Neath (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Neath (Assembly constituency).

Neath
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Neath in Wales.
Preserved county	West Glamorgan
Electorate	57,823 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Neath, Pontardawe
Current constituency
Created	1918 (1918)
Member of Parliament	Peter Hain (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Swansea District
Overlaps
Welsh Assembly	South Wales West
European Parliament constituency	Wales

Neath (Welsh: Castell-nedd) is a constituency 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 and one Assembly Member by the first past the post system of election.

The Constituency of Neath

The constituency is located in the preserved county of West Glamorgan, Wales. It consists of the electoral wards of: Aberdulais, Allt-wen, Blaengwrach, Bryn-côch North, Bryn-côch South, Cadoxton, Cimla, Crynant, Cwmllynfell, Dyffryn, Glynneath, Godre'r Graig, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Lower Brynamman, Neath East, Neath North, Neath South, Onllwyn, Pelenna, Pontardawe, Resolven, Rhos, Seven Sisters, Tonna, Trebanos, Ystalyfera.

The Neath constituency is a mixture of both industrial and rural communities, running in a north-south strip along the dips, ridges and folded landscape of South Wales. It includes most of the Neath and Dulais valleys, and some of the Upper Swansea Valley as well. The town of Neath is at its southern end and is a medium-sized town which started life as a Roman Nidum.

The constituency boasts historical places of both industrial and natural forms. Neath and the surrounding areas were industrialised very early in Britain's history. Copper smelting was already happening here in the late sixteenth century.^{[citation needed]}

When Neath Abbey (now a magnificent ruin) was founded in 1129, it was the richest of all Welsh monasteries, and in writings of the sixteenth century was described as the 'fairest Abbey of all Wales'. At its height it owned extensive lands and property, from Glamorgan to Somerset; had almost 5,000 sheep, as well as horses and cattle; it owned a ship and a landing-place, and worked mills, fisheries and coal-mines. But it suffered greatly during the many skirmishes between the Welsh and English (or Normans), and by the 1530s had only eight monks left. The ruins date mostly from the late thirteenth century. It has been in turn, a prosperous Abbey, a Jacobean Mansion (painted by Turner), an iron foundry (which explains the Abbey's position in the middle of an industrial area) and now an historical monument.

The constituency was heavily mined and the small communities that grew up around these mines were devastated by the collapse of the mining industry in the 1980s. On the edges of many of these communities there are now "Industrial Villages" springing up, helping to replace the jobs lost by the demise of the mining industry, and so helping to keep young people in these communities.

A legacy to Neath's political history is the memorial stone in Victoria Gardens to the 5 Neath citizens killed during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-38.^{[citation needed]}

The constituency remains a Welsh-speaking area, with approximately 26% of the population reported as Welsh speakers.^{[citation needed]}

Members of Parliament

Its current Member of Parliament is Peter Hain, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

Election		Member	Party
	1918	John Hugh Edwards	Coalition Liberal/Constitutionalist
	1922	Sir William Jenkins	Labour
	1945 by-election	D. J. Williams	Labour
	1964	Donald Coleman	Labour
	1991 by-election	Peter Hain	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Neath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	17,172	46.3	-6.3
	Plaid Cymru	Alun Llywelyn	7,397	19.9	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	Frank Little	5,535	14.9	+0.6
	Conservative	Emmeline Owens	4,847	13.1	+1.5
	BNP	Michael Green	1,342	3.6	N/A
	UKIP	James Bevan	829	2.2	N/A
Majority			9775	26.3
Turnout			37122	64.9	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.6

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Neath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	18,835	52.6	-8.1
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Owen	6,125	17.1	-1.3
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Waye	5,112	14.3	+4.8
	Conservative	Harri Davies	4,136	11.5	+2.0
	Green	Susan Jay	658	1.8	N/A
	Independent	Gerry Brienza	360	1.0	N/A
	Legalise Cannabis	Pat Tabram	334	0.9	N/A
	Respect	Heather Falconer	257	0.7	N/A
Majority			12,710	35.5
Turnout			35,817	62.2	-0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.4

General Election 2001: Neath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	21,253	60.7	-12.8
	Plaid Cymru	Alun Llewelyn	6,437	18.4	+10.3
	Liberal Democrat	Dai Davies	3,335	9.5	+3.2
	Conservative	David Devine	3,310	9.5	+0.8
	Socialist Alliance	Huw Pudner	483	1.4	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Gerry Brienza	202	0.6	N/A
Majority			14,816	42.3
Turnout			35,020	62.5	-11.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Neath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	30,324	73.5	+5.5
	Conservative	David R. Adams	3,583	8.7	-6.6
	Plaid Cymru	D T Jones	3,344	8.1	-3.2
	Liberal Democrat	F H Little	2,597	6.3	+0.9
	Referendum Party	P A Morris	975	2.4	N/A
	Independent	D H Marks	420	1.0	N/A
Majority			26,741	64.8
Turnout				74.3

General Election 1992: Neath
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	30,903	68.0	+4.6
	Conservative	David R. Adams	6,928	15.2	−0.9
	Plaid Cymru	Dr Dewi R.Evans	5,145	11.3	+4.9
	Liberal Democrat	Rev. Michael Phillips	2,467	5.4	−8.6
Majority			23,975	52.8	+5.5
Turnout			45,443	80.6	+1.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

Neath by-election, 1991
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	17,962	51.7
	Plaid Cymru	Dewi Evans	8,132	23.3
	Conservative	Richard Evans	2,995	8.6
	Liberal Democrat	David Lloyd	2,000	5.8
	Social Democrat	John Warman	1,826	5.3
	Local Independent Labour	Rhys Jeffreys	1,253	3.6
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	263	0.8
	Captain Beany of the Bean Party	Barry Kirk	262	0.7
Majority			9,830	28.7
Turnout			34,753	64.0

See also

• Neath (Assembly constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Glamorgan