Rhondda West (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Rhondda West
Former borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1974 (1974)
SeatsOne
Created from Rhondda and Mid Glamorganshire
Replaced by Rhondda

Rhondda West was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Rhondda district of Wales. 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. Along with Rhondda East it was formed by dividing the old Rhondda constituency.

Contents

History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the February 1974 general election.

Boundaries

Throughout its existence the constituency included the towns of Treorchy and Tonypandy.

1918–1974: The Urban District of Rhondda first, second, third, fourth, and fifth wards, and part of the sixth. [1]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1918 William Abraham Labour
1920 by-election William John
1950 Iorwerth Thomas
1967 by-election Alec Jones
Feb 1974 constituency abolished: see Rhondda

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918, Rhondda
William Abraham returned unopposed
General election 1918: West Rhondda
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William Abraham Unopposed
Registered electors
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

1920 Rhondda West by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John 14,035 58.5 N/A
C Unionist Gwilym Rowlands 9,95941.5New
Majority 4,07617.0N/A
Turnout 23,94970.2N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
General election 1922: Rhondda West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John 18,001 62.1 +3.6
Unionist Gwilym Rowlands 10,99037.9−3.6
Majority 7,01124.2+7.2
Turnout 28,99183.7+13.5
Labour hold Swing +3.6
General election 1923: Rhondda West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John 18,206 65.4 +3.3
Liberal John Robert Jones9,64034.6New
Majority 8,56630.8+6.6
Turnout 27,84678.5−5.2
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1924, Rhondda West
William John returned unopposed
General election 1924: West Rhondda
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John Unopposed
Registered electors
Labour hold
General election 1929: Rhondda West [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John 23,238 65.1 N/A
Liberal Moelwyn Hughes 9,24725.9New
Unionist Wilfred Augustus Prichard3,2109.0New
Majority 13,99139.2N/A
Turnout 35,69586.7N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Rhondda West [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John 23,024 84.3 +19.2
Communist John Leigh Davies4,29615.7New
Majority 18,72868.6+21.4
Turnout 27,32066.7−20.0
Registered electors 40,950
Labour hold Swing +19.2
General election 1935: Rhondda West [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John Unopposed
Labour hold
Registered electors 41,032

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Rhondda West [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William John Unopposed
Labour hold
Registered electors 39,652

This was the last occasion in the United Kingdom when a seat saw a walkover at a general election outside Northern Ireland and not as a result of a by-election; the other being Liverpool Scotland. Both seats returned a Labour MP unopposed in the 1945 general election.

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Rhondda West [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iorwerth Thomas 27,150 82.37 N/A
Conservative JP Driscoll3,63211.02New
Plaid Cymru James Kitchener Davies 2,1836.62New
Majority 23,51871.35N/A
Turnout 32,96587.94N/A
Registered electors 37,484
Labour hold Swing N/A
General election 1951: Rhondda West [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iorwerth Thomas 26,123 81.06 −1.31
Conservative E Simons3,63511.020.00
Plaid Cymru James Kitchener Davies 2,4677.66+1.04
Majority 22,48869.78−1.57
Turnout 32,22586.36−1.58
Registered electors 37,315
Labour hold Swing -0.79
General election 1955: Rhondda West [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iorwerth Thomas 21,288 73.80 −7.26
Plaid Cymru Glyndwr Powell James4,42415.34+7.68
Conservative Charles PT Burke3,13410.86−0.16
Majority 16,86458.46−11.32
Turnout 28,84680.25−6.11
Registered electors 35,943
Labour hold Swing -7.47
General election 1959: Rhondda West [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iorwerth Thomas 21,130 71.99 −1.81
Plaid Cymru Glyndwr Powell James4,97816.96+1.62
Conservative Francis Pym 3,24211.05+0.19
Majority 16,15255.03−3.43
Turnout 29,35085.20+4.95
Registered electors 34,450
Labour hold Swing -1.72

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Rhondda West [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iorwerth Thomas 20,713 79.3 +7.3
Conservative Norman Lloyd-Edwards 2,75410.5−0.5
Plaid Cymru Henry Victor Davies2,66810.2−6.8
Majority 17,95968.8+13.8
Turnout 26,13580.7−4.5
Registered electors 32,401
Labour hold Swing +3.89
General election 1966: Rhondda West [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Iorwerth Thomas 19,060 76.12 −3.13
Plaid Cymru Henry Victor Davies2,1728.67−1.54
Conservative Bryan Sandford-Hill1,9557.81−2.73
Communist Arthur True1,8537.40New
Majority 16,88867.45−1.29
Turnout 25,04080.28−0.38
Registered electors 31,189
Labour hold Swing -0.80
By-election 1967: Rhondda West
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alec Jones 12,373 49.0 −27.1
Plaid Cymru Henry Victor Davies10,06739.9+31.2
Communist Arthur True1,7236.8−0.6
Conservative Gareth Neale1,0754.3−3.5
Majority 2,3069.1−58.3
Turnout 25,23882.2−1.9
Labour hold Swing −29.1

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Rhondda West [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alec Jones 18,779 74.8 −1.3
Plaid Cymru Henry Victor Davies3,52814.1+5.4
Conservative John D. Morgan1,6106.4−1.4
Communist Arthur True1,2014.8−2.6
Majority 15,25160.7−6.7
Turnout 25,11881.4+1.1
Registered electors 30,854
Labour hold Swing −3.4

See also

References

  1. ↑ Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1972). Boundaries of parliamentary constituencies 1985-1972. Chichester, Sussex: Political Reference Publications. ISBN   0-900178-09-4.
  2. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  3. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1931". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1935". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1945". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
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