Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Monmouth (Assembly constituency).

For other constituencies which may be confused with this constituency, see Monmouth constituency (disambiguation).

Monmouth
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Monmouth in Wales.
Preserved county	Gwent
Electorate	65,432 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Abergavenny, Chepstow, Monmouth
Current constituency
Created	1918 (1918)
Member of Parliament	David Davies (Conservative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Monmouth Boroughs, North Monmouthshire and South Monmouthshire
Overlaps
Welsh Assembly	South East Wales
European Parliament constituency	Wales

Monmouth (Welsh: Sir Fynwy) is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster). It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post of election. The constituency was created for the 1918 general election.

The Monmouth Welsh Assembly constituency, created in 1999, has normally the same boundaries as the Westminster constituency.

History

The constituency has traditionally favoured the Conservative Party (as one might expect from a predominately rural area) but has been captured by Labour at times of strength, such as 1997.

The current MP is the Conservative David Davies, elected in 2005 and a former member for the Welsh Assembly seat of the same name. To avoid confusion with the Yorkshire Conservative David Davis, he is named in Hansard as "David T.C. Davies".

Boundaries

Preserved county of Gwent
boundaries as defined in 2003.

1983 onwards

The constituency is one of eight covering the preserved county of Gwent. The other seven are Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Islwyn, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, Newport East, Newport West and Torfaen. Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, however, straddles the boundary with the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan. It covers most of current local authority of Monmouthshire, with the main towns being Chepstow and Monmouth.

For the 2010 United Kingdom general election, there were no changes to the boundaries of the Monmouth constituency stemming from the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Wales. Likewise there were no boundary changes in 1997

1918 to 1983

As first used in the 1918 general election, the constituency was a creation of the Representation of the People Act 1918 as one of six constituencies covering the county of Monmouth. Prior to the 1918 election the county had been covered, nominally, by the county constituencies of Northern Monmouthshire, Southern Monmouthshire, and Western Monmouthshire, and the Monmouth Boroughs borough constituency. By 1918, however, administrative county boundaries were out of alignment with constituency boundaries. The new constituency boundaries took account of the new local government boundaries.

The other Monmouthshire constituencies defined by 1918 legislation were the county constituencies of Abertillery, Bedwellty, Ebbw Vale and Pontypool, and the borough constituency of Newport. This general pattern was maintained until 1983, nine years after the administrative county they were based on had been abolished, but there were some boundary changes during the 1918 to 1983 period.

County of Monmouth

In 1918 the Monmouth constituency was defined as consisting of the municipal boroughs of Abergavenny, and Monmouth, the urban districts of Caerleon, Chepstow, and Usk, the rural districts of Abergavenny, Chepstow, Magor, Monmouth, and Pontypool, and part of the rural district of St Mellons, and the same boundaries were used for the general elections of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1945.

New boundaries, created by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, were used for the 1950 general election, and the Monmouth constituency was defined as consisting of the municipal boroughs of Abergavenny, and Monmouth, the urban districts of Caerleon, Chepstow, and Usk, and rural districts of Abergavenny, Chepstow, Magor and St Mellons, Monmouth, and Pontypool.

For the 1951 general election, there was some alteration to the boundaries of rural district of Magor and St Mellons.

The constituency was redefined again for the 1955 general election, taking account of new local government boundaries. The result was the same list of boroughs and districts as for the 1951 election. 1951 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1959, 1964, 1966, 1970, February 1974, October 1974 and 1979.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the local government county of Monmouth was abolished. For the 1983 general election, new constituency boundaries were drawn, taking account of new local government boundaries.

Members of Parliament

The following list does not include MPs who actually represented Monmouth Boroughs:

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Leolin Forestier-Walker	Conservative
	1934 by-election	John Herbert	Conservative
	1939 by-election	Leslie Pym	Conservative
	1945 by-election	Peter Thorneycroft	Conservative
	1966	Donald Anderson	Labour
	1970	Sir John Stradling Thomas	Conservative
	1991 by-election	Huw Edwards	Labour
	1992	Roger Evans	Conservative
	1997	Huw Edwards	Labour
	2005	David Davies	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Thomas Charles Davies	22,466	48.3	+1.4
	Labour	Hamish Sandison	12,041	25.9	−11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Martin Blakebrough	9,026	19.4	+6.6
	Plaid Cymru	Jonathan Clark	1,273	2.7	+0.6
	UKIP	Derek Rowe	1,126	2.4	+1.2
	Green	Steve Millson	587	1.3	+1.3
Majority			10,425	22.4
Turnout			46,519	74.1	+0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	6.2

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Thomas Charles Davies	21,396	46.9	+5.0
	Labour	Huw Edwards	16,869	37.0	−5.8
	Liberal Democrat	Phylip A. D. Hobson	5,852	12.8	+1.4
	Plaid Cymru	Jonathan Clark	993	2.2	−0.2
	UKIP	John Bufton	543	1.2	−0.3
Majority			4,527	9.9	+9.0
Turnout			45,653	72.4	+0.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.4

General Election 2001: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Huw Edwards	19,021	42.8	−5.0
	Conservative	Roger Evans	18,637	41.9	+2.7
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Parker	5,080	11.4	+1.9
	Plaid Cymru	Marc Hubbard	1,068	2.4	+1.3
	UKIP	David Rowlands	656	1.5	N/A
Majority			384	0.9	−7.6
Turnout			44,462	71.5	−9.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.8

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Huw Edwards	23,404	47.7	+6.8
	Conservative	Roger Evans	19,226	39.2	-8.0
	Liberal Democrat	Mark F. Williams	4,689	9.6	-1.4
	Referendum Party	T. Niall Warry	1,190	2.4	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Alan F.C. Cotton	516	1.1	+0.3
Majority			4,178	8.5	+2.2
Turnout			49,025	80.5	−5.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+7.4

General Election 1992: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Roger Evans	24,059	47.3	−0.3
	Labour	Huw Edwards	20,855	41.0	+13.3
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Frances A. David	5,562	10.9	−13.1
	Plaid Cymru (Green)	Mel J. Witherden	431	0.8	+0.8
Majority			3,204	6.3	−13.6
Turnout			50,907	86.1	+5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.8

Monmouth by-election, 1991
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Huw Edwards	17,733	39.3	+11.6
	Conservative	Roger Evans	15,327	34.0	−13.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mrs Frances A. David	11,164	24.8	+0.8
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	314	0.7	N/A
	Plaid Cymru (Green)	Melvin Witherden	277	0.6	N/A
	Unitax independent	Peter Carpenter	164	0.4	N/A
	Corrective Party	Lindi St Clair	121	0.3	N/A
Majority			2,406	5.3
Turnout			45,100
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	12.6

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Stradling Thomas	22,387	47.5	+1.6
	Labour	K. Gass	13,037	27.7	+6.0
	Social Democrat	C. D. Lindley	11,313	24.0	−4.0
	Plaid Cymru	S. Meredudd	363	0.77	−0.3
Majority			9,530	19.9	−1.2
Turnout			47,100	80.6	+1.73
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.2

General Election 1983: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	21,746	49.2
	Social Democrat	C. D. Lindley	12,403	28.0
	Labour	C. Short	9,593	21.7
	Plaid Cymru	G.O. Williams	493	1.1
Majority
Turnout				78.8
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	33,547	50.47
	Labour	T.M. Steel	23,785	35.78
	Liberal	David H. Hando	8,494	12.78
	Plaid Cymru	G. Williams	641	0.96
Majority			9,762	14.69
Turnout				83.00
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	25,460	42.79
	Labour	R.O. Faulkner	23,118	36.86
	Liberal	David H. Hando	10,076	16.94
	Plaid Cymru	T. Brimmacombe	839	1.41
Majority			2,342	3.94
Turnout				79.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	27,269	43.69
	Labour	F.R. Thompson	22,707	36.38
	Liberal	David H. Hando	11,506	18.44
	Plaid Cymru	E.H. Spanwick	930	1.49
Majority			4,562	7.31
Turnout				84.14
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	28,312	46.54
	Labour	Donald Anderson	26,957	44.31
	Liberal	David H. Hando	4,601	6.68
	Plaid Cymru	Stuart K. Neale	1,501	2.47
Majority			1,355	2.23
Turnout				80.46
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Anderson	28,619	52.73
	Conservative	Peter Thorneycroft	25,654	47.27
Majority			2,965	5.46
Turnout				84.33
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1964: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Thorneycroft	22,365	44.11
	Labour	A.C. Kerr	21,921	42.71
	Liberal	D.H. Davies	6,764	13.14
Majority			714	1.39
Turnout				84.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

General Election 1955: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

General Election 1951: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

General Election 1950: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Thorneycroft	21,956	55.33
	Labour	G.P. Thomas	17,725	44.67
Majority			4,231	10.66
Turnout				83.15
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

Monmouth by-election, October 1945
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Thorneycroft	21,092	52.7	+0.8
	Labour	A. B. L. Oakley	18,953	47.3	−0.8
Majority			2,139	5.4	+1.6
Turnout			40,045	39.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.8

General Election July 1945: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Pym	22,195	51.9	−8.2
	Labour	A. B. L. Oakley	20,543	48.1	+8.2
Majority			1,652	3.8	−16.4
Turnout			42,738	72.0	+13.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−8.2

Elections in the 1930s

Monmouth by-election, 1939
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Leslie Pym	17,358	60.1	−3.3
	Labour	F. R. Hancock	11,543	39.9	+3.3
Majority			5,815	20.2	−6.6
Turnout			28,901	58.2	−18.6
	Conservative hold		Swing	−3.3

General Election 1935: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Herbert	23,262	63.4	−1.6
	Labour	Michael Foot	13,454	36.6	+1.6
Majority			9,808	26.8	−3.2
Turnout				76.8	+7.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.6

Monmouth by-election, 1934
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Herbert	20,640	65.0	−5.8
	Labour	Rev D. Hughes	11,094	35.0	+5.8
Majority			9,546	30.0	−11.6
Turnout			31,734	69.2	−8.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8

General Election 1931: Monmouth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir Leolin Forestier-Walker	24,829	70.8	+21.5
	Labour	Rev D. Hughes	10,217	29.2	+4.3
Majority			14,612	41.6	+18.1
Turnout			45,046	78.0	−0.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

See also

• Monmouth (Assembly constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Gwent

Sources

• Iain Dale, ed (2003). The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X. 
• The Times House of Commons 1945. The Times. 1945. 
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd edition ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. 

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bromley	Constituency represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1957–1958	Succeeded by Tiverton