Blaenau Gwent | |
---|---|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Boundary of Blaenau Gwent in Wales | |
Preserved county | Gwent |
Population | 69,814 (2011 census)[1] |
Electorate | 53,791 (December 2010)[2] |
Major settlements | Ebbw Vale, Abertillery, Brynmawr, Tredegar |
1983–2024 | |
Seats | One |
Created from | Abertillery, Brecon and Radnor and Ebbw Vale[3] |
Replaced by | Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney |
Senedd | Blaenau Gwent, South Wales East |
Blaenau Gwent was a constituency in South Wales, that represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Nick Smith of the Labour Party.
As part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the 2024 United Kingdom general election. The entire constituency became part of Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney.[4]
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Constituency profile
Blaenau Gwent is a post-industrial area which formerly had significant coal and steel sectors.[5]
History
Predecessor seats
Blaenau Gwent incorporates most of the area of Aneurin Bevan's old constituency and other areas as population expansion has been low or negative following the 1960s. The constituency was created in 1983, twenty-three years after Bevan's death, from the upper part of the former Abertillery constituency, the town of Brynmawr from Brecon and Radnor, and Bevan's old Ebbw Vale seat with the exception of the area of the Rhymney Community (formerly Rhymney Urban District). The then-Labour party leader Michael Foot, who had won Ebbw Vale in the by-election following Bevan's death, was the seat's first MP.
Strong Labour Party majorities
Until 2005, the constituency statistically ranked in the top 20 safest Labour seats in the country by size of majority and by continuous representation by candidates from that party. In the 1983 and 1992 general elections, it was Labour's safest seat.
In the 2010 general election, Labour candidate Nick Smith gained the seat with a 29.2% swing from Independent back to Labour; as one of three seats Labour gained in that election where its government fell. The 2015 result made the seat the 30th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[6]
Period of independent representation
At the 2005 general election, the Labour Welsh Assembly Member Peter Law ran as an independent and won the seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party in protest at the imposition of an all-women candidates' shortlist following the retirement of incumbent MP Llew Smith and he overturned a 19,313 (60%) Labour majority with a significant 9,121 (25%) majority. In 2006 the Labour Party decided not to require an all-women shortlist at the next general election.[7]
Law died of a brain tumour on 25 April 2006, prompting a by-election in the seat on 29 June. Labour failed to regain the seat as Law's former campaign manager, Dai Davies, was elected to replace him, beating Owen Smith, the Labour candidate who later became MP for Pontypridd.
Opposition parties
The Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats have both been very weak in the seat. From 1987 until 2017 neither had ever won 10% of the vote and the Conservatives had never achieved one eighth of the total votes cast. However, in 2015 the Conservatives achieved just under 15% of the vote, with Plaid Cymru in second place after Labour. In 2005 the Liberal Democrats received their lowest share of the vote in the United Kingdom and the Conservatives their second lowest, and both lost their deposits, though this particular election saw unusual circumstances.
The 2010 result was one of few where an Independent candidate kept their deposit, winning in excess of 5% of the votes cast, and pushed one of the main three parties into fourth place; the independent Blaenau Gwent People's Voice group fielded no candidate in 2015. Three non-Labour candidates exceeded 5% of the vote (the deposit threshold) in 2015, the foremost locally being UKIP (who achieved nearly 18% of the vote), but the Lib Dem and Green candidates failed to retain their deposits.
Boundaries
The constituency boundaries are coterminous with those of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The main towns are Ebbw Vale, Abertillery, Brynmawr and Tredegar.
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[8] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1983 | Michael Foot | Labour | |
1992 | Llew Smith | Labour | |
2005 | Peter Law | Independent | |
2006 by-election | Dai Davies | Blaenau Gwent People's Voice | |
2010 | Nick Smith | Labour |
Elections
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Foot | 30,113 | 70.0 | N/A | |
Liberal | Gareth Atkinson | 6,488 | 15.1 | N/A | |
Conservative | Talmai Morgan | 4,816 | 11.2 | N/A | |
Plaid Cymru | Stephen Morgan | 1,624 | 3.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 23,625 | 54.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 43,041 | 76.8 | N/A | ||
Registered electors | 55,948 | ||||
Labour win (new seat) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Foot | 32,820 | 75.9 | +5.9 | |
Conservative | Andrew Taylor | 4,959 | 11.5 | +0.3 | |
Liberal | David McBride | 3,847 | 8.9 | −6.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Stephen Morgan | 1,621 | 3.7 | ±0.0 | |
Majority | 27,861 | 64.4 | +9.5 | ||
Turnout | 43,247 | 77.2 | +0.4 | ||
Registered electors | 56,011 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.8 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Llew Smith | 34,333 | 79.0 | +3.1 | |
Conservative | David Melding | 4,266 | 9.8 | −1.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Alistair Burns | 2,774 | 6.4 | −2.5 | |
Plaid Cymru (Green) | Alun Davies | 2,099 | 4.8 | +1.1 | |
Majority | 30,067 | 69.2 | +4.8 | ||
Turnout | 43,472 | 78.1 | +0.9 | ||
Registered electors | 55,638 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Llew Smith | 31,493 | 79.5 | +0.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Geraldine Layton | 3,458 | 8.7 | +2.3 | |
Conservative | Margrit A. Williams | 2,607 | 6.6 | −3.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Jim B. Criddle | 2,072 | 5.2 | +0.4 | |
Majority | 28,035 | 70.8 | +1.6 | ||
Turnout | 39,630 | 72.3 | -5.8 | ||
Registered electors | 54,815 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Llew Smith | 22,855 | 72.0 | −7.5 | |
Plaid Cymru | Adam Rykala | 3,542 | 11.2 | +6.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Charles Townsend | 2,945 | 9.3 | +0.6 | |
Conservative | Huw Williams | 2,383 | 7.5 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 19,313 | 60.8 | −10.0 | ||
Turnout | 31,725 | 59.5 | −12.8 | ||
Registered electors | 53,353 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent | Peter Law | 20,505 | 58.2 | N/A | |
Labour | Maggie Jones | 11,384 | 32.3 | −39.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Brian Thomas | 1,511 | 4.3 | −5.0 | |
Plaid Cymru | John Price | 843 | 2.4 | −8.8 | |
Conservative | Phillip Lee | 816 | 2.4 | −5.1 | |
UKIP | Peter Osborne | 192 | 0.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 9,121 | 25.9 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 35,251 | 66.1 | +6.6 | ||
Registered electors | 53,301 | ||||
Independent gain from Labour | Swing | +48.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blaenau Gwent PV | Dai Davies[n 1] | 12,543 | 46.2 | -12.0 | |
Labour | Owen Smith | 10,055 | 37.0 | +4.7 | |
Plaid Cymru | Steffan Lewis | 1,755 | 6.5 | +4.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Amy Kitcher | 1,477 | 5.4 | +1.1 | |
Conservative | Margrit Williams | 1,013 | 3.7 | +1.3 | |
Monster Raving Loony | Alan "Howling Laud" Hope | 318 | 1.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 2,488 | 9.2 | −16.7 | ||
Turnout | 27,161 | 50.5 | −15.6 | ||
Registered electors | 52,512 | ||||
Independent hold | Swing | −8.4 |
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Nick Smith | 16,974 | 52.4 | +20.1 | |
Blaenau Gwent PV | Dai Davies | 6,458 | 19.9 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Matt Smith | 3,285 | 10.1 | +5.8 | |
Conservative | Liz Stevenson | 2,265 | 7.0 | +4.6 | |
Plaid Cymru | Rhodri Davies | 1,333 | 4.1 | +1.7 | |
BNP | Anthony King | 1,211 | 3.7 | N/A | |
UKIP | Michael Kocan | 488 | 1.5 | +1.0 | |
Socialist Labour | Alyson O'Connell | 381 | 1.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 10,516 | 32.5 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 32,395 | 61.8 | −4.3 | ||
Registered electors | 52,442 | ||||
Labour gain from Blaenau Gwent PV | Swing | +29.2 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Nick Smith | 18,380 | 58.0 | +5.6 | |
UKIP | Susan Boucher | 5,677 | 17.9 | +16.4 | |
Conservative | Tracey West[25] | 3,419 | 10.8 | +3.8 | |
Plaid Cymru | Steffan Lewis | 2,849 | 9.0 | +4.9 | |
Green | Mark Pond | 738 | 2.3 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Samuel Rees | 620 | 2.0 | −8.1 | |
Majority | 12,703 | 40.1 | +7.6 | ||
Turnout | 31,683 | 61.7 | −0.1 | ||
Registered electors | 51,335 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | −5.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Nick Smith | 18,787 | 58.0 | ±0.0 | |
Plaid Cymru | Nigel Copner | 6,880 | 21.2 | +12.2 | |
Conservative | Tracey West | 4,783 | 14.8 | +4.0 | |
UKIP | Dennis May | 973 | 3.0 | −14.9 | |
Independent | Vicki Browning | 666 | 2.1 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Cameron Sullivan | 295 | 0.9 | −1.1 | |
Rejected ballots | 35 | ||||
Majority | 11,907 | 36.8 | -3.3 | ||
Turnout | 32,384 | 63.3 | +1.6 | ||
Registered electors | 51,176 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | −6.1 |
Of the 35 rejected ballots:
- 25 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[26]
- 9 voted for more than one candidate.[26]
- 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[26]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Nick Smith | 14,862 | 49.2 | −8.8 | |
Brexit Party | Richard Taylor | 6,215 | 20.6 | N/A | |
Conservative | Laura Anne Jones | 5,749 | 19.0 | +4.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Peredur Owen Griffiths | 1,722 | 5.7 | −15.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Chelsea-Marie Annett | 1,285 | 4.3 | +3.4 | |
Green | Stephen Priestnall | 386 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Rejected ballots | 84 | ||||
Majority | 8,647 | 28.6 | −8.2 | ||
Turnout | 30,219 | 59.6 | −3.7 | ||
Registered electors | 50,736 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | −14.7 |
Of the 84 rejected ballots:
- 44 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[29]
- 30 voted for more than one candidate.[29]
- 10 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[29]
This was the largest decrease in the Plaid Cymru vote share at the 2019 general election.[31]
See also
- Blaenau Gwent (Senedd constituency)
- List of parliamentary constituencies in Gwent
- List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales
Notes
- ^ Dai Davies, Peter Law's former agent, stood as an independent with the support of the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.
References
- ^ "Blaenau Gwent: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "'Blaenau Gwent', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
- ^ UK Polling Report http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/blaenaugwent/
- ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
- ^ Tweedie, Neil (23 June 2006). "No welcome in these valleys for Labour". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
- ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Blaenau Gwent". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "BBC NEWS >Blaenau Gwent". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election 2005, Result: Blaenau Gwent". BBC. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2005-2010 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election 2010: Blaenau Gwent". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "General Elections Online". General Elections Online. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ "Blaenau Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
- ^ "Tracey West". Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Election Results" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent Council. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ "Blaenau Gwent Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Candidates Nominated for the Parliamentary Election Thursday 12 December 2019" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Election-Results/General-Election-2019" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent Council. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ "Blaenau Gwent Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "General Election 2019 results and analysis" (PDF). House of Commons Library. U.K. Parliament. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
External links
- nomis Constituency Profile for Blaenau Gwent presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
- Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997 - 2001 Archived 7 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1983 - 1992 Archived 8 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1992 - 2005 (Guardian)
- Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
- Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
- 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
- A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)
- Blaenau Gwent UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
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