Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Aberavon (Senedd constituency).

Aberavon
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Aberavon in Walesfor the 2019 general election
Preserved county	West Glamorgan
Population	66,133 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	50,747 (December 2019)
Major settlements	Port Talbot
1918–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Swansea District and Mid Glamorganshire
Replaced by	Aberafan Maesteg, Neath and Swansea East
Senedd	Aberavon, South Wales West

Aberavon (Welsh : Aberafan) was a constituency in Wales in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was represented from 1922 until 2024 by the Welsh Labour Party. It included the town of Aberavon, although the largest town in the constituency was Port Talbot.

The constituency was abolished 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 general election. Its area was split between Aberafan Maesteg and Neath and Swansea East. ^[2]

History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election by the dividing of the Swansea District. With the exception of the first term, it has always been held by the Labour Party. Ramsay MacDonald, who became Labour's first Prime Minister in 1924, held the seat from 1922 to 1929. Its final MP, Stephen Kinnock, is the son of Neil Kinnock, who was Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1992.

It was one of the most consistently safe seats for Labour; since the end of the Second World War, the Labour candidate had always won Aberavon with a majority at least 33%, and with the exception of 2015, the Labour candidate has also always won an overall majority of the vote in the seat. In 2015, Kinnock only won 48.9% of the vote in Aberavon, against a surge in the vote for the UKIP candidate; however, in 2017, Kinnock's vote share rose by 19.2 percentage points, the biggest increase in the Labour vote in the seat's history, and his majority increased to 50.4%, the highest for an Aberavon MP since 2001. The 2017 result also made Aberavon the safest Labour seat in Wales, however the seat saw a significant swing against Labour in 2019.

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 2010-2024

1918–1950: The Borough of Aberavon, the Urban Districts of Briton Ferry, Glencorwg, Margam, and Porthcawl and part of the Rural Districts of Neath and Penybont.

1950–1983: The Borough of Port Talbot, the Urban Districts of Glyncorrwg and Porthcawl, and part of the Rural District of Penybont.

1983–1997: The Borough of Afan, and the Borough of Neath wards nos. 3 and 6.

1997–2010: The Borough of Port Talbot; and the Borough of Neath wards of Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North, and Coedffranc West.

2010–2024: The Neath Port Talbot County Borough electoral divisions of Aberavon, Baglan, Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Bryn and Cwmavon, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North, Coedffranc West, Cymmer, Glyncorrwg, Gwynfi, Margam, Port Talbot, Sandfields East, Sandfields West, and Tai-bach.

The constituency was in South Wales, situated on the right bank of the River Afan, near its mouth in Swansea Bay.

Commenting on the 1983 boundary changes to the constituency when moving the 2000 Loyal Address of the Blair Government in Parliament, the seat's then-MP Sir John Morris, who would retire at the 2001 general election, said:

"It is a happy tradition on this occasion to refer to one's constituency and to the people who sent one here....Whatever may occur in future, I would deplore the loss of the Member-constituency link. When, after 23 years, I lost part of my constituency, I missed the friendship of two generations. My constituents and I had grown up and grown older together."

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [3]	Party
	1918	Jack Edwards	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Rt Hon. Ramsay MacDonald	Labour
	1929	William Cove
	1959	Sir John Morris
	2001	Hywel Francis
	2015	Stephen Kinnock
	2024	Constituency abolished

Elections

Aberavon Election Results 1918-2019

Elections in the 1910s

1918 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	National Liberal	Jack Edwards	13,635	62.8	N/A
	Labour	Robert Williams	7,758	35.7	N/A
	NFDDSS	T G Jones	324	1.5	N/A
Majority			5,877	27.1	N/A
Turnout			21,697	71.4	N/A
Registered electors			30,415
	National Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

• Jones withdrew in favour of Edwards on 13 December 1918.

Elections in the 1920s

1922 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	14,318	46.6	+10.9
	Unionist	Sidney Hutchinson Byass	11,111	36.1	N/A
	National Liberal	Jack Edwards	5,238	17.3	−45.5
Majority			3,207	10.5	N/A
Turnout			30,667	88.6	+17.2
Registered electors			34,716
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+28.2

1923 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	17,439	55.6	+9.0
	Unionist	Sidney Hutchinson Byass	13,927	44.4	+8.3
Majority			3,512	11.2	+0.7
Turnout			31,366	87.2	−1.4
Registered electors			39,750
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.3

1924 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	17,724	53.1	−2.5
	Liberal	William Henry Williams	15,624	46.9	N/A
Majority			2,100	6.2	−5.0
Turnout			33,348	89.6	+2.4
Registered electors			37,200
	Labour hold		Swing

Ramsay MacDonald

1929 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	22,194	55.9	+2.8
	Liberal	William Henry Williams	13,155	33.2	−13.7
	Unionist	Francis Bertram Reece	4,330	10.9	N/A
Majority			9,039	22.7	+16.5
Turnout			39,679	87.0	−2.6
Registered electors			45,613
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.2

Henry Williams

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	23,029	58.4	+2.5
	Liberal	Edward Curran	16,378	41.6	+8.4
Majority			6,651	16.9	−5.8
Turnout			39,407	84.4	−2.6
Registered electors			46,689
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.0

1935 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	Unopposed
Registered electors			49,729
	Labour hold

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Aberavon ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	31,286	72.5	N/A
	Conservative	David Llewellyn	11,860	27.5	N/A
Majority			19,426	45.0	N/A
Turnout			43,146	79.4	N/A
Registered electors			54,323
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: Aberavon ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	29,278	68.7	−3.8
	National Liberal	Auberon Herbert	8,091	19.0	−8.5
	Liberal	Maldwyn Thomas	5,263	12.3	N/A
Majority			21,187	49.7	+4.7
Turnout			42,634	85.8	+6.4
Registered electors			49,667
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.3

1951 general election: Aberavon ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	30,498	72.0	+3.3
	Conservative	John Loveridge	11,878	28.0	+9.0
Majority			18,620	44.0	−5.7
Turnout			42,376	84.6	−1.2
Registered electors			50,071
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.9

1955 general election: Aberavon ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Cove	29,003	69.5	−2.5
	Conservative	Geoffrey Howe	12,706	30.5	+2.5
Majority			16,297	39.0	−5.0
Turnout			41,709	79.3	−5.3
Registered electors			52,616
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.4

1959 general election: Aberavon ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	30,397	65.8	−3.7
	Conservative	Geoffrey Howe	12,759	27.6	−2.9
	Plaid Cymru	Illtyd M. Lewis	3,066	6.6	N/A
Majority			17,638	38.2	−0.8
Turnout			46,222	82.1	+2.8
Registered electors			56,316
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.5

Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: Aberavon ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	33,103	72.2	+6.4
	Conservative	John Stradling Thomas	9,424	20.5	−7.1
	Plaid Cymru	Glyn John	2,118	4.6	−2.0
	Communist	Julian Tudor Hart	1,260	2.7	N/A
Majority			23,679	51.7	+13.5
Turnout			45,905	80.8	−1.3
Registered electors			56,777
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.7

1966 general election: Aberavon ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	33,763	75.5	+3.3
	Conservative	Robert Hicks	9,369	20.9	+0.4
	Communist	Julian Tudor Hart	1,620	3.6	+0.9
Majority			24,394	54.6	+2.9
Turnout			45,146	78.3	−2.5
Registered electors			57,179
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: Aberavon ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	31,314	67.0	−8.5
	Conservative	Ian Grist	10,419	22.3	+1.4
	Plaid Cymru	Graham Farmer	3,912	8.4	N/A
	Communist	Julian Tudor Hart	1,102	2.3	−1.3
Majority			20,895	44.7	−9.9
Turnout			46,747	74.8	−3.5
Registered electors			62,516
	Labour hold		Swing

February 1974 general election: Aberavon ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	31,656	65.2	−1.8
	Conservative	Peter Hubbard-Miles	10,968	22.6	+0.3
	Plaid Cymru	D G Foster	5,898	12.2	+3.8
Majority			20,688	42.6	−2.1
Turnout			48,522	75.6	+0.8
Registered electors			64,162
	Labour hold		Swing	−1.0

October 1974 general election: Aberavon ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	29,683	62.8	−2.4
	Conservative	Nigel K Hammond	7,931	16.8	−5.8
	Liberal	Sheila M. Cutts	5,178	11.0	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Thomas	4,032	8.5	−3.7
	Workers Revolutionary	J Bevan	427	0.9	N/A
Majority			21,752	46.0	+3.4
Turnout			47,251	73.1	−2.5
Registered electors			64,667
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.7

1979 general election: Aberavon ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	31,665	61.7	−1.1
	Conservative	F McCarthy	12,692	24.7	+7.9
	Liberal	Sheila M. Cutts	4,624	9.0	−2.0
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Thomas	1,954	3.8	−4.7
	Communist	G Rowden	406	0.8	N/A
Majority			18,973	37.0	−9.0
Turnout			47,179	79.2	+6.1
Registered electors			64,864
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

1983 general election: Aberavon ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	23,745	58.8	−2.9
	Liberal	Sheila M. Cutts	8,206	20.3	+11.3
	Conservative	George Bailey	6,605	16.3	−8.4
	Plaid Cymru	Glenn Phillips	1,859	4.6	+0.8
Majority			15,539	38.5	+1.5
Turnout			40,415	75.6	−3.6
Registered electors			53,443
	Labour hold		Swing

1987 general election: Aberavon ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	27,126	66.8	+8.0
	Liberal	Marilyn Harris	6,517	16.0	−4.3
	Conservative	Paul Warwick	5,861	14.4	−1.9
	Plaid Cymru	Anne Howells	1,124	2.8	−1.8
Majority			20,609	50.8	+12.3
Turnout			40,628	77.7	+2.1
Registered electors			52,280
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.1

Elections in the 1990s

1992 general election: Aberavon ^{[12] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	26,877	67.1	+0.3
	Conservative	Hywel Williams	5,567	13.9	−0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Marilyn Harris	4,999	12.5	−3.5
	Plaid Cymru	David W. J. Saunders	1,919	4.8	+2.0
	Real Bean	Captain Beany	707	1.8	N/A
Majority			21,310	53.2	+2.4
Turnout			40,069	77.6	−0.1
Registered electors			51,650
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.4

1997 general election: Aberavon ^{[14] [15] [16] [17]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Morris	25,650	71.3	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ronald McConville	4,079	11.3	−1.2
	Conservative	Peter Harper	2,835	7.9	−6.0
	Plaid Cymru	Philip Cockwell	2,088	5.8	+1.0
	Referendum	Peter David	970	2.7	N/A
	Independent	Captain Beany	341	1.0	−0.8
Majority			21,571	60.0	+9.6
Turnout			35,963	71.9	−5.7
Registered electors			50,031
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 2000s

2001 general election: Aberavon ^{[18] [19] [20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hywel Francis	19,063	63.1	−8.2
	Plaid Cymru	Lisa Turnbull	2,955	9.8	+4.0
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher Davies	2,933	9.7	−1.6
	Conservative	Ali Miraj	2,296	7.6	−0.3
	Independent	Andrew Tutton	1,960	6.5	N/A
	New Millennium Bean	Captain Beany	727	2.4	+1.4
	Socialist Alliance	Martin Chapman	256	0.8	N/A
Majority			16,108	53.3	−6.7
Turnout			30,190	61.0	−10.9
Registered electors			49,524
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.1

2005 general election: Aberavon ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hywel Francis	18,077	60.0	−3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Waller	4,140	13.8	+4.1
	Plaid Cymru	Philip Evans	3,545	11.8	+2.0
	Conservative	Annunziata Rees-Mogg	3,064	10.2	+2.6
	Veritas	Jim Wright	768	2.6	N/A
	Green	Miranda La Vey	510	1.7	N/A
Majority			13,937	46.2	−7.1
Turnout			30,104	58.9	−1.9
Registered electors			50,685
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.6

Elections in the 2010s

2010 general election: Aberavon ^{[24] [25] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hywel Francis	16,073	51.9	−8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Davies	5,034	16.3	+2.5
	Conservative	Caroline Jones	4,411	14.2	+4.1
	Plaid Cymru	Paul Nicholls-Jones	2,198	7.1	−4.7
	BNP	Kevin Edwards	1,276	4.1	N/A
	Independent	Andrew Tutton	919	3.0	N/A
	New Millennium Bean Party	Captain Beany	558	1.8	N/A
	UKIP	Joe Callan	489	1.6	N/A
Rejected ballots			44
Majority			11,039	35.7	−10.5
Turnout			30,958	61.0	+2.1
Registered electors			50,838
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.3

Of the 44 rejected ballots:

• 29 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[24]
• 14 voted for more than one candidate. ^[24]
• 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. ^[24]

Stephen Kinnock

2015 general election: Aberavon ^{[27] [28] [29]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Kinnock	15,416	48.9	−3.0
	UKIP	Peter Bush	4,971	15.8	+14.2
	Conservative	Edward Yi He	3,742	11.9	−2.3
	Plaid Cymru	Duncan Higgitt	3,663	11.6	+4.5
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Ceri-Clarke	1,397	4.4	−11.9
	Independent	Captain Beany	1,137	3.6	+1.8
	Green	Jonathan Tier	711	2.3	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Andrew Jordan	352	1.1	N/A
	TUSC	Owen Herbert	134	0.4	N/A
Rejected ballots			57
Majority			10,445	33.1	−2.6
Turnout			31,523	63.3	+2.3
Registered electors			49,821
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.6

Of the 57 rejected ballots:

• 37 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[27]
• 20 voted for more than one candidate. ^[27]

2017 general election: Aberavon ^{[30] [31]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Kinnock	22,662	68.1	+19.2
	Conservative	Sadie Vidal	5,901	17.7	+5.8
	Plaid Cymru	Andrew Bennison	2,761	8.3	−3.3
	UKIP	Caroline Jones	1,345	4.0	−11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Cen Phillips	599	1.8	−2.6
Rejected ballots			57
Majority			16,761	50.4	+17.3
Turnout			33,268	66.7	+3.4
Registered electors			49,892
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.7

Of the 57 rejected ballots:

• 41 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[30]
• 16 voted for more than one candidate. ^[30]

2019 general election: Aberavon ^{[32] [33]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephen Kinnock	17,008	53.8	−14.3
	Conservative	Charlotte Lang	6,518	20.6	+2.9
	Brexit Party	Glenda Davies	3,108	9.8	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Hunt	2,711	8.6	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Kingston-Jones	1,072	3.4	+1.6
	Independent	Captain Beany	731	2.3	N/A
	Green	Giorgia Finney	450	1.4	N/A
Rejected ballots			82
Majority			10,490	33.2	−17.2
Turnout			31,598	62.3	−4.4
Registered electors			50,747
	Labour hold		Swing	−8.6

Of the 82 rejected ballots:

• 61 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[32]
• 19 voted for more than one candidate. ^[32]
• 2 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. ^[32]

See also

• Aberavon (Senedd constituency)

References

1. "Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
2. 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN   0-900178-019. Page 556
5. Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN   9780900178023. Page 576
6. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1950.
7. "Politics Resources". Election February 1974. Politics Resources. 28 February 1974. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
8. "Politics Resources". Election October 1974. Politics Resources. 10 October 1974. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
9. "Politics Resources". Election 1979. Politics Resources. 3 May 1979. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
10. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
13. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
14. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Politics Resources". Election 1997. Politics Resources. 1 May 1997. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
16. C. Rallings & M. Thrasher, The Media Guide to the New Parliamentary Constituencies, p. 120 (Plymouth: LGC Elections Centre, 1995).
17. "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Aberavon". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
20. "BBC NEWS > Aberavon". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
21. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
23. "Aberavon parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
24. "Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
25. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
26. "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Aberavon". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
27. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
28. "Aberavon and Neath Results" (PDF). UK Parliamentary Elections May 2015 results. Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
29. "Aberavon Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
30. "Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
31. "Aberavon Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC . Retrieved 8 June 2017.
32. "Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
33. "Aberavon Parliamentary constituency". Election 2019 Results. BBC. Retrieved 23 December 2019.

Further reading

• Richard Kimber (2008). "UK General Elections since 1832 UK General Elections since 1832". psr.keele.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.

External links

• 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)
• Aberavon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Aberavon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bewdley	Constituency represented by the prime minister 22 January – 4 November 1924	Succeeded by Bewdley

51°36′00″N3°48′43″W / 51.600°N 3.812°W / 51.600; -3.812