Conwy (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Conwy
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
ConwyConstituency.svg
Boundary of Conwy in Walesfor the 2005 general election
Preserved county Clwyd, Gwynedd
Major settlements Conwy, Bangor, Llandudno
1950–2010
SeatsOne
Created from Caernarvon Boroughs and Caernarvonshire
Replaced by Aberconwy

Conwy (Conway prior to 1983) was an electoral constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the single-member district plurality (also known as first-past-the-post) system of voting.

Contents

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 2010 general election.

History

It was a marginal between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party throughout its existence.

The Conwy Welsh Assembly constituency was created with the same boundaries as the Conwy House of Commons constituency in 1999.

Boundaries

The constituency was, geographically, relatively small for its region, as it followed and tended to keep to the coast, taking in parts of two separate densely populated coastal conurbations.

As well as the walled castle town of Conwy from which it bore its name, the constituency mainly comprised the popular holiday resort and retail centre of Llandudno to the east, and the city of Bangor, which is home to the University of Wales, Bangor, to the west. It also included the smaller coastal towns of Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan, as well as some sparser inland areas including former slate-quarrying communities in the Ogwen Valley.

The constituency, notably, did not include Colwyn Bay (or outlying Rhos-on-Sea), which forms part of a coastal conurbation (and the Conwy county borough) with Llandudno and its outlying town of Penrhyn Bay—both in the constituency; this area comes under the constituency of Clwyd West to the east. Nor did it include the town of Caernarfon—just southwest of Bangor—which was in a constituency of the same name.

The constituency was also bordered by Meirionnydd Nant Conwy to the south, and the insular constituency of Ynys Mon to the west.

Following the decisions of the Welsh Boundary Commission, the Conwy seat was significantly altered, forming the base of a new Aberconwy constituency established for the 2010 general election. Part of the constituency (notably Bangor) became part of the new Arfon constituency.

Profile

Although the constituency included a student population from the university, most of the voters were towards the older end of the age spectrum as it was a popular retirement area. The constituency was also linguistically diverse, with mainly English speakers in the east and mainly Welsh speakers in the west and inland areas.[ citation needed ]

Members of Parliament

The last MP was Betty Williams of the Labour Party, who held the seat from 1997 (when she gained 35.04% of the vote—a 9.4% swing from the Conservatives) until its abolition in 2010. Williams increased her share of the vote in 2001 (by 6.8%), but it was reduced in 2005 (by 4.7%). She is also the first female MP to hold the seat. The seat was previously held (since its renaming in 1983) by Sir Wyn Roberts for the Conservative Party, who was first elected for Conway, the old anglicised name of the constituency, in 1970.

ElectionMember [1] Party
1950 Elwyn Jones Labour
1951 Peter Thomas Conservative
1966 Ednyfed Hudson Davies Labour
1970 Wyn Roberts Conservative
1997 Betty Williams Labour
2010 Constituency abolished: see Aberconwy

Elections

Election results since 1950 Conwy election history.png
Election results since 1950

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Elwyn Jones 15,176 38.4
Conservative David Price-White 14,37336.4
Liberal Emlyn Hooson 9,93725.2
Majority8032.0
Turnout 39,48684.6
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1951: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Peter Thomas 17,115 43.4 +7.0
Labour Elwyn Jones 16,53241.9+4.5
Liberal Emlyn Hooson 5,79114.7−10.5
Majority5831.5N/A
Turnout 39,43884.9+0.3
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election 1955: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Peter Thomas 18,705 48.2 +4.8
Labour Elwyn Jones 13,88135.8−6.1
Liberal Herbert Mostyn Lewis3,2178.2−6.5
Plaid Cymru Ioan Bowen Rees 3,0197.8New
Majority4,82412.4+11.9
Turnout 38,822
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1959: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Peter Thomas 17,795 47.1 −1.1
Labour Silvan Jones13,26035.1−0.7
Liberal John H. Bellis3,84510.2+2.0
Plaid Cymru Ioan Bowen Rees 2,8527.6−0.2
Majority4,53512.0−0.4
Turnout 37,752
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Conway [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Peter Thomas 18,753 50.6 +3.5
Labour Gwilym Roberts 15,23441.1+6.0
Plaid Cymru Gwilym Hughes3,0588.3+0.7
Majority3,5199.5−2.5
Turnout 37,04580.3
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1966: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Ednyfed Davies 18,203 47.5 +6.4
Conservative Peter Thomas 17,62245.9−4.7
Plaid Cymru Robert E. Jones2,5526.6−1.7
Majority5811.6N/A
Turnout 38,37783.7+3.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Conway [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 16,927 42.4 −3.5
Labour Ednyfed Davies 16,02440.2−7.3
Plaid Cymru Dafydd Elis-Thomas 4,31110.8+4.2
Liberal Elfyn Lloyd Morris2,6266.6New
Majority9032.2N/A
Turnout 48,66282.0−1.7
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
General election February 1974: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 16,763 40.2 −2.2
Labour David Benjamin Rees 12,21429.3−10.9
Liberal David Thomas Jones8,54620.4+13.8
Plaid Cymru Pryce Michael Farmer4,20310.1−0.7
Majority4,54910.9+8.7
Turnout 41,72681.2−0.8
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 15,614 39.6 −0.6
Labour David Benjamin Rees 12,80832.5+3.2
Liberal David Thomas Jones6,34416.1−4.3
Plaid Cymru Pryce Michael Farmer4,66811.8+1.7
Majority2,8067.1−3.8
Turnout 39,43476.2−5.0
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Conway
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 18,142 44.7 +5.1
Labour Gerson Wyn Davies12,06929.8−2.7
Liberal Roger Roberts 6,86716.9+0.8
Plaid Cymru Emyr Price3,4978.6−3.2
Majority6,07314.9+7.8
Turnout 40,57579.0+2.8
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Conwy [4] [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 16,413 41.7 −1.5
Liberal Roger Roberts 12,14530.8+12.6
Labour Ira Walters6,73117.1−12.0
Plaid Cymru Dafydd Iwan 4,10510.4+0.8
Majority4,26810.8−4.2
Turnout 39,39476.4−2.6
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Conwy [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 15,730 38.7 −3.0
Liberal Roger Roberts 12,70631.2+0.4
Labour Betty Williams 9,04922.3+5.2
Plaid Cymru Rhodri Davies3,1777.8−2.6
Majority3,0247.5−3.3
Turnout 40,66277.8+1.4
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Conwy [7] [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Wyn Roberts 14,250 33.7 −5.0
Liberal Democrats Roger Roberts 13,25531.4+0.2
Labour Betty Williams 10,88325.8+3.5
Plaid Cymru Rhodri Davies3,1087.4−0.4
Ind. Conservative Owen Wainwright6371.5New
Natural Law David Hughes1140.3New
Majority9952.3−5.2
Turnout 42,24778.7+0.9
Conservative hold Swing −2.5
General election 1997: Conwy [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Betty Williams 14,561 35.0 +9.2
Liberal Democrats Roger Roberts 12,96531.2−0.2
Conservative David Jones 10,08524.3−9.4
Plaid Cymru Rhodri Davies2,8446.8−0.6
Referendum Allan Barham7601.8New
Independent Richard Bradley2500.6New
Natural Law David Hughes950.2−0.1
Majority1,5963.8N/A
Turnout 41,56075.4−3.3
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +9.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Conwy [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Betty Williams 14,366 41.8 +6.8
Conservative David Logan8,14723.7−0.6
Liberal Democrats Victoria MacDonald5,80016.9−14.3
Plaid Cymru Ann Owen5,66516.5+9.7
UKIP Allan Barham3881.1New
Majority6,21918.1+14.3
Turnout 34,36662.9−12.5
Labour hold Swing

In the 2005 general election, the seat was the 81st easiest seat for the Liberal Democrats to gain, and the 153rd easiest seat for the Conservative Party to gain. The Labour Party did not include the seat on its list of vulnerable seats and eventually held the seat (with a reduced proportion of the vote).

General election 2005: Conwy [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Betty Williams 12,479 37.1 −4.7
Conservative Guto Bebb 9,39827.9+4.2
Liberal Democrats Gareth Roberts6,72320.0+3.1
Plaid Cymru Paul Rowlinson3,73011.1−5.4
Green Jim Killock5121.5New
Socialist Labour David Jones3241.0New
UKIP Ken Khambatta2980.9−0.2
Legalise Cannabis Tim Evans1930.6New
Majority3,0819.2−8.9
Turnout 33,72362.6−0.3
Labour hold Swing −4.5

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
  2. ↑ Wales at Westminster a History of Parliamentary representation in Wales 1800–1979 Arnold J James and John E Thomas Gwasg Gomer 1981 ISBN   0-85088-684-8
  3. ↑ Wales at Westminster a History of Parliamentary representation in Wales 1800–1979 Arnold J James and John E Thomas Gwasg Gomer 1981 ISBN   0-85088-684-8
  4. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "1983: Wales Counties". Election Demon. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  9. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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