of counting with a total of 7,096 votes to Pannell's 5,197. After the election, Bye noted that "it is quite clear from canvassing that a lot of people did not want an elected mayor." Since the expansion of the EU in 2004, Torquay underwent a significant demographic shift, with large numbers of Eastern European migrant workers settling in the region. Prominent amongst this wave of newcomers are workers from Poland and the Czech Republic, with estimates in 2005 suggesting as many as 5,000 Poles in the region. Some such workers return to their native country after a period of work, while others settle in Britain. Reflecting this shift in population, the local newspaper The Herald Express started publishing a weekly Polish column (Polak dla Polakow), and a Polish shop (Polski Sklep) opened on Lucius Street. On 28 May 2022, a superyacht named Rendezvous an 85 ft Princess motorboat caught fire in Torquay Harbour. A major incident was declared by the police and coastguards evacuated the nearby area, including the beach and roads. The local fire brigade managed to secure the vessel at Princess Pier after it drifted away from its moorings, but it sank soon afterwards. No injuries were reported. Members of Parliament Members for South Devon Lord John Russell (Whig) 1832–1835 John Crocker Bulteel (Whig) 1832–1835 Sir John Yarde Buller (Conservative) 1835–1858 Montagu Edmund Parker (Conservative) 1835–1849 Sir Ralph Lopes (Conservative) 1849–1854 Sir Lawrence Palk (Conservative) 1854–1868 Samuel Trehawke Kekewich (Conservative) 1858–1868 Members for East Devon Sir Edward Courtenay (Conservative) 1868–1870 Sir Lawrence Palk (Conservative) 1854–1880 Sir John Henry Kennaway (Conservative) 1870–1885 Lt. Col William Hood Walrond (Conservative) 1880–1885 Members for Torquay Lewis McIver (Liberal) 1885–1886 Richard Mallock (Conservative) 1886–1895 Commander Arthur Phillpotts (Conservative) 1885–1900 Sir Francis Layland-Barratt (Liberal) 1900–1910 Colonel Charles Rosdew Burn (Unionist) 1910–1923 Captain Piers Gilchrist Thompson (Liberal) 1923–1924 Charles Williams (Conservative) 1924–1955 Frederic Bennett (Conservative) 1955–1974 Members for Torbay Sir Frederic Bennett (Conservative) 1974–1987 Rupert Allason (Conservative) 1987–1997 Adrian Sanders (Liberal Democrats) 1997– 2015 Kevin Foster (Conservative) 2015 - References Torquay Torquay Torquay