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
Barnstaple it developed other industries, such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. Its Victorian market survives, with its high glass and timber roof on iron columns. Barnstaple railway station is the terminus of a branch line from Exeter, known as the Tarka Line. Since 1974, Barnstaple has been a civil parish governed by town council. The parish itself had a population of 24,033 and including the satellite settlements known as the Barnstaple Town Area, it is 53,514. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete, but is retained by an American county and town and is still sometimes used for Bideford or Barnstable