Budleigh Past and Present

May 2010 seems to be the likely time for a General Election and a chance for the British electorate to vote in a new government. Some of the candidates representing political parties in the East Devon constituency which includes Budleigh Salterton have been kind enough to accept my invitation to answer questions that voters might ask. Over the next few weeks I intend to profile them in this way, as mentioned at http://budleighbrewsterunited.blogspot.com/2010/03/choosing-new-house.html The candidates are presented in no particular order. New boundaries drawn up for constituencies mean that East Devon stretches along the coast from Exmouth in the west to Sidmouth in the east, but now excluding Seaton and Axmouth. It extends northwards almost to Exeter, having also gained recently towns such as Topsham and Ottery St Mary and villages like West Hill and Whimple. In the last General Election of 2005, 49,247 votes were cast, giving a turnout of 69.4%. This was higher than the UK national av...