Abertillery (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Abertillery
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
19181983
Seatsone
Created from West Monmouthshire
Replaced by Blaenau Gwent and Islwyn

Abertillery was a county constituency centred on the town of Abertillery in Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system of election. From 1950 up to (and including) 1970, it was the safest Labour seat in the United Kingdom.

Contents

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election.

Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the urban districts of Abercarn, Abertillery and Nantyglo and Blaina. [1]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1918 William Brace Labour
1920 by-election George Barker Labour
1929 George Daggar Labour
1950 by-election Rev Llywelyn Williams Labour
1965 by-election Clifford Williams Labour
1970 Jeffrey Thomas Labour
1981 SDP
1983 constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

Brace 1906 William Brace.jpg
Brace
1918 general election: Abertillery [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William Brace Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

Hay Morgan 1906 George Hay Morgan MP.jpg
Hay Morgan
1920 Abertillery by-election [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Barker 15,942 66.4 N/A
C Liberal George Hay Morgan 7,84233.6New
Majority7,65032.8N/A
Turnout 23,78470.8N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
1922 general election: Abertillery [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Barker Unopposed N/AN/A
Labour hold
1923 general election: Abertillery [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Barker Unopposed N/AN/A
Labour hold
1924 general election: Abertillery [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Barker Unopposed N/AN/A
Labour hold
1929 general election: Abertillery [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Daggar 20,175 64.5 N/A
Liberal Walter Reynallt Meredith8,42526.9New
Unionist Peter John Feilding Chapman-Walker2,6978.6New
Majority11,75037.6N/A
Turnout 31,29782.4N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Abertillery [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Daggar Unopposed N/AN/A
Labour hold
1935 general election: Abertillery [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Daggar Unopposed N/AN/A
Labour hold

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Abertillery [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Daggar 28,615 86.6 N/A
National John Hayward4,42213.4New
Majority24,19373.2N/A
Turnout 33,03781.1N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: Abertillery [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour George Daggar 29,609 87.05
Conservative OJ Lewis4,40312.95New
Majority25,20674.10
Turnout 34,01284.58
Labour hold Swing
1950 Abertillery by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Llywelyn Williams 24,622 86.51 0.54
Conservative Richard Body 3,83913.49+0.54
Majority20,78373.021.09
Turnout 28,46171.1−15.5
Labour hold Swing
1951 general election: Abertillery [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Llywelyn Williams 29,321 86.94 0.11
Conservative John Radcliffe4,40413.06+0.11
Majority24,91773.880.22
Turnout 33,72584.040.54
Labour hold Swing 0.11
1955 general election: Abertillery [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Llywelyn Williams 25,599 82.74 4.20
Conservative Arthur G Davies4,08113.19+0.13
Welsh Nationalist Trefor Richard Morgan 1,2594.07New
Majority21,51869.554.33
Turnout 30,93979.114.93
Labour hold Swing 2.17
1959 general election: Abertillery [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Llywelyn Williams 26,931 85.0 +2.3
Conservative Ronald J Maddocks4,74015.0+1.8
Majority22,19170.0+0.5
Turnout 31,67181.9+2.8
Labour hold Swing +0.3

Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: Abertillery
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Llywelyn Williams 24,204 85.9 +0.9
Conservative Peter Rees 3,97314.1−0.9
Majority20,23171.8+1.8
Turnout 28,17775.5−6.4
Labour hold Swing
1965 Abertillery by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Clifford Williams 18,256 79.0 −6.9
Conservative Peter Rees 3,30914.3+0.2
Plaid Cymru Edward Merriman1,5516.7New
Majority14,94764.7−7.1
Turnout 23,11663.2−12.3
Labour hold Swing
1966 general election: Abertillery
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Clifford Williams 23,353 88.1 +2.2
Conservative Anthony Peter Wallis3,15111.9−2.2
Majority20,20276.2+4.4
Turnout 26,50473.4−2.1
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: Abertillery [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jeffrey Thomas 22,819 81.4 −6.7
Conservative John E. Rendle3,47812.4+0.5
Plaid Cymru David B. Harries1,7516.2New
Majority19,34169.07.2
Turnout 28,04875.0+1.6
Labour hold Swing
February 1974 general election: Abertillery [10] [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jeffrey Thomas 20,068 70.3 −11.1
Plaid Cymru William Aneurin Richards3,11910.9+4.7
Conservative Neil Hamilton 2,7309.6−2.8
Liberal Hugh Westcott Clark2,6329.2New
Majority16,94959.49.6
Turnout 28,54978.63.4
Labour hold Swing
October 1974 general election: Abertillery [10] [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jeffrey Thomas 20,835 76.9 +5.6
Plaid Cymru William Aneurin Richards2,4809.0−1.9
Conservative Pamela Joan Evelyn Larney2,3648.6−1.0
Liberal Hugh Westcott Clark1,7796.5−2.7
Majority18,35566.9+7.5
Turnout 27,45875.13.5
Labour hold Swing
1979 general election: Abertillery [10] [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jeffrey Thomas 21,698 76.0 −0.9
Conservative Ralph Tuck4,61316.2+7.6
Plaid Cymru David Brian Harries2,2487.9−1.1
Majority17,08559.87.1
Turnout 28,55980.2+5.1
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. Schedule 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5 c.64)
  2. 1 2 3 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  4. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  5. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  6. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1951". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  7. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 1955". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1959". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  9. "UK General Election results 1970". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 "'Abertillery', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  11. "UK General Election results February 1974". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  12. "UK General Election results October 1974". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  13. "UK General Election results 1979". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.