List of Parliamentary constituencies in Gwynedd

Last updated

Three constituencies cover the preserved county of Gwynedd for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament (Westminster), and are used also for elections to the Senedd. The current boundaries have been effective since the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election and the 2010 United Kingdom general election. [1] [n 1] .

Contents

The preserved county of Gwynedd shares its name with the southern bulk, the principal area, Gwynedd, Anglesey (Welsh: Ynys Môn), forms a second principal area, i.e. has its own local government council.

For Senedd elections, the constituencies each elect one assembly member and are grouped into additional-member electoral regions, in this instance the region is North Wales.

Westminster boundaries

From 2010

ConstituencyBoundaries
1. Arfon CC (Westminster)
Parliamentary constituencies in Gwynedd 2010 GwyneddParliamentaryConstituencies2007.svg
Parliamentary constituencies in Gwynedd 2010
2. Dwyfor Meirionnydd CC (Westminster)
3. Ynys Môn CC (Westminster)

   Plaid Cymru   Conservative   Labour

ConstituencyElectorateMajority Member of Parliament Nearest opposition Map reference above
Arfon42,2152,781  Hywel Williams Steffie Williams Roberts ‡1
Dwyfor Meirionnydd44,3624,740  Liz Saville-Roberts Tomos Davies †2
Ynys Môn51,9251,968  Virginia Crosbie Mary Roberts ‡3

1997 to 2010

ConstituencyBoundaries
1. Caernarfon CC (Westminster)
Parliamentary constituencies in Gwynedd pre-2010 GwyneddParliamentaryConstituenciesPre2007.png
Parliamentary constituencies in Gwynedd pre-2010
2. Conwy CC (Westminster) (part)
3. Meirionnydd Nant Conwy CC (Westminster) (part)
4. Ynys Môn CC (Westminster)

Proposed boundary changes

The Boundary Commission for Wales submitted their final proposals in respect of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies (the 2018 review) in September 2018. Although the proposals were immediately laid before Parliament they were not brought forward by the Government for approval. Accordingly, they didnot come into effect for the 2019 election which took place on 12 December 2019, and which was contested using the constituency boundaries in place since 2010.

Under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Sixth Review was based on reducing the total number of MPs from 650 to 600 and a strict electoral parity requirement that the electorate of all constituencies should be within a range of 5% either side of the electoral quota.

On 24 March 2020, the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Chloe Smith, issued a written statement to Parliament setting out the Government's thinking with regard to parliamentary boundaries. They propose to bring forward primary legislation to remove the statutory obligation to implement the 2018 Boundary Review recommendations, as well as set the framework for future boundary reviews in time for the next review which is due to begin in early 2021 and report no later than October 2023. It is proposed that the number of constituencies now remains at the current level of 650, rather than being reduced to 600, while retaining the requirement that the electorate should be no more than +/- 5% from the electoral quota. [2]

Assembly boundaries

From 2007

ConstituencyAssembly regionConstituency boundaries
1. Arfon CC (Assembly) North Wales
Assembly constituencies in Gwynedd 2007 GwyneddParliamentaryConstituencies2007.svg
Assembly constituencies in Gwynedd 2007
2. Dwyfor Meirionnydd CC (Assembly) Mid and West Wales
3. Ynys Môn CC (Assembly) North Wales

The North Wales region also includes seven Clwyd constituencies. The Mid and West Wales region also includes five Dyfed constituencies and two Powys constituencies.

1999 to 2007

ConstituencyAssembly regionConstituency boundaries
1. Caernarfon CC (Assembly) North Wales
Assembly constituencies in Gwynedd pre-2007 GwyneddParliamentaryConstituenciesPre2007.png
Assembly constituencies in Gwynedd pre-2007
2. Conwy CC (Assembly) (part)
3. Meirionnydd Nant Conwy CC (Assembly) (part) Mid and West Wales
4. Ynys Môn CC (Assembly) North Wales

Historical representation by party

Before 1974 this table covers the historic counties of Anglesey, Carnarvonshire and Merionethshire. A cell marked → (with a different colour background to the preceding cell) indicates that the previous MP continued to sit under a new party name.

1832 to 1885

   Conservative    Liberal    Peelite    Whig

Constituency183233331835361837184146184718521857
Anglesey Williams-Bulkeley Stanley Williams-Bulkeley
Beaumaris F. Paget G. Paget Stanley
Caernarvon C. Paget Nanney C. Paget L. Jones-Parry Hughes
Caernarvonshire Smith Ormsby-Gore E. Douglas-Pennant
Merionethshire Vaughan Richards W. W. Wynne

1859 to 1885

   Conservative    Liberal

Constituency1859186566186870187418808082
Anglesey Williams-Bulkeley Davies
Beaumaris Stanley Lloyd
Caernarvon C. Wynne Hughes T. Jones-Parry
Caernarvonshire E. Douglas-Pennant G. Douglas-Pennant T. Jones-Parry G. Douglas-Pennant C. Williams Rathbone
Merionethshire W. W. Wynne W. R. Wynne D. Williams Holland

1885 to 1918

   Conservative    Liberal

Constituency18851886901892189599000606Jan 10Dec 1015
Anglesey R. Davies Lewis Ellis-Griffith
Arfon Rathbone W. Jones Rees
Carnarvon Jones-Parry Swetenham D. Lloyd George
Merionethshire Robertson Ellis Edwards Williams Haydn Jones
Eifion J. Roberts E. Davies

1918 to 1950

   Coalition Liberal (1918–22) / National Liberal (1922–23)   Conservative    Independent Labour    Independent Liberals    Labour    Liberal

Constituency1918192223192324192919311935451945
Anglesey O. Thomas R. Thomas M. Lloyd George
Carnarvon S. Davies Price-White
Carnarvonshire Breese R. Jones Owen G. Roberts
Merionethshire Haydn Jones E. Roberts

1950 to 2010

   Conservative    Labour    Liberal    Plaid Cymru

Constituency1950195119551959196419661970Feb 1974Oct 19741979198319871992199720012005
Anglesey / Ynys Môn (1983–) Lloyd George Hughes Best Wyn Jones Owen
Caernarfon G. Roberts Wigley H. Williams
Merionethshire / Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (1983) E. Roberts T. Jones Edwards Thomas Llwyd
Conway W. Jones Thomas Davies W. Roberts B. Williams

2010 to present

   Conservative    Labour    Plaid Cymru

Constituency2010201520172019
Ynys Môn Owen Crosbie
Arfon H. Williams
Dwyfor Meirionnydd Llwyd Saville-Roberts

See also

Notes and references

References
  1. The Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006, OPSI website
  2. "Update: Strengthening Democracy:Written statement - HCWS183". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
Notes
  1. county constituencies (CCs) for the purposes of type of returning officer and level of expenses; the trivial distinction is sometimes made in the most detailed analyses of UK politics between borough and county constituencies

Related Research Articles

Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.

The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions:

Arfon (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the UK

Arfon is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Although the constituency is relatively large by geographical area, it is a predominantly urban rather than rural seat, with the majority of the population living in the two towns of Bethesda and Caernarfon and city of Bangor on which the constituency is base. "Arfon" is a historical name for the area, meaning "facing Anglesey"; it is also the name of the former district council. This seat was created by the Welsh Boundary Commission in time for the 2010 general election, and replaced the old seat of Caernarfon. Bangor was in the old seat of Conwy. The same boundaries were used for the Arfon Welsh Assembly constituency in the 2007 Welsh Assembly election.

Senedd constituencies and electoral regions Electoral constituencies and regions of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament

The Senedd constituencies and electoral regions are the electoral districts used to elect Members of the Senedd to the Senedd, and have been used in some form since the first election of the then National Assembly for Wales in 1999. New boundaries were introduced for the 2007 elections and currently consist of forty constituencies and five regions. The five electoral regions are: Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East, and South Wales West, with the forty constituencies listed below. Voting last took place in all districts in the 2021 Senedd election, and are not used for local government.

North Wales (Senedd electoral region) Electoral region of the Senedd

North Wales is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of nine constituencies. The region elects thirteen members, nine directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in the 1999 Welsh Assembly election, when the National Assembly for Wales was created.

Mid and West Wales (Senedd electoral region) Electoral region of the Senedd

Mid and West Wales is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects twelve members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in the 1999 Welsh Assembly election, when the National Assembly for Wales was created.

South Wales East (Senedd electoral region) Electoral region of the Senedd

South Wales East is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, when the National Assembly for Wales was created.

Welsh Labour is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922, Senedd election since 1999, and European Parliament election in 1979–2004 and 2014. Welsh Labour holds 22 of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 30 of the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd and 576 of the 1,264 councillors in principal local authorities, including overall control of 10 of the 22.

Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Senedd constituency) Constituency of the Senedd

Dwyfor Meirionnydd is a constituency of the Senedd, first created for the former Assembly's 2007 election. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Mid and West Wales electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to nine constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

2016 National Assembly for Wales election Election

The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016, to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd. It was the fifth election for the National Assembly, the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies United Kingdom legislation

The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is the current cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is governed by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 and subsequently by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020. This review is the successor to the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which was ultimately abandoned after two successive proposals by the Commissions failed to pass into law.