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Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Blaenau Gwent is a county constituency in South Wales, 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.
's old constituency. However, the constituency was created in 1983, twenty-three years after Bevan's death, from the upper part of the former Abertillery constituency, the town of Brynmawr from Brecon and Radnor, and Bevan's old Ebbw Vale seat with the exception of the village of Abertysswg. The then Labour party leader Michael Foot
, who had won Ebbw Vale in the by-election following Bevan's death, was the seat's first MP.
Until 2005, the constituency was considered one of the safest Labour
seats in the country. In the 1983
and 1992 general election
s, it was Labour's safest seat. The Conservative Party
and Liberal Democrats
have both been very weak in the seat. Neither has won 10% of the vote since 1987
and the Conservatives have never achieved one eighth of the total votes cast. In 2005 the Liberal Democrats received their lowest share of the vote in the United Kingdom and the Conservatives their second lowest, and both lost their deposits, though this particular election saw unusual circumstances.
The seat came to prominence at the 2005 general election
when the Labour Welsh Assembly Member
Peter Law
ran as an independent and won the seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party in protest at the imposition of an all-women candidates' shortlist
following the retirement of incumbent MP Llew Smith
, and overturned a 19,313 (60%) Labour majority with a significant 9,121 (25%) majority. In 2006 the Labour Party decided not to require an all-women shortlist at the next general election.
Law died of a brain tumour on 25 April 2006, prompting a by-election
in the seat on 29 June. Labour failed to regain the seat as Law's former campaign manager, Dai Davies
, was elected to replace him.
In the 2010 general election, Labour candidate Nick Smith gained the seat with a 29.2% swing from Independent back to Labour; it became one of only three seats Labour gained in that election. The seat was still notable as one of the few where an Independent candidate kept their deposit or pushed one of the main parties into fourth place.
county borough. The main towns are Ebbw Vale
, Abertillery
, Brynmawr
and Tredegar
.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It elects one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) by the first past the post system of election.
History
Blaenau Gwent is often referred to as Aneurin BevanAneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
's old constituency. However, the constituency was created in 1983, twenty-three years after Bevan's death, from the upper part of the former Abertillery constituency, the town of Brynmawr from Brecon and Radnor, and Bevan's old Ebbw Vale seat with the exception of the village of Abertysswg. The then Labour party leader Michael Foot
Michael Foot
Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
, who had won Ebbw Vale in the by-election following Bevan's death, was the seat's first MP.
Until 2005, the constituency was considered one of the safest Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
seats in the country. In the 1983
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
and 1992 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
s, it was Labour's safest seat. The Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
have both been very weak in the seat. Neither has won 10% of the vote since 1987
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
and the Conservatives have never achieved one eighth of the total votes cast. In 2005 the Liberal Democrats received their lowest share of the vote in the United Kingdom and the Conservatives their second lowest, and both lost their deposits, though this particular election saw unusual circumstances.
The seat came to prominence at the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
when the Labour Welsh Assembly Member
Members of the National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is composed of 60 members known as AMs or Assembly Members...
Peter Law
Peter Law
Peter John Law was a Welsh politician.- Labour Co-operative AM and Independent MP :For most of his career Law sat as a Labour Councillor and subsequently Labour Co-operative Assembly Member for Blaenau Gwent...
ran as an independent and won the seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party in protest at the imposition of an all-women candidates' shortlist
All-women shortlists
The use of all-women shortlists is the political practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom by allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political party. Though the practice is available to all parties, only...
following the retirement of incumbent MP Llew Smith
Llew Smith
Llewellyn Thomas Smith is a former Welsh Labour Party politician.Smith was Member of the European Parliament for South Wales East from 1984 to 1994, and at the 1992 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent. A member of the Socialist Campaign Group, he stood down...
, and overturned a 19,313 (60%) Labour majority with a significant 9,121 (25%) majority. In 2006 the Labour Party decided not to require an all-women shortlist at the next general election.
Law died of a brain tumour on 25 April 2006, prompting a by-election
Blaenau Gwent by-elections, 2006
Two by-elections were held for the constituency of Blaenau Gwent in Wales following the death of Member of Parliament and Assembly Member Peter Law on 25 April 2006. As Law was the MP and Assembly Member , his death required by-elections in both the parliamentary seat and the equivalent Welsh...
in the seat on 29 June. Labour failed to regain the seat as Law's former campaign manager, Dai Davies
Dai Davies (politician)
David Clifford Davies, commonly known as Dai Davies, was the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Member of Parliament for the Blaenau Gwent constituency in South Wales from 2006 to 2010...
, was elected to replace him.
In the 2010 general election, Labour candidate Nick Smith gained the seat with a 29.2% swing from Independent back to Labour; it became one of only three seats Labour gained in that election. The seat was still notable as one of the few where an Independent candidate kept their deposit or pushed one of the main parties into fourth place.
Boundaries
The constituency boundaries are analogous to those of Blaenau GwentBlaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...
county borough. The main towns are Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale
Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River, south Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough...
, Abertillery
Abertillery
Abertillery is a town in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent in South Wales, north-west of Newport, originally on the Great Western Railway. Its population rose steeply during the period of mining development in South Wales, being 10,846 in the 1891 census and 21,945 ten years later...
, Brynmawr
Brynmawr
Brynmawr is a market town in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at 1,250 to 1,500 feet above sea level and nestled at the head of the South Wales Valleys...
and Tredegar
Tredegar
Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...
.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945... |
Michael Foot Michael Foot Michael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil... |
Llew Smith Llew Smith Llewellyn Thomas Smith is a former Welsh Labour Party politician.Smith was Member of the European Parliament for South Wales East from 1984 to 1994, and at the 1992 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent. A member of the Socialist Campaign Group, he stood down... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160.... |
Peter Law Peter Law Peter John Law was a Welsh politician.- Labour Co-operative AM and Independent MP :For most of his career Law sat as a Labour Councillor and subsequently Labour Co-operative Assembly Member for Blaenau Gwent... |
Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
|
| 2006 by-election | Dai Davies Dai Davies (politician) David Clifford Davies, commonly known as Dai Davies, was the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Member of Parliament for the Blaenau Gwent constituency in South Wales from 2006 to 2010... |
Blaenau Gwent People's Voice | |
| 2010 | Nick Smith Nick Smith (British politician) Nicholas Desmond John Smith , known as Nick Smith, is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Blaenau Gwent since the May 2010 election... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
See also
- Blaenau Gwent (Assembly constituency)
- List of Parliamentary constituencies in Gwent
Sources
- Election result 2010 for Blaenau Gwent(BBC)
- 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)