Rhondda (UK Parliament constituency)
Rhondda | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Rhondda in Wales. | |
Preserved county | Mid Glamorgan |
Electorate | 52,862 (December 2010)[1] |
Major settlements | Porth, Tonypandy, Treherbert, Treorchy, Tylorstown |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1974 |
Member of parliament | Chris Bryant (Labour) |
Number of members | One |
Created from | Rhondda East and Rhondda West |
1885–1918 | |
Number of members | One |
Type of constituency | County constituency |
Replaced by | Rhondda East and Rhondda West |
Created from | Glamorganshire |
Overlaps | |
Welsh Assembly | South Wales Central |
European Parliament constituency | Wales |
Rhondda is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is Chris Bryant of the Labour Party, first elected at the 2001 general election.
Boundaries
The Westminster constituency of Rhondda is based around the southern edge of the Rhondda Cynon Taf council area, with population centres including Treherbert, Maerdy, Tylorstown, Tonypandy, and Pen-y-Graig. The seat borders the constituencies of Cynon Valley, Ogmore, Pontypridd, and Aberavon.
History
This constituency was first created under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, for the 1885 general election. For the 1918 general election it was divided into Rhondda East and Rhondda West.
The constituency was re-united in 1974. Since 1974, the constituency has always had a large Labour majority, and in the 1987 general election was the safest seat for any party, anywhere in Britain. In 2001, it was the only seat in the country where Liberal Democrats lost their deposit, and the Conservative Party also lost their deposit in their worst performance outside Northern Ireland.[2]
Early History: the 1885 General Election
The constituency was formed following the Third Reform Act of 1884, as a result of the rapid growth of population in the two valleys over the previous twenty years. During the 1880s the demand for working men representatives in the ranks of the Parliamentary Liberal Party were increasingly vociferous and there was a precedent for a Liberal-Labour (Lib-Lab) candidate in South Wales as Thomas Halliday had contested Merthyr Tydfil in 1874.
The local trade union, the Rhondda Steam Coal Miners' Association, laid claim to the candidacy as early as 1883, on the basis that the franchise had been extended to many working men within the county constituencies and that in Mabon, their agent for six years they had the ideal candidate.[3] The local Liberal Association, however, formed in early 1885,was dominated by middle-class business and professional men, and included a disproportionate number of colliery officials. . Lewis Davis of Ferndale, brother of David Davis, Maesyffynnon, one of the leading coalowners in the valley, was selected as president of the association.[3] Ministers, including William Morris of Noddfa, Treorchy were also prominent.[4] At a meeting in April 1885 six names were put forward as possible candidates for the nomination, including Lewis Davis, Mabon and Alfred Thomas, a leading figure in the municipal life of Cardiff.[4] Shortly afterwards, Lewis Davis was invited by the Association to be its parliamentary candidate and defeated Mabon in a ballot by 143 votes to 51. In spite of his selection, however, he declined and proposed that his son, the 22-year-old Frederick Lewis Davis, be the candidate. In a further ballot, F.L. Davis again defeated Mabon by 125 votes to 56.[3]
The refusal of the trade union movement to accept this decision and to support an independent campaign by Mabon is regarded as an important watershed in the political history of South Wales. In terms of policy there was little apparent difference between the candidates, with the only notable difference being that Mabon supported the payment of MPs while Davis did not.[3] The campaign was therefore waged on other grounds. Davis's supporters claimed that Mabon lacked legitimacy, having been rejected by the Liberal Association. Mabon's adherents, in turn, claimed that the miners' and held mass meetings throughout the two valleys to promote his candidature long before the middle-class-dominated Association was established.[3] Davis's youth and inexperience was a major issue, although he had qualified as a barrister. There were also claims of intimidation on both sides. Mabon's supporters were said to be victimised at the workplace while several of Davis's meetings were disrupted by violence.[3]
Class therefore became a major issue in the campaign. The vast majority of Mabon' supporters were trade union activists and working men, along with a relatively small number of tradesmen and professionals, some of whom had links of one form or another to the miners' union. These included Walter H. Morgan of Pontypridd, often described as the miners' lawyer. One nonconformist minister, supported Mabon, namely John Salisbury Edwards of Treorchy. In contest, Davis had the support of the vast majority of the middle-classes in the Rhondda, and natural deference together with the paternalistic influence of the Davis family, in the Rhondda Fach in particular, was a factor.[3]
On polling day, Mabon scored a clear and decisive victory.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lib-Lab | William Abraham | 3,859 | 56.3 | ||
Liberal | Frederick Lewis Davies | 2,992 | 43.7 | ||
Majority | 867 | 12.6 | |||
Turnout | 6851 | 83.5 | |||
Lib-Lab win (new seat) | |||||
Despite the fierce contest the two wings of the Liberal Party in the Rhondda were soon reconciled. After the result, the Davis family accepted Mabon's victory and he was not challenged thereafter for the parliamentray seat. Following the election, Mabon's supporters established the Rhondda Labour and Liberal Association which shortly afterwards absorbed the rival Liberal Association which had supported Davis.[3] Mabon was returned unopposed the following year.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lib-Lab | William Abraham | unopposed | |||
Lib-Lab hold | Swing | ||||
Members of Parliament
MPs 1885–1918
Election | Member[5] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1885 | William Abraham | Lib-Lab | |
1910 | Labour | ||
1918 | constituency abolished: see Rhondda East and Rhondda West |
MPs since 1974
Election | Member[5] | Party | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 1974 | Alec Jones | Labour | Shadow Welsh Secretary 1979-1983. Died in office March 1983; no by-election held due to imminent general election. | |
1983 | Allan Rogers | Labour | ||
2001 | Chris Bryant | Labour | Shadow Cabinet Member 2011–16 |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Bryant | 15,976 | 50.7 | −4.6 | |
Plaid Cymru | Shelley Rees-Owen | 8,521 | 27.0 | +8.9 | |
UKIP | Ron Hughes | 3,998 | 12.7 | +11.5 | |
Conservative | Lyn Hudson | 2,116 | 6.7 | +0.3 | |
Liberal Democrat | George Summers[9] | 474 | 1.5 | −9.1 | |
Green | Lisa Rapado | 453 | 1.4 | N/A | |
Majority | 7,455 | 23.6 | −13.6 | ||
Turnout | 31,538 | 60.9 | +0.6 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −6.8 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Bryant | 17,183 | 55.3 | −12.8 | |
Plaid Cymru | Geraint Davies | 5,630 | 18.1 | +2.2 | |
Liberal Democrat | Paul Wasley | 3,309 | 10.6 | +0.2 | |
Independent | Philip Howe | 2,599 | 8.4 | +8.4 | |
Conservative | Juliette Henderson | 1,993 | 6.4 | +0.9 | |
UKIP | Taffy John | 359 | 1.2 | N/A | |
Majority | 11,553 | 37.2 | |||
Turnout | 31,072 | 60.3 | −1.5 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −7.5 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Bryant | 21,198 | 68.1 | −0.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Percy Jones | 4,956 | 15.9 | −5.2 | |
Liberal Democrat | Karen Roberts | 3,264 | 10.5 | +6.0 | |
Conservative | Paul Christopher Stuart-Smith | 1,730 | 5.6 | +1.0 | |
Majority | 16,242 | 52.1 | |||
Turnout | 31,148 | 61.0 | +0.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +2.5 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Chris Bryant | 23,230 | 68.3 | −6.1 | |
Plaid Cymru | Leanne Wood | 7,183 | 21.1 | +7.8 | |
Conservative | Peter James Hobbins | 1,557 | 4.6 | +0.8 | |
Liberal Democrat | Gavin Cameron Cox | 1,525 | 4.5 | −1.2 | |
Independent | Glyndwr Jon Summers | 507 | 1.5 | N/A | |
Majority | 16,047 | 47.2 | |||
Turnout | 34,002 | 60.6 | −10.9 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Allan Rogers | 30,381 | 74.5 | +0.0 | |
Plaid Cymru | Leanne Wood | 5,450 | 13.4 | +1.6 | |
Liberal Democrat | Rodney Berman | 2,307 | 5.7 | +0.4 | |
Conservative | Steven James Whiting | 1,551 | 3.8 | −4.0 | |
Referendum | Stephen Michael Gardiner | 658 | 1.6 | N/A | |
Green | Kevin Jakeway | 460 | 1.1 | N/A | |
Majority | 24,931 | 61.1 | |||
Turnout | 40,807 | 71.5 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Allan Rogers | 34,243 | 74.5 | +1.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Geraint Rhys Davies | 5,427 | 11.8 | +2.9 | |
Conservative | John Winterson Richards | 3,588 | 7.8 | +0.2 | |
Liberal Democrat | Paul Nicholls-Jones | 2,431 | 5.3 | −3.0 | |
Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) | Mark William Fischer | 245 | 0.5 | −1.3 | |
Majority | 28,816 | 62.7 | −1.6 | ||
Turnout | 45,934 | 76.6 | −1.4 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −0.8 | |||
Elections in the 1980s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Allan Rogers | 35,015 | 73.4 | +11.7 | |
Plaid Cymru | Geraint Rhys Davies | 4,261 | 8.9 | −1.3 | |
Social Democratic | John Robert York-Williams | 3,930 | 8.2 | −8.7 | |
Conservative | Stephen Henry Reid | 3,611 | 7.8 | −0.5 | |
Communist | Arthur True | 869 | 1.8 | −1.0 | |
Majority | 30,754 | 64.5 | |||
Turnout | 47,686 | 78.3 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Allan Rogers | 29,448 | 61.7 | ||
Social Democratic | Allan William Lloyd | 8,078 | 16.9 | ||
Plaid Cymru | Geraint Rhys Davies | 4,845 | 10.2 | ||
Conservative | Peter John Herman Meyer | 3,973 | 8.3 | ||
Communist | Arthur True | 1,350 | 2.8 | ||
Majority | 21,370 | 44.8 | |||
Turnout | 47,694 | 76.2 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1970s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alec Jones | 38,007 | 75.2 | −1.9 | |
Conservative | Peter Leyshon | 6,526 | 12.9 | +5.4 | |
Plaid Cymru | Glyn Powell James | 4,226 | 10.2 | +1.9 | |
Communist | Arthur True | 1,819 | 3.6 | +0.8 | |
Majority | 31,481 | 62.2 | |||
Turnout | 79.8 | +3.6 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alec Jones | 38,654 | 77.1 | +6.4 | |
Plaid Cymru | Donald Morgan | 4,173 | 8.3 | −4.6 | |
Conservative | Peter Leyshon | 3,739 | 7.5 | −0.4 | |
Liberal | Dennis James Austin | 2,142 | 4.3 | −1.6 | |
Communist | Arthur True | 1,404 | 2.8 | +0.2 | |
Majority | 34,481 | 68.8 | |||
Turnout | 76.2 | −3.8 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alec Jones | 36,880 | 70.7 | N/A | |
Plaid Cymru | Glyn Powell James | 6,739 | 12.9 | N/A | |
Conservative | Peter Leyshon | 4,111 | 7.9 | N/A | |
Liberal | Dennis James Austin | 3,056 | 5.9 | N/A | |
Communist | Arthur True | 1,374 | 2.6 | N/A | |
Majority | 30,141 | 57.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 80.0 | N/A | |||
Labour win (new seat) | |||||
Elections in the 1900s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lib-Lab | William Abraham | 9,073 | 71 | ||
Conservative | Harold Lloyd | 3,701 | 29 | ||
Majority | 5372 | 56.4 | |||
Turnout | 12,774 | 72.4 | -17.8 | ||
Lib-Lab hold | Swing | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lib-Lab | William Abraham | 12,436 | 78.2 | ||
Conservative | Harold Lloyd | 3,471 | 21.8 | ||
Majority | 8,965 | 56.4 | |||
Turnout | 15907 | 90.2 | |||
Lib-Lab hold | Swing | ||||
![](../I/m/William_Abraham.jpg)
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lib-Lab | William Abraham | 8,383 | 81.7 | ||
Conservative | Robert Hughes | 1,874 | 18.3 | ||
Majority | 6509 | 63.4 | |||
Turnout | 12,549 | 81.7 | |||
Lib-Lab hold | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1890s
In the 1892 and 1896 general elections William Abraham was re-elected unopposed.
Elections in the 1880s
In the 1886 general election William Abraham was re-elected unopposed.
See also
- Rhondda (Assembly constituency)
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Mid Glamorgan
- A map of Glamorganshire in 1885, showing its new divisions.
Notes and references
- ↑ "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ↑ Archived 25 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Williams. Democratic Rhondda. pp. 33–7.
- 1 2 "The Rhondda Valley Liberal Three Hundred". Cardiff Times. 11 April 1885. Retrieved 16 May 2014..
- 1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
- ↑ "Rhondda 2015". Parliamentary General Elections 2015. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ↑ total electorate 51,811 email from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council 19Aug15
- ↑ http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/rhondda/
- ↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#Wales
- ↑ Rhondda Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council - candidates Rhondda
- ↑ Rhondda BBC Election - Rhondda
- ↑ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
Bibliography
- Williams, Chris (1996). Democratic Rhondda: politics and Society 1885-1951. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Morgan, Kenneth O. (1960). "Democratic Politics in Glamorgan, 1884-1914". Morgannwg. 4: 5–27.
External links
- Election result, 2005 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997 - 2001 (BBC)
- Election results, 1997 - 2001 (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1983 - 1992 (Election Demon)
- Election results, 1992 - 2005 (Guardian)
- Election results, 1974 - 2001 (Keele University)