Barnstaple Barnstaple has been a civil parish governed by a town council. From 1295 the Borough of Barnstaple was represented in the House of Commons by two Members of Parliament until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member. The constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election and was consolidated into the large modern constituency of North Devon, which was held by Nick Harvey, MP, of the Liberal Democrats from 1992 until 2015. In the United Kingdom general election, 2015, Peter Heaton-Jones of the Conservative Party was elected and re-elected again in 2017 with an increased vote share of
Feudal barony of Barnstaple in 1087. In about 1107, Juhel, who had already founded Totnes Priory, founded Barnstaple Priory, of the Cluniac order, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. Juhel's son and heir was Alfred de Totnes, who died "sine prole" some time before 1139, leaving two sisters as his co-heiresses each to a moiety of the barony: Aenor and a sister whose name is unknown. The inheritance of the barony of Barnstaple by two co-heiresses split its possession during the period c. 1139 to 1213 into two moieties, which became re-united under the de Tracy family. The descent of the two co-heiresses was as