University of Wales (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

University of Wales
Former university constituency
for the House of Commons
19181950

University of Wales was a university constituency electing one member to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1918 to 1950. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP), elected under the first-past-the-post voting system.

Contents

Boundaries

This university constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918. It was abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.

The constituency was not a physical area. Its electorate consisted of the graduates of the University of Wales.

Unlike many other university constituencies, University of Wales never elected a Conservative MP, instead regularly electing Liberal MPs.

The constituency returned one Member of Parliament.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [1] PartyNotes
1918 Rt Hon. Herbert Lewis Coalition Liberal
1922 Thomas Arthur Lewis National Liberal died 18 July 1923
1923 George Maitland Lloyd Davies Christian Pacifist Joined the Labour Party in February 1924
1924 Labour
1924 Ernest Evans Liberal appointed County Court Judge in 1943
1943 by-election William John Gruffydd Liberal
1950 University constituencies abolished

Elections

The elections in this constituency took place using the first past the post electoral system. In university seats, in this period, the polls were open for five days and voting did not take place on the polling day for the territorial constituencies.

Elections of the 1910s

Herbert Lewis Herbert Lewis MP.jpg
Herbert Lewis
General election 1918: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Liberal Herbert Lewis 73980.8
Labour Millicent Mackenzie 17619.2
Majority56361.6
Turnout 91585.8
Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections of the 1920s

T.A. Lewis Thomas Arthur Lewis.jpg
T.A. Lewis
General election 1922: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Liberal Thomas Arthur Lewis 487 39.5 –41.3
Liberal Ellis Ellis-Griffith 45135.9−44.9
Labour Olive Wheeler 30924.8+5.6
Majority463.6−58.0
Turnout 1,24787.2+1.4
National Liberal hold Swing
General election 1923: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Christian Pacifist George Maitland Lloyd Davies 570 35.7 New
Liberal Joseph Jones56035.1−0.8
Independent Liberal John Edwards46729.2New
Majority100.6N/A
Turnout 1.59783.1−4.1
Christian Pacifist gain from Liberal
Ernest Evans 1922 Ernest Evans.jpg
Ernest Evans
General election 1924: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Ernest Evans 1,057 59.4 +24.3
Labour George Maitland Lloyd Davies 72140.6New
Majority33618.6N/A
Turnout 1,778
Liberal gain from Christian Pacifist Swing
General election 1929: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Ernest Evans 1,712 63.5 +4.1
Labour David W. Richards67124.9New
Unionist Courtenay Mansel 31411.6New
Majority1,04138.6+20.0
Turnout 2,69774.4
Liberal hold Swing

Elections of the 1930s

General election 1931: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Ernest Evans 2,229 75.4 +11.9
Plaid Cymru Saunders Lewis 91424.6New
Majority1,31550.8+12.2
Turnout 3,14361.4−13.0
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1935: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Ernest Evans 2,796 61.3 −9.6
Labour Ithel Davies 1,76838.7New
Majority1,02822.6−19.2
Turnout 4,56462.3+0.9
Liberal hold Swing

Elections of the 1940s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

University of Wales by-election, 1943
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William John Gruffydd 3,098 52.3 −9.0
Plaid Cymru Saunders Lewis 1,33022.5New
Independent Alun Talfan Davies 75512.8New
Independent Labour Evan Davies63410.7New
Independent Labour Neville Lawrence Evans1011.7New
Majority1,76829.8+7.2
Turnout 5,91853.4−8.9
Liberal hold Swing
General election 1945: University of Wales
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William John Gruffydd 5,239 75.5 +23.2
Plaid Cymru Gwenan Jones 1,69624.5+2.0
Majority3,54351.0+21.2
Turnout 6,93558.5+5.1
Liberal hold Swing

See also

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