Aberdare (UK Parliament constituency)
Aberdare was a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1918 general election and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. The Labour Party gained the seat in 1922 and held it comfortably until its abolition.
Aberdare | |
---|---|
Former borough constituency for the House of Commons | |
1918–1983 | |
Seats | One |
Created from | Merthyr Tydfil |
Replaced by | Cynon Valley |
Boundaries and name
editThe constituency consisted of the two neighbouring towns of Aberdare and Mountain Ash in Glamorgan, Wales. When the seat was abolished in 1983, it was largely replaced by the Cynon Valley seat.
1918–1950
editUnder the Representation of the People Act 1918, the existing parliamentary borough of Merthyr Tydfil was divided into two single-member constituencies. One of these was Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare Division, which consisted of the two urban districts of Aberdare and Mountain Ash.[1]
1950–1983
editThe Representation of the People Act 1948 reorganised constituencies throughout the United Kingdom, and introduced the term "borough constituency" in place of "parliamentary borough". The duly renamed Aberdare Borough Constituency was again defined as consisting of the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts.[2] The renamed constituency was first contested at the 1950 general election. It was unchanged at the next revision of constituencies in 1970, continuing with the same name and boundaries until its abolition in 1983.
Members of Parliament
editElection | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1918 | Charles Stanton | Coalition National Democratic | |
1922 | George Hall | Labour | |
1946 by-election | David Thomas | Labour | |
1954 by-election | Arthur Probert | Labour | |
Feb 1974 | Ioan Evans | Labour Co-operative | |
1983 | constituency abolished: see Cynon Valley |
History
editThe first member for Aberdare was Charles Stanton, Stanton was a militant miners' agent in the pre-1914 era but had become an equally fierce proponent of the war effort which brought him into conflict with former colleagues including Keir Hardie. Stanton was elected to succeed Hardie as member for Merthyr Boroughs at a by-election in 1915 and comfortably won the Aberdare constituency at the 1918 Coupon Election.
By 1922, Stanton's appeal and popularity had faded and he was defeated by George Hall, who held the seat for over twenty years.
Labour's hold on Aberdare was never threatened thereafter although Plaid Cymru did make a strong showing at the 1970 general election. Glyn Owen, the new Plaid Cymru candidate in 1974, sustained the campaign from 1970 but this did not seriously threaten the new Labour candidate, Ioan Evans, at the second election that year.
Elections
editElections in the 1910s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
C | National Democratic | Charles Stanton | 22,824 | 78.6 | |
Labour | T. E. Nicholas | 6,229 | 21.4 | ||
Majority | 16,595 | 57.2 | |||
Turnout | 29,053 | 69.8 | |||
Registered electors | 41,651 | ||||
National Democratic win (new seat) | |||||
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. |
Elections in the 1920s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | 20,704 | 57.2 | +35.8 | |
National Democratic | Charles Stanton | 15,487 | 42.8 | −35.8 | |
Majority | 5,217 | 14.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 36,191 | 79.9 | +10.1 | ||
Registered electors | 45,285 | ||||
Labour gain from National Democratic | Swing | +35.8 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | 22,379 | 58.2 | +1.0 | |
Liberal | William M. Llewellyn | 16,050 | 41.8 | New | |
Majority | 6,329 | 16.4 | +2.0 | ||
Turnout | 38,429 | 83.3 | +3.4 | ||
Registered electors | 46,148 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | 24,343 | 61.6 | +3.4 | |
Liberal | David Bowen (Welsh lawyer) | 15,201 | 38.4 | −3.4 | |
Majority | 9,142 | 23.2 | +6.8 | ||
Turnout | 39,544 | 83.7 | +0.4 | ||
Registered electors | 47,267 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +3.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | 29,550 | 64.6 | +3.0 | |
Liberal | Evan Joshua Roderick | 10,594 | 23.2 | −15.2 | |
Unionist | Hugh Molson | 5,573 | 12.2 | New | |
Majority | 18,956 | 41.4 | +18.2 | ||
Turnout | 45,717 | 84.5 | +0.8 | ||
Registered electors | 54,134 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | +9.1 |
Elections in the 1930s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | Unopposed | |||
Labour hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | Unopposed | |||
Labour hold |
Elections in the 1940s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | George Hall | 34,398 | 84.25 | ||
Conservative | Charles George Clover | 6,429 | 15.75 | ||
Majority | 27,969 | 68.51 | |||
Turnout | 40,827 | 76.25 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Thomas | 24,215 | 68.32 | −15.93 | |
Plaid Cymru | Wynne Samuel | 7,090 | 20.00 | New | |
Conservative | Lincoln Hallinan | 4,140 | 11.68 | −4.07 | |
Majority | 17,125 | 48.31 | −20.2 | ||
Turnout | 35,445 | 65.7 | −10.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1950s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Thomas | 33,930 | 75.9 | −8.67 | |
Conservative | Robert N. E. Hinton | 6,098 | 13.6 | −1.95 | |
Plaid Cymru | Wynne Samuel | 3,310 | 7.4 | N/A | |
Communist | Alistair T. M. Wilson | 1,382 | 3.1 | New | |
Majority | 27,832 | 62.3 | −6.74 | ||
Turnout | 44,180 | 85.89 | +9.64 | ||
Registered electors | 51,437 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
N.B. Changes in 1950 are from the 1945 election and not the 1946 by-election.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | David Thomas | 34,783 | 78.55 | +2.77 | |
Conservative | Jack Lewis | 6,810 | 15.38 | +1.58 | |
Plaid Cymru | Wynne Samuel | 2,691 | 6.08 | −1.41 | |
Majority | 27,963 | 63.17 | +0.9 | ||
Turnout | 44,284 | 86.12 | +0.23 | ||
Registered electors | 51,423 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Arthur Probert | 24,658 | 69.48 | −9.07 | |
Plaid Cymru | Gwynfor Evans | 5,671 | 15.98 | +9.90 | |
Conservative | Michael Roberts | 5,158 | 14.53 | −0.85 | |
Majority | 18,987 | 53.50 | −9.67 | ||
Turnout | 35,487 | 69.7 | −16.4 | ||
Registered electors | 50,916 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Arthur Probert | 30,889 | 75.6 | +0.6 | |
Conservative | Bernard McGlynn | 6,584 | 16.1 | +0.5 | |
Plaid Cymru | Ken P. Thomas | 3,367 | 8.2 | New | |
Majority | 24,305 | 59.5 | −0.1 | ||
Turnout | 40,840 | 83.1 | +4.8 | ||
Registered electors | 50,333 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Arthur Probert | 29,528 | 75.0 | −0.6 | |
Conservative | William J. A. Bain | 6,162 | 15.6 | −0.5 | |
Welsh Nationalist | Trefor Beasley | 3,703 | 9.4 | New | |
Majority | 23,366 | 59.4 | −0.1 | ||
Turnout | 39,393 | 78.3 | −4.8 | ||
Registered electors | 49,124 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1960s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Arthur Probert | 29,106 | 77.4 | +2.4 | |
Conservative | Peter Price | 5,780 | 15.4 | −0.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Dewi W. Thomas | 2,723 | 7.2 | −2.2 | |
Majority | 23,326 | 62.0 | +2.6 | ||
Turnout | 37,609 | 79.2 | +0.9 | ||
Registered electors | 47,519 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Arthur Probert | 26,322 | 73.3 | −4.1 | |
Conservative | Peter Price | 4,204 | 11.7 | −3.7 | |
Plaid Cymru | J. E. Williams | 3,073 | 8.6 | +1.4 | |
Communist | Alistair T. M. Wilson | 2,305 | 6.4 | New | |
Majority | 22,118 | 61.6 | −0.4 | ||
Turnout | 35,904 | 77.0 | −2.2 | ||
Registered electors | 46,618 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Elections in the 1970s
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Arthur Probert | 22,817 | 60.0 | −13.3 | |
Plaid Cymru | Gareth Morgan Jones | 11,431 | 30.0 | +21.4 | |
Conservative | David C. Purnell | 2,484 | 6.5 | −5.2 | |
Communist | Alistair T. M. Wilson | 1,317 | 3.5 | −2.9 | |
Majority | 11,386 | 29.9 | −31.7 | ||
Turnout | 38,049 | 77.9 | +0.9 | ||
Registered electors | 48,771 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Ioan Evans | 23,805 | 59.5 | −0.5 | |
Plaid Cymru | Glyn Owen | 11,973 | 29.9 | −0.1 | |
Conservative | Michael J. Niblock | 3,169 | 7.9 | +1.4 | |
Communist | Alistair T. M. Wilson | 1,038 | 2.6 | −0.9 | |
Majority | 11,832 | 29.6 | −0.3 | ||
Turnout | 39,985 | 83.3 | +5.3 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Ioan Evans | 24,197 | 63.3 | +3.8 | |
Plaid Cymru | Glyn Owen | 8,133 | 21.3 | −8.6 | |
Conservative | B. G. C. Webb | 2,775 | 7.3 | −0.6 | |
Liberal | G. Hill | 2,118 | 5.5 | New | |
Communist | Alistair T. M. Wilson | 1,028 | 2.7 | +0.1 | |
Majority | 16,064 | 42.0 | +12.4 | ||
Turnout | 38,251 | 79.1 | −4.2 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Ioan Evans | 26,716 | 71.6 | +8.3 | |
Conservative | D. Deere | 6,453 | 17.3 | +10.0 | |
Plaid Cymru | Phil Richards | 3,652 | 9.8 | −11.5 | |
Communist | Mary Winter | 518 | 1.4 | −1.3 | |
Majority | 20,263 | 54.3 | +12.3 | ||
Turnout | 37,339 | 78.6 | −0.5 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing |
References
edit- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
- Kimber, Richard (2008). "UK General Elections since 1832". psr.keele.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
- ^ Ninth Schedule, Part I: Parliamentary Boroughs in Wales and Monmouthshire. Representation of the People Act, 1918 (7&8 Geo. 5.) C. 64.
- ^ First Schedule: Parliamentary Constituencies, Part II: Wales, Representation of the People Act, 1948 (11&12 Geo. 6.) C. 65.
- ^ a b c d e f g Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 537. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
- ^ Etholiadau'r ganrif 1885-1997, Beti Jones.
- ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Page 553