes			Edward Fowell
December 1648	Crimes and Fowell excluded in Pride's Purge - both seats vacant
1653	Tavistock was unrepresented in the Barebones Parliament and the First and Second Parliaments of the Protectorate
January 1659		Henry Hatsell			Edmund Fowell
May 1659	Not represented in the restored Rump
April 1660		William Russell	Whig		George Howard
April 1661		Sir John Davie, 2nd Baronet
December 1661		Lord Russell	Whig
1673					Sir Francis Drake, 3rd Baronet
1679		Edward Russell	Whig
1685		Sir James Butler			John Beare
1689		Lord Robert Russell			Sir Francis Drake, Bt
1695					Lord James Russell
March 1696					Ambrose Manaton
November 1696					Sir Francis Drake, Bt
1701					Lord Edward Russell	Whig
1702					Lord James Russell
November 1703		James Bulteel
December 1703					Henry Manaton[9]
1708		Sir John Cope, Bt[10]	Whig
1711					James Bulteel
1715					Sir Francis Henry Drake, Bt
1728		Sir Humphrey Monoux, Bt	Tory
1734		Hon. Charles Fane[11]	Whig		Sidney Meadows
1741					Lord Sherard Manners
1742					The Viscount of Limerick
July 1747		Richard Leveson-Gower[12]			Thomas Brand
December 1747		Sir Richard Wrottesley, Bt
April 1754		Richard Rigby	Whig[13]		Jeffrey French
December 1754					Richard Vernon
1761					Richard Neville Aldworth
1774					Hon. Richard FitzPatrick	Whig[13]
1788		Lord John Russell	Whig[13]
June 1790		Hon. Charles Wyndham[14]	Whig[13]
December 1790		Lord John Russell	Whig[13]
1802		Lord Robert Spencer	Whig[13]
May 1807		Lord William Russell	Whig[13]
July 1807					Viscount Howick	Whig[13]
1808					George Ponsonby	Whig[13]
1812					Richard FitzPatrick	Whig[13]
1813					Lord John Russell	Whig[13]
1817					Lord Robert Spencer	Whig[13]
1818					Lord John Russell	Whig[13]
1819		John Peter Grant	Whig[13]
March 1820					John Nicholas Fazakerly	Whig[13]
May 1820					Viscount Ebrington[15]	Whig[13]
1826		Lord William Russell	Whig[13]
August 1830		Lord Russell	Whig[13]
November 1830					Lord John Russell[16]	Whig[13]
July 1831					John Heywood Hawkins	Whig[13]
October 1831		Lieutenant Colonel Francis Russell	Whig[13]
1832		Lord Russell[17]	Whig[13][18][19]		Charles Richard Fox	Whig[13]
1835					John Rundle	Whig[13][18][20]
1841		Lord Edward Russell	Whig[13][20]
1843					John Salusbury Trelawny	Radical[21][22][23][24]
1847		Hon. Edward Russell	Whig[24][25]
April 1852					Samuel Carter[26]	Radical[27][28]
July 1852		Hon. George Byng	Whig[29]
1853					Robert Phillimore	Peelite[30][31][32]
March 1857					Sir John Salusbury Trelawny	Radical[21][22][23][24]
September 1857		Arthur Russell	Whig[33][34]
1859			Liberal			Liberal
1865					Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda	Liberal
1868	Representation reduced to one member

MPs 1868–1974

Election		Member	Party
	1868	Arthur Russell[35]	Liberal
	1885	Viscount Ebrington	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	Hugh Luttrell	Liberal
	1900	John Spear	Liberal Unionist
	1906	Hugh Luttrell	Liberal
	Dec. 1910	Sir John Spear	Liberal Unionist
	1918	Charles Williams	Conservative
	1922	Maxwell Ruthven Thornton	Liberal
	1924	Philip Kenyon-Slaney	Unionist
	1928 by-election	Wallace Duffield Wright	Conservative
	1931	Colin Patrick	Conservative
	1942 by-election	Sir Henry Studholme, Bt	Conservative
	1966	Michael Heseltine	Conservative
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see West Devon

Elections

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Tavistock^[13][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Russell	Unopposed
	Whig	Hugh Fortescue	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Fortescue chose to sit for Devon where he had also been elected, causing a by-election.

By-election, 27 November 1830: Tavistock^[13][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Russell	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Tavistock^[13][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Russell	Unopposed
	Whig	John Russell	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

John Russell was also elected for Devon and opted to sit there, causing a by-election.

By-election, 13 July 1831: Tavistock^[13][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Heywood Hawkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Whig hold

William Russell resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 October 1831: Tavistock^[13][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Francis Russell (British Army officer)	Unopposed
Registered electors			c. 30
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Tavistock^[13][37][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Russell	159	45.2
	Whig	Charles Richard Fox	129	36.6
	Whig	Sir Francis Charles Knowles, 3rd Baronet	64	18.2
Majority			65	18.4
Turnout			193	78.1
Registered electors			247
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Tavistock^[13][37][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Russell	167	52.7	+7.5
	Whig	John Rundle	145	45.7	+9.1
	Whig	Sir Francis Charles Knowles, 3rd Baronet	5	1.6	−16.6
Majority			140	44.1	+25.7
Turnout			178	61.6	−16.5
Registered electors			289
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Tavistock^[13][37][36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	William Russell	Unopposed
	Whig	John Rundle	Unopposed
Registered electors			329
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Rundle	Unopposed
	Whig	Edward Russell	Unopposed
Registered electors			275
	Whig hold
	Whig hold

Rundle resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 16 March 1843: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	John Salusbury-Trelawny	113	62.1	N/A
	Chartist	Henry Vincent	69	37.9	New
Majority			44	24.2	N/A
Turnout			182	68.9	N/A
Registered electors			264
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

General election 1847: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Edward Russell	153	34.4	N/A
	Radical	John Salusbury-Trelawny	150	33.7	N/A
	Peelite	Robert Phillimore	86	19.3	New
	Radical	Samuel Carter	56	12.6	N/A
Turnout			223 (est)	70.6 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			315
Majority			3	0.7	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A
Majority			64	14.4	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

Trelawny resigned to seek re-election after voting against the disestablishment of the Church of England when he had promised his constituents he would vote for it.^[38]

By-election, 28 April 1852: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Samuel Carter	115	40.5	+27.9
	Radical	John Salusbury-Trelawny	89	31.3	−2.4
	Peelite	Robert Phillimore	80	28.2	+8.9
Majority			26	9.2	−5.2
Turnout			284	81.4	+10.8
Registered electors			349
	Radical hold		Swing	+15.2

General election 1852: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Byng	220	44.6	+10.2
	Radical	Samuel Carter	169	34.3	−12.0
	Peelite	Robert Phillimore	104	21.1	+1.8
Turnout			247 (est)	70.6 (est)	—
Registered electors			349
Majority			51	10.3	+9.6
	Whig hold		Swing	+8.1
Majority			65	13.2	−1.2
	Radical hold		Swing	−8.6

On petition, Carter was unseated in 1853 and Phillimore was declared elected in his place.

General election 1857: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Byng	242	42.5	−2.1
	Radical	John Salusbury-Trelawny	198	34.7	N/A
	Radical	Samuel Carter	130	22.8	−11.5
Turnout			285 (est)	72.2 (est)	+1.6
Registered electors			395
Majority			44	7.7	−2.6
	Whig hold		Swing	+4.7
Majority			68	11.9	−1.3
	Radical hold		Swing	−4.7

Byng resigned in order to contest a by-election in Middlesex, causing a by-election.^[39]

By-election, 4 September 1857: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Arthur Russell	164	57.7	+15.2
	Radical	Edward Miall[40][41]	120	42.3	−15.2
Majority			44	15.4	+7.7
Turnout			284	71.9	−0.3
Registered electors			395
	Whig hold		Swing	+15.2

General election 1859: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Russell	Unopposed
	Liberal	John Salusbury-Trelawny	Unopposed
Registered electors			414
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Russell	330	45.3	N/A
	Liberal	Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda	179	24.6	N/A
	Liberal	Samuel Carter	119	16.3	N/A
	Conservative	Francis Rummens[42]	93	12.8	New
	Liberal	Theophilus Alexander Blakely[43]	8	1.1	N/A
Majority			60	8.3	N/A
Turnout			411 (est)	96.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			426
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Seat reduced to one member

General election 1868: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Russell	Unopposed
Registered electors			802
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lord Arthur Russell	362	57.0	N/A
	Liberal	Russell Hugh Worthington Biggs[44]	273	43.0	N/A
Majority			89	14.0	N/A
Turnout			635	78.9	N/A
Registered electors			805
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Tavistock^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lord Arthur Russell	Unopposed
Registered electors			847
	Liberal hold

Ebrington

General election 1885: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Viscount Ebrington	5,390	63.0	N/A
	Conservative	Henry Imbert-Terry	3,172	37.0	New
Majority			2,218	26.0	N/A
Turnout			8,562	78.9	N/A
Registered electors			10,851
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1886: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Viscount Ebrington	3,917	59.0	+22.0
	Liberal	John Budd Phear	2,722	41.0	−22.0
Majority			1,195	18.0	N/A
Turnout			6,639	61.2	−17.7
Registered electors			10,851
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+22.0

Elections in the 1890s

Hugh Luttrell

General election 1892: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Luttrell	4,458	51.2	+10.2
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Thomas White-Thomson	4,241	48.8	−10.2
Majority			217	2.4	N/A
Turnout			8,699	74.2	+13.0
Registered electors			11,720
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+10.2

General election 1895: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Luttrell	4,970	51.9	+0.7
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Thomas White-Thomson	4,597	48.1	−0.7
Majority			373	3.8	+1.4
Turnout			9,567	78.7	+4.5
Registered electors			12,154
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.7

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Spear	4,746	50.1	+2.0
	Liberal	John Fellowes Wallop, 7th Earl of Portsmouth	4,731	49.9	−2.0
Majority			15	0.2	N/A
Turnout			9,477	77.7	−1.0
Registered electors			12,202
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.0

General election 1906: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Luttrell	6,405	55.2	+5.3
	Liberal Unionist	John Spear	5,196	44.8	−5.3
Majority			1,209	10.4	N/A
Turnout			11,601	82.9	+5.2
Registered electors			13,989
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+5.3

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh Luttrell	6,570	50.9	−4.3
	Liberal Unionist	John Spear	6,343	49.1	+4.3
Majority			227	1.8	−8.6
Turnout			12,913	83.9	+1.0
Registered electors			15,395
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.3

General election December 1910: Tavistock^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	John Spear	6,409	51.6	+2.5
	Liberal	Hugh Luttrell	6,019	48.4	−2.5
Majority			390	3.2	N/A
Turnout			12,428	80.7	−3.2
Registered electors			15,395
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.5

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Unionist: John Spear
• Liberal: Oliver Brett^[46]

General election 1918: Tavistock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Charles Williams	9,157	56.7	+5.1
	Liberal	Harry Geen	7,005	43.3	−5.1
Majority			2,152	13.4	+10.2
Turnout			16,162	62.2	−18.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	+5.1
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Maxwell Thornton

General election 1922: Tavistock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maxwell Thornton	11,708	54.5	+11.2
	Unionist	Charles Williams	9,757	45.5	−11.2
Majority			1,951	9.0	N/A
Turnout			21,465	77.6	+14.4
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing

General election 1923: Tavistock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maxwell Thornton	11,883	54.1	−0.4
	Unionist	Philip Kenyon-Slaney	10,072	45.9	+0.4
Majority			1,811	8.2	−0.8
Turnout			21,955	77.7	+0.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.4

1924 general election: Tavistock^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Philip Kenyon-Slaney	12,058	52.8	+6.9
	Liberal	Maxwell Thornton	10,786	47.2	−6.9
Majority			1,272	5.6	N/A
Turnout			22,844	77.7	0.0
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

1928 Tavistock by-election^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Wallace Wright	10,745	45.2	−7.6
	Liberal	Reginald Fletcher	10,572	44.5	−2.7
	Labour	Richard Davies	2,449	10.3	New
Majority			173	0.7	−4.9
Turnout			21,317	77.3	−4.4
	Unionist hold		Swing	-2.5

1929 general election: Tavistock^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Wallace Wright	14,192	44.7	−0.5
	Liberal	Hilda Runciman	14,040	44.1	−0.4
	Labour	Richard Davies	3,574	11.2	+0.9
Majority			152	0.6	−0.1
Turnout			31,716
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Tavistock^[48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Patrick	17,310	52.4	+7.7
	Liberal	John Adam Day	13,592	41.2	−2.9
	Labour	Richard Davies	2,124	6.4	−4.8
Majority			3,718	11.2	+10.6
Turnout			33,026	83.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1935: Tavistock^[48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Colin Patrick	17,475	52.8	+0.4
	Liberal	John Adam Day	13,422	40.5	−0.7
	Labour	Charles Henry Townsend	2,236	6.7	+0.3
Majority			4,053	12.3	+1.1
Turnout			33,133	77.9	−3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: Colin Patrick
• Liberal: Frank Milton
• Labour: J Finnigan

1942 Tavistock by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Conservative hold		Swing

1945 general election: Tavistock

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	19,730	46.9	−5.9
	Liberal	Isaac Foot	13,764	32.8	−7.7
	Labour	James Finnigan	8,539	20.3	+13.6
Majority			5,966	14.1	+1.8
Turnout			42,033	75.8	−2.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Tavistock^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	18,682	50.3	+3.4
	Labour	Frank W Harcourt-Munning	10,189	27.4	+7.1
	Liberal	JD Wyatt	8,281	22.3	+10.5
Majority			8,493	22.9	+8.8
Turnout			37,152	84.7	+8.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1951: Tavistock^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	22,683	63.87
	Labour	Frank W Harcourt-Munning	12,833	36.13
Majority			9,850	27.8	+4.9
Turnout			35,516	78.8	−5.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1955: Tavistock^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	18,991	54.8	−9.1
	Labour	Harold Lawrance	8,755	25.2	−10.9
	Liberal	Richard Moore	6,937	20.0	New
Majority			10,236	29.6	+1.8
Turnout			34,683	76.9	−1.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1959: Tavistock^[50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	19,778	53.7	−1.1
	Liberal	Richard Moore	9,008	24.5	+4.5
	Labour	Bryan R Weston	8,022	21.8	−3.4
Majority			10,770	29.2	−0.4
Turnout			36,808	78.5	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Tavistock^[50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Studholme	19,493	47.8	−5.9
	Liberal	Grenville Jones	14,093	34.5	+10.0
	Labour	John A Elswood	7,226	17.7	−4.1
Majority			5,400	13.2	−16.0
Turnout			40,812
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Tavistock^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Heseltine	21,644	49.2	+1.4
	Liberal	Christopher Trethewey	13,461	30.6	−3.9
	Labour	Peggy Middleton	8,902	20.2	+2.5
Majority			8,183	18.6	+5.4
Turnout			44,007	81.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Tavistock^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Heseltine	25,846	57.1	+7.9
	Liberal	Michael E B Banks	10,397	23.0	−7.6
	Labour	Harold M Luscombe	8,982	19.9	−0.3
Majority			15,449	34.1	+15.5
Turnout			45,225
	Conservative hold		Swing