1910 Barnstaple by-election 1910 Barnstaple by-election The Barnstaple by-election, 1910 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Barnstaple in North Devon on 2 March 1910. The by-election was caused by the appointment of the sitting Liberal MP, Ernest Soares as Junior Lord of the Treasury, i.e. one of the government whips. Under the Parliamentary rules of the day applicable to the appointment of ministers, Soares had to resign and fight a by-election. Despite having cut the Liberal majority in Barnstaple from 2,045 in the 1906 general election to just 882 in January 1910, the Unionists decided not to
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