Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency)

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Blaenau Gwent County constituency
Blaenau Gwent shown within Wales
Created:	1983
MP:	Dai Davis
Party:	Independent
Type:	House of Commons
Preserved county:	Gwent
EP constituency:	Wales

Blaenau Gwent is a 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.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 History 3 Members of Parliament 4 Elections 5 Sources 6 See also

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency boundaries are analogous to those of Blaenau Gwent county borough.

[edit] History

Blaenau Gwent under its previous name of Ebbw Vale had been held by Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot, and was considered one of Labour's safest seats in the country. In the 1983 and 1992 general elections, 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 hit the headlines at the 2005 UK 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. [1]

Peter Law died of a brain tumour on April 25, 2006, precipitating a by-election in the seat on 29 June 2006. Labour failed to regain the seat as Peter Law's former campaign manager, Dai Davies, was elected to replace him.

[edit] Members of Parliament

• Constituency created as Ebbw Vale (1918)

Elected		Member	Party
	1918	Thomas Richards	Labour
	1920	Evan Davies	Labour
	1929	Aneurin Bevan	Labour
	1960	Michael Foot	Labour
	1992	Llew Smith	Labour
	2005	Peter Law	Independent
	2006	Dai Davies	Independent

[edit] Elections

Blaenau Gwent by-election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Dai Davies	12,543	46.2	-12.0
	Labour	Owen Smith	10,055	37.0	+4.7
	Plaid Cymru	Steffan Lewis	1,755	6.5	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat	Amy Kitcher	1,477	5.4	+1.1
	Conservative	Margrit Williams	1,013	3.7	+1.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Alan "Howling Laud" Hope	318	1.2	N/A
Majority			2,488	9.1	-16.8
Turnout
	Independent hold		Swing	-8.35

General Election 2005: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Peter Law	20,505	58.2	N/A
	Labour	Maggie Jones	11,384	32.3	-39.7
	Liberal Democrat	Brian Thomas	1,511	4.3	-5.0
	Plaid Cymru	John Price	843	2.4	-8.8
	Conservative	Phillip Lee	816	2.4	-5.2
	UK Independence	Peter Osborne	192	0.5	N/A
Majority			9,121	25.9
Turnout			35,251	66.1	+6.6
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 2001: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Llew Smith	22,855	72.0	-7.4
	Plaid Cymru	Adam Rykala	3,542	11.2	+5.9
	Liberal Democrat	Edward Townsend	2,945	9.3	+0.6
	Conservative	Huw Williams	2,383	7.5	+0.9
Majority			19,313	60.8	- 9.9
Turnout			31,725	59.5	-12.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Llew Smith	31,493	79.5	+ 0.5
	Liberal Democrat	Geraldine Layton	3,458	8.7	+ 2.3
	Conservative	Margrit Williams	2,607	6.6	- 3.2
	Plaid Cymru	Jim Criddle	2,072	5.2	+ 0.4
Majority			28,035	70.7	+ 1.5
Turnout			39,630	72.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Llew Smith	34,333	79.0	+ 3.1
	Conservative	D. R. M. Melding	4,266	9.8	- 1.7
	Liberal Democrat	A. Burns	2,774	6.4	- 2.5
	Plaid-Green Alliance	Alun_Davies	2,099	4.8	+ 1.1
Majority			30,067	69.2	+ 4.8
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foot	32,820	75.9	+ 5.9
	Conservative	A. R. Taylor	4,959	11.5	+ 0.3
	Liberal	D. I. McBride	3,847	8.9	- 6.2
	Plaid Cymru	S. Morgan	1,621	3.7	0.0
Majority			27,861	64.4	+ 9.5
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Foot	30,113	70.0	N/A
	Liberal	G. M. Atkinson	6,488	15.1	N/A
	Conservative	T. P. Morgan	4,816	11.2	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	S. Morgan	1,624	3.7	N/A
Majority			23,625	54.9	N/A
Turnout					N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

[edit] Sources

• 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)

[edit] See also

• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Gwent
• Blaenau Gwent Liberal Democrats [2]

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