Vale of Clwyd (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Vale of Clwyd (Senedd constituency).

Vale of Clwyd
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Vale of Clwyd in Wales
Preserved county	Clwyd
Electorate	55,925 (December 2018) [1]
Major settlements	Rhyl, Prestatyn, Denbigh, St Asaph, Rhuddlan, Trefnant, Tremeirchion, Bodelwyddan.
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	James Davies (Conservative)
Seats	One
Created from	Clwyd North West, Delyn, Clwyd South West
Overlaps
Senedd	Vale of Clwyd, North Wales

The Vale of Clwyd (Welsh : Dyffryn Clwyd) is a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament created in 1997 and represented since 2019 by James Davies of the Conservative Party. As with all extant seats its electorate elect one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system at least every five years.

The Vale of Clwyd Senedd constituency was created with the same boundaries in 1999 (as an Assembly constituency).

The constituency is set to be abolished, as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the next United Kingdom general election. Its wards is to be split between Clwyd East and Clwyd North. ^[2]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1997–2010: The Borough of Rhuddlan, the District of Glyndwr wards of Denbigh Central, Denbigh Lower, Denbigh Upper, Henllan, and Llandyrnog, and the Borough of Colwyn ward of Trefnant.

2010–present: The Denbighshire County electoral divisions of Bodelwyddan, Denbigh Central, Denbigh Lower, Denbigh Upper/Henllan, Dyserth, Llandyrnog, Prestatyn Central, Prestatyn East, Prestatyn Meliden, Prestatyn North, Prestatyn South West, Rhuddlan, Rhyl East, Rhyl South, Rhyl South East, Rhyl South West, Rhyl West, St Asaph East, St Asaph West, Trefnant, and Tremeirchion.

The constituency was created in 1997 from the seats of Clwyd North West, Clwyd South West and Delyn. It is in the north of Wales containing the seaside town of Prestatyn and its coastal neighbour Rhyl which is overlooked by the community of Rhuddlan. It also contains the inland towns of Denbigh, St Asaph, Bodelwyddan, Trefnant and Tremeirchion.

Political history

The seat was won by the Labour candidate in 1997, 2001, 2005 and on a marginal majority in 2010. The seat was next won by the Conservative candidate standing in 2015. The 2015 result gave the seat the 4th most marginal majority of the Conservative Party's 331 seats by percentage of majority. ^[3] However, Labour regained the seat in the 2017 general election with more than half the eligible votes, the first Labour gain from the Conservatives on the night. In 2019 general election, the seat reverted to the Conservatives as the party made gains from Labour in north east Wales. ^[4]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [5]	Party
	1997	Chris Ruane	Labour
	2015	James Davies	Conservative
	2017	Chris Ruane	Labour
	2019	James Davies	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: Vale of Clwyd ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Ruane	20,617	52.7	N/A
	Conservative	David Edwards	11,662	29.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Munford	3,425	8.8	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Gwyneth Kensler	2,301	5.9	N/A
	Referendum	Simon Vickers	834	2.1	N/A
	UKIP	Scott Cooke	293	0.7	N/A
Majority			8,995	22.9	N/A
Turnout			39,132	74.6	N/A
Registered electors			52,426
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Vale of Clwyd ^{[8] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Ruane	16,179	50.0	―2.7
	Conservative	Brendan Murphy	10,418	32.2	+2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Rees	3,058	9.5	+0.7
	Plaid Cymru	John Williams	2,300	7.1	+1.2
	UKIP	William Campbell	391	1.2	+0.5
Majority			5,761	17.8	―5.1
Turnout			32,346	63.6	―11.0
Registered electors			50,842
	Labour hold		Swing	―2.5

General election 2005: Vale of Clwyd ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Ruane	14,875	46.0	―4.0
	Conservative	Felicity Elphick	10,206	31.6	―0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Jewkes	3,820	11.8	+2.3
	Plaid Cymru	Mark Jones	2,309	7.1	±0.0
	Independent	Mark Young	442	1.4	N/A
	UKIP	Edna Khambatta	375	1.2	±0.0
	Legalise Cannabis	Jeff Ditchfield	286	0.9	N/A
Majority			4,669	14.4	―3.4
Turnout			32,313	62.2	―1.4
Registered electors			51,983
	Labour hold		Swing	―1.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Vale of Clwyd ^{[12] [13] [14] [15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Ruane	15,017	42.3	―3.6
	Conservative	Matt Wright	12,508	35.2	+3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Penlington	4,472	12.6	+0.7
	Plaid Cymru	Caryl Wyn-Jones	2,068	5.8	―1.4
	BNP	Ian Si'Ree	827	2.3	N/A
	UKIP	Tom Turner	515	1.4	+0.3
	Alliance for Green Socialism	Mike Butler	127	0.4	N/A
Rejected ballots			55
Majority			2,509	7.1	―7.3
Turnout			35,534	63.7	―2.1
Registered electors			55,781
	Labour hold		Swing	―3.6

Of the 55 rejected ballots:

• 32 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[15]
• 23 voted for more than one candidate. ^[15]

General election 2015: Vale of Clwyd ^{[16] [17] [18]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Davies	13,760	39.0	+3.8
	Labour	Chris Ruane	13,523	38.4	―3.9
	UKIP	Paul Davies-Cooke [19]	4,577	13.0	+11.6
	Plaid Cymru	Mair Rowlands	2,486	7.1	+1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Gwyn Williams	915	2.6	―10.0
Rejected ballots			77
Majority			237	0.6	N/A
Turnout			35,261	62.4	―1.3
Registered electors			56,505
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+3.9

Of the 77 rejected ballots:

• 60 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[17]
• 16 voted for more than one candidate. ^[17]
• 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. ^[17]

General election 2017: Vale of Clwyd ^{[20] [21]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Ruane [22]	19,423	50.2	+11.8
	Conservative	James Davies	17,044	44.1	+5.1
	Plaid Cymru	David Wyatt	1,551	4.0	―3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gwyn Williams	666	1.7	―0.9
Rejected ballots			91
Majority			2,379	6.1	N/A
Turnout			38,684	68.0	+5.6
Registered electors			56,890
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.5

Of the 91 rejected ballots:

• 72 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[21]
• 18 voted for more than one candidate. ^[21]
• 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified. ^[21]

General election 2019: Vale of Clwyd ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Davies	17,270	46.4	+2.3
	Labour	Chris Ruane	15,443	41.5	―8.7
	Plaid Cymru	Glenn Swingler	1,552	4.2	+0.2
	Brexit Party	Peter Dain	1,477	4.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gavin Scott	1,471	4.0	+2.3
Rejected ballots			84
Majority			1,827	4.9	N/A
Turnout			37,213	65.7	―2.3
Registered electors			56,649
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+5.5

Of the 84 rejected ballots:

• 76 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. ^[25]
• 8 voted for more than one candidate. ^[25]

See also

• Vale of Clwyd (Senedd constituency)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Clwyd
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales

External links

• 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)

References

1. "Electoral rolls by Welsh Assembly constituency areas and electoral regions". 2019 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
2. 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
3. "Conservative Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
4. "General election 2019: First female Tory MP wins Wrexham". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "V"
6. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
7. "BBC NEWS > Vale of Clwyd". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
8. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
9. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
11. "2005 Results". Denbighshire County Council. Denbighshire County Council. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
13. Vale of Clwyd Denbighshire County Council – candidates Vale of Clwyd
14. Vale of Clwyd BBC Election 2010 – Vale of Clwyd
15. "Election Results". Denbighshire County Council. Denbighshire County Council. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
16. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
17. "Vale of Clwyd result". Election results for Vale of Clwyd. Denbighshire County Council. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
18. "Vale of Clwyd Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
19. "UKIP Candidates". UKIP. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
20. "BBC News Election Results" . Retrieved 9 June 2017.
21. "2017 Results". Denbighshire County Council. Denbighshire County Council. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
22. "BBC News" . Retrieved 28 April 2017.
23. "The General Election 2019 candidates standing in Vale of Clwyd". Wales Online. Ruth Mosalski. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
24. "Vale of Clwyd parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
25. "Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Denbighshire County Council. Denbighshire County Council. Retrieved 11 April 2020.

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