Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°46′37″N 3°11′42″W / 51.777°N 3.195°W / 51.777; -3.195
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Not to be confused with Blaenau Gwent (Assembly constituency).

51°46′37″N 3°11′42″W / 51.777°N 3.195°W / 51.777; -3.195

Blaenau Gwent
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Blaenau Gwent in Wales
Preserved countyGwent
Population69,814 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate53,791 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlementsEbbw Vale, Abertillery, Brynmawr, Tredegar
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentNick Smith (Labour)
SeatsOne
Created fromAbertillery, Brecon and Radnor and Ebbw Vale[3]
Overlaps
SeneddSouth Wales East

Blaenau Gwent is a county constituency in South Wales, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is Nick Smith of the Labour Party.

History

Blaenau Gwent is often referred to as Aneurin Bevan's old constituency. However, 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 the Brecon and Radnor constituency, 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.

Until 2005, the constituency was considered one of the safest Labour seats in the country. In the 1983 and 1992 general elections, it was Labour's safest seat. The Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats have both been very weak in the seat. Neither has won 10% of the vote since 1987 and the Conservatives have never achieved one eighth of the total votes cast. 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 seat came to prominence at the 2005 general election when 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 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.[4]

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.

In the 2010 general election, Labour candidate Nick Smith gained the seat with a 29.2% swing from Independent back to Labour; it became one of only three seats Labour gained in that election. The seat was still notable as one of the few where an Independent candidate kept their deposit or pushed one of the main parties into fourth place.

Boundaries

The constituency boundaries are analogous to those of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The main towns are Ebbw Vale, Abertillery, Brynmawr and Tredegar.

Members of Parliament

Election Member[5] Party
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1983 Michael Foot Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | 1992 Llew Smith Labour
style="background-color: Template:Independent/meta/color" | 2005 Peter Law Independent
style="background-color: Template:Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group/meta/color" | 2006 by-election Dai Davies Blaenau Gwent People's Voice
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" | 2010 Nick Smith Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Blaenau Gwent[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Smith 18,380 58.0 +5.6
UKIP Susan Boucher 5,677 17.9 +16.4
Conservative Tracey Michelle West [7] 3,419 10.8 +3.8
Plaid Cymru Steffan Lewis 2,849 9.0 +4.9
Green Mark Pond 738 2.3 New
Liberal Democrats Samuel Rees 620 2.0 −8.2
Majority 12,703 40.1 +5.3
Turnout 31,683 61.7 −0.1
Labour hold Swing −5.4
General Election 2010: Blaenau Gwent[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Nick Smith 16,974 52.4 +20.1
Blaenau Gwent PV Dai Davies 6,458 19.9 −38.2
Liberal Democrats Matt Smith 3,285 10.1 +5.9
Conservative Liz Stevenson 2,265 7.0 +4.7
Plaid Cymru Rhodri Davies 1,333 4.1 −2.4
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 +1.2
Majority 10,516 32.5
Turnout 32,395 61.8 −4.4
Labour gain from Blaenau Gwent PV Swing +29.2

Elections in the 2000s

Blaenau Gwent by-election, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Dai Davies[10][11] 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 +1.2
Majority 2,488 9.1 −16.8
Turnout 27,161 50.5 −14.4
Independent hold Swing −8.4
General Election 2005: Blaenau Gwent[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Peter Law 20,505 58.2 +58.2
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 −5.2
UKIP Peter Osborne 192 0.5 +0.5
Majority 9,121 25.9
Turnout 35,251 66.1 +6.6
Independent gain from Labour Swing
General Election 2001: Blaenau Gwent[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Llew Smith 22,855 72.0 −7.4
Plaid Cymru Adam Rykala 3,542 11.2 +5.9
Liberal Democrats Charles Townsend 2,945 9.3 +0.6
Conservative Huw Williams 2,383 7.5 +0.9
Majority 19,313 60.8 −9.9
Turnout 31,725 59.5 −12.8
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Blaenau Gwent[15]
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 70.7 +1.5
Turnout 39,630 72.3 −5.8
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1992: Blaenau Gwent[16][17]
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
Labour hold Swing +2.4

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Blaenau Gwent[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Foot 32,820 75.9 +5.9
Conservative Andrew Robert 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
Labour hold Swing +2.8
General Election 1983: Blaenau Gwent[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Foot 30,113 70.0 N/A
Liberal Gareth Martin Atkinson 6,488 15.1 N/A
Conservative Talmai Phillip 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
Labour win (new seat)

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Blaenau Gwent: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ^ "'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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/kevinmaguire/#story2
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
  6. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2015-02-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Election 2010: Blaenau Gwent". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  10. ^ http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/7990008.Your_election_candidates___so_far/
  11. ^ Dai Davies, Peter Law's former agent, stood as an independent with the support of the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Election 2005, Result: Blaenau Gwent". BBC. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  18. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the Leader of the Opposition
1980–1983 		Succeeded by
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