Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Blaenau Gwent (Senedd constituency).

Blaenau Gwent
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Blaenau Gwent in Wales
Preserved county	Gwent
Population	69,814 (2011 census) [1]
Electorate	53,791 (December 2010) [2]
Major settlements	Ebbw Vale, Abertillery, Brynmawr, Tredegar
1983–2024
Seats	One
Created from	Abertillery, Brecon and Radnor and Ebbw Vale [3]
Replaced by	Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney
Senedd	Blaenau Gwent, South Wales East

Blaenau Gwent was a constituency in South Wales, that was represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2010 to 2024 by Nick Smith of the Labour Party.

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. The entire constituency became part of Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney. ^[4]

Constituency profile

Blaenau Gwent is a post-industrial area which formerly had significant coal and steel sectors. ^[5]

History

Predecessor seats

Blaenau Gwent incorporates most of the area of Aneurin Bevan's old constituency and other areas as population expansion has been low or negative following the 1960s. 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 Brecon and Radnor, 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.

Strong Labour Party majorities

Until 2005, the constituency statistically ranked in the top 20 safest Labour seats in the country by size of majority and by continuous representation by candidates from that party. In the 1983 and 1992 general elections, it was Labour's safest seat.

In the 2010 general election, Labour candidate Nick Smith gained the seat with a 29.2% swing from Independent back to Labour; as one of three seats Labour gained in that election where its government fell. The 2015 result made the seat the 30th safest of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority. ^[6]

Period of independent representation

At the 2005 general election, 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 he 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. ^[7]

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.

Opposition parties

The Conservative Party and Liberal Democrats have both been very weak in the seat. From 1987 until 2017 neither had ever won 10% of the vote and the Conservatives had never achieved one eighth of the total votes cast. However, in 2015 the Conservatives achieved just under 15% of the vote, with Plaid Cymru in second place after Labour. 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 2010 result was one of few where an Independent candidate kept their deposit, winning in excess of 5% of the votes cast, and pushed one of the main three parties into fourth place; the independent Blaenau Gwent People's Voice group fielded no candidate in 2015. Three non-Labour candidates exceeded 5% of the vote (the deposit threshold) in 2015, the foremost locally being UKIP (who achieved nearly 18% of the vote), but the Lib Dem and Green candidates failed to retain their deposits.

Boundaries

Map of boundaries 1983-2024

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

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [8]	Party
	1983	Michael Foot	Labour
	1992	Llew Smith	Labour
	2005	Peter Law	Independent
	2006 by-election	Dai Davies	Blaenau Gwent People's Voice
	2010	Nick Smith	Labour
	2024	Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Blaenau Gwent ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foot	30,113	70.0	N/A
	Liberal	Gareth Atkinson	6,488	15.1	N/A
	Conservative	Talmai 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
Registered electors			55,948
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1987: Blaenau Gwent ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foot	32,820	75.9	+5.9
	Conservative	Andrew 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
Registered electors			56,011
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Blaenau Gwent ^{[11] [12]}

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
Registered electors			55,638
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.4

General election 1997: Blaenau Gwent ^{[13] [14]}

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	70.8	+1.6
Turnout			39,630	72.3	−5.8
Registered electors			54,815
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Blaenau Gwent ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Llew Smith	22,855	72.0	−7.5
	Plaid Cymru	Adam Rykala	3,542	11.2	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Townsend	2,945	9.3	+0.6
	Conservative	Huw Williams	2,383	7.5	+0.9
Majority			19,313	60.8	−10.0
Turnout			31,725	59.5	−12.8
Registered electors			53,353
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 2005: Blaenau Gwent ^{[17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Peter Law	20,505	58.2	N/A
	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	−5.1
	UKIP	Peter Osborne	192	0.5	N/A
Majority			9,121	25.9	N/A
Turnout			35,251	66.1	+6.6
Registered electors			53,301
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing	+48.9

2006 Blaenau Gwent by-election ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Blaenau Gwent PV	Dai Davies [n 1]	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	N/A
Majority			2,488	9.2	−16.7
Turnout			27,161	50.5	−15.6
Registered electors			52,512
	Independent hold		Swing	−8.4

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Blaenau Gwent ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Smith	16,974	52.4	+20.1
	Blaenau Gwent PV	Dai Davies	6,458	19.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Matt Smith	3,285	10.1	+5.8
	Conservative	Liz Stevenson	2,265	7.0	+4.6
	Plaid Cymru	Rhodri Davies	1,333	4.1	+1.7
	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	N/A
Majority			10,516	32.5	N/A
Turnout			32,395	61.8	−4.3
Registered electors			52,442
	Labour gain from Blaenau Gwent PV		Swing	+29.2

General election 2015: Blaenau Gwent ^{[22] [23] [24]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Smith	18,380	58.0	+5.6
	UKIP	Susan Boucher	5,677	17.9	+16.4
	Conservative	Tracey West [25]	3,419	10.8	+3.8
	Plaid Cymru	Steffan Lewis	2,849	9.0	+4.9
	Green	Mark Pond	738	2.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Samuel Rees	620	2.0	−8.1
Majority			12,703	40.1	+7.6
Turnout			31,683	61.7	−0.1
Registered electors			51,335
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.4

General election 2017: Blaenau Gwent ^{[26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Smith	18,787	58.0	±0.0
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Copner	6,880	21.2	+12.2
	Conservative	Tracey West	4,783	14.8	+4.0
	UKIP	Dennis May	973	3.0	−14.9
	Independent	Vicki Browning	666	2.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Cameron Sullivan	295	0.9	−1.1
Rejected ballots			35
Majority			11,907	36.8	−3.3
Turnout			32,384	63.3	+1.6
Registered electors			51,176
	Labour hold		Swing	−6.1

Of the 35 rejected ballots:

• 25 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[26]
• 9 voted for more than one candidate. ^[26]
• 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. ^[26]

General election 2019: Blaenau Gwent ^{[28] [29] [30]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nick Smith	14,862	49.2	−8.8
	Brexit Party	Richard Taylor	6,215	20.6	N/A
	Conservative	Laura Anne Jones	5,749	19.0	+4.2
	Plaid Cymru	Peredur Owen Griffiths	1,722	5.7	−15.5
	Liberal Democrats	Chelsea-Marie Annett	1,285	4.3	+3.4
	Green	Stephen Priestnall	386	1.3	N/A
Rejected ballots			84
Majority			8,647	28.6	−8.2
Turnout			30,219	59.6	−3.7
Registered electors			50,736
	Labour hold		Swing	−14.7

Of the 84 rejected ballots:

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

This was the largest decrease in the Plaid Cymru vote share at the 2019 general election. ^[31]

See also

• Blaenau Gwent (Senedd constituency)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Gwent
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales

Notes

1. Dai Davies, Peter Law's former agent, stood as an independent with the support of the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.

References

1. "Blaenau Gwent: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
2. "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. 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.
4. 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
5. UK Polling Report http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/blaenaugwent/
6. "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
7. Tweedie, Neil (23 June 2006). "No welcome in these valleys for Labour". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 31 August 2017.
8. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
9. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
13. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Blaenau Gwent". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
15. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "BBC NEWS >Blaenau Gwent". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Election 2005, Result: Blaenau Gwent". BBC. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
19. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 2005-2010 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
21. "Election 2010: Blaenau Gwent". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
22. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
23. "General Elections Online". General Elections Online. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
24. "Blaenau Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
25. "Tracey West". Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
26. "Election Results" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent Council. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
27. "Blaenau Gwent Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC . Retrieved 8 June 2017.
28. "Candidates Nominated for the Parliamentary Election Thursday 12 December 2019" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
29. "Election-Results/General-Election-2019" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent Council. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
30. "Blaenau Gwent Parliamentary constituency". BBC News . Retrieved 12 January 2020.
31. "General Election 2019 results and analysis" (PDF). House of Commons Library. U.K. Parliament. Retrieved 3 June 2021.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Blaenau Gwent presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
• Election results, 1997 - 2001 Archived 7 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1983 - 1992 Archived 8 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine (Election Demon)
• Election results, 1992 - 2005 (Guardian)
• 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)
• Blaenau Gwent UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Blaenau Gwent UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Cardiff South East	Constituency represented by the leader of the opposition 1980–1983	Succeeded by Islwyn

51°46′37″N3°11′42″W / 51.777°N 3.195°W / 51.777; -3.195