Devon East
Conservative hold

Sir Peter Emery, a veteran Conservative knight of the old school, is likely to be able to pass on a seat with one of the highest proportions of elderly residents to Hugo Swire, a 41 year old Etonian ex Grenadier Guards officer and deputy director of Sotheby's, who finished a distant fourth in Greenock and Inverclyde in 1997. This is the seat in Devon wit the highest percentage of pensioners, over a third of the whole. Most of the voters in Budleigh Salterton are in their sixties or above, as they are in central Sidmouth. Overall, this strip of the county between the Exe and the Dorset border is clearly its most Tory part.

With the retirement of Sir Peter Emery, Hugo Swire stands for the Conservatives, as one of only four Old Etonians inheriting Conservative-held seats in 2001. Born 1959, after Eton he attended St Andrew’s University and Sandhurst, and was commissioned for three years in the Grenadier Guards. He has been with Sotheby’s since 1988, currently as Director, and previously was head of development at the National Gallery. He is the son-in-law of the former Conservative Defence Secretary, Sir John Nott. With such a dated if impeccable pedigree of a rare Tory aesthete, his reputation is marred only by his allegedly having mistaken Kenneth Clarke’s wife for a lavatory attendant.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 7.07% 14.99% 47.15 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 9.54% 2.13% 448.68 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 33.89% 2.49% 1,362.97 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 1.34% 4.43% 30.29 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 3.26% 7.27% 44.78 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.00% 2.56% 0.00 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 2.40% 3.94% 60.84 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 14.50% 13.04% 111.24 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 3.38% 12.70% 26.59 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 13.20% 8.14% 162.04 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 4.91% 4.02% 122.16 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 2.59% 3.19% 81.39 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 3.32% 11.31% 29.39 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.01% 3.06% 0.39 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 0.59% 2.52% 23.34 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 1.76

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 10.35% 9.41% 109.91 £5-10K 19.80% 16.63% 119.06 £10-15K 19.36% 16.58% 116.75 £15-20K 14.94% 13.58% 110.00 £20-25K 10.60% 10.39% 101.99 £25-30K 7.31% 7.77% 94.05 £30-35K 5.02% 5.79% 86.69 £35-40K 3.47% 4.33% 80.03 £40-45K 2.42% 3.27% 74.09 £45-50K 1.71% 2.48% 68.81 £50-55K 1.22% 1.90% 64.10 £55-60K 0.88% 1.47% 59.91 £60-65K 0.65% 1.15% 56.16 £65-70K 0.48% 0.91% 52.79 £70-75K 0.36% 0.72% 49.76 £75-80K 0.27% 0.57% 47.02 £80-85K 0.21% 0.46% 44.54 £85-90K 0.16% 0.37% 42.27 £90-95K 0.12% 0.31% 40.20 £95-100K 0.10% 0.25% 38.31 £100K + 0.40% 1.34% 29.54