Abertillery (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918–1983

Abertillery

Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1983
Seats| one
Created from| West Monmouthshire
Replaced by| Blaenau Gwent and Islwyn

Abertillery was a county constituency centred on the town of Abertillery in Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system of election. From 1950 up to (and including) 1970, it was the safest Labour seat in the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election.

## Boundaries

[edit]

The constituency consisted of the urban districts of Abercarn, Abertillery and Nantyglo and Blaina.[1]

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election | Member | Party

|
|

| 1918 | William Brace | Labour
| 1920 by-election | George Barker | Labour
| 1929 | George Daggar | Labour
| 1950 by-election | Rev Llywelyn Williams | Labour
| 1965 by-election | Clifford Williams | Labour
| 1970 | Jeffrey Thomas | Labour
| 1981 | SDP
1983 | constituency abolished

## Elections

[edit]

### Elections in the 1910s

[edit]

Brace 1918 general election: Abertillery[2] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | William Brace | Unopposed
| Labour win (new seat)

### Elections in the 1920s

[edit]

Hay Morgan 1920 Abertillery by-election[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Barker | 15,942  | 66.4  | N/A
C | Liberal | George Hay Morgan | 7,842  | 33.6  | New
Majority  | 7,650  | 32.8  | N/A
Turnout | 23,784  | 70.8  | N/A
| Labour hold | Swing | N/A |
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
1922 general election: Abertillery[2] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Barker | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Labour hold
1923 general election: Abertillery[2] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Barker | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Labour hold
1924 general election: Abertillery[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Barker | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Labour hold
1929 general election: Abertillery[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Daggar | 20,175  | 64.5  | N/A
| Liberal | Walter Reynallt Meredith  | 8,425  | 26.9  | New
| Unionist | Peter John Feilding Chapman-Walker  | 2,697  | 8.6  | New
Majority  | 11,750  | 37.6  | N/A
Turnout | 31,297  | 82.4  | N/A
| Labour hold | Swing | N/A |

### Elections in the 1930s

[edit]

1931 general election: Abertillery[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Daggar | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Labour hold
1935 general election: Abertillery[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Daggar | Unopposed  | N/A | N/A
| Labour hold

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

* Labour: George Daggar[4]
* Conservative:

### Elections in the 1940s

[edit]

1945 general election: Abertillery[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Daggar | 28,615  | 86.6  | N/A
| National | John Hayward  | 4,422  | 13.4  | New
Majority  | 24,193  | 73.2  | N/A
Turnout | 33,037  | 81.1  | N/A
| Labour hold | Swing | N/A |

### Elections in the 1950s

[edit]

1950 general election: Abertillery[5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Daggar | 29,609  | 87.05  |
| Conservative | OJ Lewis  | 4,403  | 12.95  | New
Majority  | 25,206  | 74.10  |
Turnout | 34,012  | 84.58  |
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
1950 Abertillery by-election Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 24,622  | 86.51  | −0.54
| Conservative | Richard Body | 3,839  | 13.49  | +0.54
Majority  | 20,783  | 73.02  | −1.09
Turnout | 28,461  | 71.1  | −15.5
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
1951 general election: Abertillery[6] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 29,321  | 86.94  | −0.11
| Conservative | John Radcliffe  | 4,404  | 13.06  | +0.11
Majority  | 24,917  | 73.88  | −0.22
Turnout | 33,725  | 84.04  | −0.54
| Labour hold | Swing | −0.11  |
1955 general election: Abertillery[7] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 25,599  | 82.74  | −4.20
| Conservative | Arthur G Davies  | 4,081  | 13.19  | +0.13
| Welsh Nationalist | Trefor Richard Morgan | 1,259  | 4.07  | New
Majority  | 21,518  | 69.55  | −4.33
Turnout | 30,939  | 79.11  | −4.93
| Labour hold | Swing | −2.17  |
1959 general election: Abertillery[8] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 26,931  | 85.0  | +2.3
| Conservative | Ronald J Maddocks  | 4,740  | 15.0  | +1.8
Majority  | 22,191  | 70.0  | +0.5
Turnout | 31,671  | 81.9  | +2.8
| Labour hold | Swing | +0.3  |

### Elections in the 1960s

[edit]

1964 general election: Abertillery  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 24,204  | 85.9  | +0.9
| Conservative | Peter Rees | 3,973  | 14.1  | −0.9
Majority  | 20,231  | 71.8  | +1.8
Turnout | 28,177  | 75.5  | −6.4
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
1965 Abertillery by-election Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Clifford Williams | 18,256  | 79.0  | −6.9
| Conservative | Peter Rees | 3,309  | 14.3  | +0.2
| Plaid Cymru | Edward Merriman  | 1,551  | 6.7  | New
Majority  | 14,947  | 64.7  | −7.1
Turnout | 23,116  | 63.2  | −12.3
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
1966 general election: Abertillery  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Clifford Williams | 23,353  | 88.1  | +2.2
| Conservative | Anthony Peter Wallis  | 3,151  | 11.9  | −2.2
Majority  | 20,202  | 76.2  | +4.4
Turnout | 26,504  | 73.4  | −2.1
| Labour hold | Swing |  |

### Elections in the 1970s

[edit]

1970 general election: Abertillery[9] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 22,819  | 81.4  | −6.7
| Conservative | John E. Rendle  | 3,478  | 12.4  | +0.5
| Plaid Cymru | David B. Harries  | 1,751  | 6.2  | New
Majority  | 19,341  | 69.0  | −7.2
Turnout | 28,048  | 75.0  | +1.6
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
February 1974 general election: Abertillery[10][11] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 20,068  | 70.3  | −11.1
| Plaid Cymru | William Aneurin Richards  | 3,119  | 10.9  | +4.7
| Conservative | Neil Hamilton | 2,730  | 9.6  | −2.8
| Liberal | Hugh Westcott Clark  | 2,632  | 9.2  | New
Majority  | 16,949  | 59.4  | −9.6
Turnout | 28,549  | 78.6  | −3.4
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
October 1974 general election: Abertillery[10][12] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 20,835  | 76.9  | +5.6
| Plaid Cymru | William Aneurin Richards  | 2,480  | 9.0  | −1.9
| Conservative | Pamela Joan Evelyn Larney  | 2,364  | 8.6  | −1.0
| Liberal | Hugh Westcott Clark  | 1,779  | 6.5  | −2.7
Majority  | 18,355  | 66.9  | +7.5
Turnout | 27,458  | 75.1  | −3.5
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
1979 general election: Abertillery[10][13] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 21,698  | 76.0  | −0.9
| Conservative | Ralph Tuck  | 4,613  | 16.2  | +7.6
| Plaid Cymru | David Brian Harries  | 2,248  | 7.9  | −1.1
Majority  | 17,085  | 59.8  | −7.1
Turnout | 28,559  | 80.2  | +5.1
| Labour hold | Swing |  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Schedule 9 of the Representation of the People Act, 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5 c.64)
2. ^ a b c British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
3. ^ a b c d e f British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
4. ^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
5. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
6. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1951". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
7. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 1955". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
8. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1959". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
9. ^ "UK General Election results 1970". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
10. ^ a b c "'Abertillery', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
11. ^ "UK General Election results February 1974". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
12. ^ "UK General Election results October 1974". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
13. ^ "UK General Election results 1979". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)

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