West Monmouthshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Western Monmouthshire (also known as the Western Division of the County of Monmouth) was a parliamentary constituency in Monmouthshire, Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Western Monmouthshire
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
18851918
Seatsone
Created fromMonmouthshire
Replaced byAbertillery, Bedwellty and Ebbw Vale

History

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The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

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The constituency (shown in pink) within Monmouthshire

The constituency was defined as comprising the "Sessional Division of Bedwellty (except the Parishes of Bedwas and Mynyddislwyn)", and thus constituted the following civil parishes:[1]

On abolition by the Representation of the People Act 1918, West Monmouthshire's area was divided between three constituencies: Abertillery, Bedwellty and Ebbw Vale.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member Party
1885 Marshall Warmington Liberal
1895 Sir William Harcourt Liberal
1904 Thomas Richards Liberal
1910 Labour
1918 constituency abolished

Elections

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Elections in the 1880s

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General election 1885: West Monmouthshire[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Marshall Warmington 6,730 83.4
Conservative Benjamin Francis Williams[4] 1,341 16.6
Majority 5,389 66.8
Turnout 8,071 82.6
Liberal win (new seat)
General election 1886: West Monmouthshire[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Marshall Warmington Unopposed
Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

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General election 1892: West Monmouthshire[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Marshall Warmington 7,019 80.5 N/A
Conservative William Herbert Meredyth[5] 1,700 19.5 New
Majority 5,319 61.0 N/A
Turnout 8,719 77.5 N/A
Registered electors 11,251
Liberal hold Swing N/A
 
Harcourt
General election 1895: West Monmouthshire[2][6][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Vernon Harcourt 7,243 78.7 −1.8
Conservative William Edwin Williams 1,956 21.3 +1.8
Majority 5,287 57.4 −3.6
Turnout 9,199 80.2 +2.7
Registered electors 11,475
Liberal hold Swing -1.8

Elections in the 1900s

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General election 1900: West Monmouthshire[2][6][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Vernon Harcourt 5,976 71.3 −7.4
Conservative Iltyd William Henry Gardner 2,401 28.7 +7.4
Majority 3,575 42.6 −14.8
Turnout 8,377 75.1 −5.1
Registered electors 11,150
Liberal hold Swing -7.4
 
Cockburn
1904 West Monmouthshire by-election[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab Thomas Richards 7,995 70.4 −0.9
Tariff Reform John Cockburn 3,360 29.6 New
Majority 4,635 40.8 −1.8
Turnout 11,355 75.1 0.0
Registered electors 15,127
Lib-Lab hold Swing
 
Thomas Richards
General election 1906: West Monmouthshire[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab Thomas Richards Unopposed
Lib-Lab hold

Elections in the 1910s

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General election January 1910: West Monmouthshire [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Richards 13,295 81.4 N/A
Conservative John Cameron 3,045 18.6 New
Majority 10,250 62.8 N/A
Turnout 16,340 80.1 N/A
Registered electors 20,399
Labour gain from Lib-Lab Swing N/A
General election December 1910: West Monmouthshire [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Richards Unopposed
Labour hold

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

References

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  1. ^ Seventh Schedule to the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885 (48 & 49 Vict c.23)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g National Liberal Federation; Liberal Central Association (1908). "Monmouthshire, West". The Liberal Year Book for 1908. London. pp. 310–311. Retrieved 27 March 2018.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  4. ^ "The General Election". The Morning Post. 28 November 1885. p. 2. Retrieved 4 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ Rees, Ivor Thomas (2004). Hopkins, Tony (ed.). "Whatever happened to young William? The short political career of W. H. Meredyth". Gwent Local History (97): 63. hdl:10107/1340775.
  6. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  7. ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916