Aberdare
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1918–1983
SeatsOne
Created fromMerthyr Tydfil
Replaced byCynon Valley

Aberdare was a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1918 general election and returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until it was abolished for the 1983 general election. The Labour Party gained the seat in 1922 and held it comfortably until its abolition.

Boundaries and name

The constituency consisted of the two neighbouring towns of Aberdare and Mountain Ash in Glamorgan, Wales. When the seat was abolished in 1983, it was largely replaced by the Cynon Valley seat.

1918–1950

Under the Representation of the People Act 1918, the existing parliamentary borough of Merthyr Tydfil was divided into two single-member constituencies. One of these was Merthyr Tydfil, Aberdare Division, which consisted of the two urban districts of Aberdare and Mountain Ash.[1]

1950–1983

The Representation of the People Act 1948 reorganised constituencies throughout Great Britain, and introduced the term "borough constituency" in place of "parliamentary borough". The duly renamed Aberdare Borough Constituency was again defined as consisting of the Aberdare and Mountain Ash urban districts.[2] The renamed constituency was first contested at the 1950 general election. It was unchanged at the next revision of constituencies in 1970, continuing with the same name and boundaries until its abolition in 1983.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1918Charles StantonCoalition National Democratic
1922George HallLabour
1946 by-electionDavid ThomasLabour
1954 by-electionArthur ProbertLabour
Feb 1974Ioan EvansLabour Co-operative
1983 constituency abolished: see Cynon Valley

History

The first member for Aberdare was Charles Stanton, Stanton was a militant miners' agent in the pre-1914 era but had become an equally fierce proponent of the war effort which brought him into conflict with former colleagues including Keir Hardie. Stanton was elected to succeed Hardie as member for Merthyr Boroughs at a by-election in 1915 and comfortably won the Aberdare constituency at the 1918 Coupon Election.

By 1922, Stanton's appeal and popularity had faded and he was defeated by George Hall, who held the seat for over twenty years.

Labour's hold on Aberdare was never threatened thereafter although Plaid Cymru did make a strong showing at the 1970 general election. Glyn Owen, the new Plaid Cymru candidate in 1974, sustained the campaign from 1970 but this did not seriously threaten the new Labour candidate, Ioan Evans, at the second election that year.

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

December 1918 general election: Aberdare[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C National Democratic Charles Stanton 22,824 78.6 N/A
Labour T. E. Nicholas 6,229 21.4 N/A
Majority 16,595 57.2 N/A
Turnout 29,053 69.8 N/A
Registered electors 41,651
National Democratic win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
1922 general election: Aberdare[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall 20,704 57.2 +35.8
National Democratic Charles Stanton 15,487 42.8 −35.8
Majority 5,217 14.4 N/A
Turnout 36,191 79.9 +10.1
Registered electors 45,285
Labour gain from National Democratic Swing +35.8

Elections in the 1920s

1923 general election: Aberdare [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall 22,379 58.2 +1.0
Liberal William M. Llewellyn 16,050 41.8 New
Majority 6,329 16.4 +2.0
Turnout 38,429 83.3 +3.4
Registered electors 46,148
Labour hold Swing +1.0
1924 general election: Aberdare[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall 24,343 61.6 +3.4
Liberal David Bowen 15,201 38.4 −3.4
Majority 9,142 23.2 +6.8
Turnout 39,544 83.7 +0.4
Registered electors 47,267
Labour hold Swing +3.4
1929 general election: Aberdare [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall 29,550 64.6 +3.0
Liberal Evan Joshua Roderick 10,594 23.2 −15.2
Unionist Hugh Molson 5,573 12.2 New
Majority 18,956 41.4 +18.2
Turnout 45,717 84.5 +0.8
Registered electors 54,134
Labour hold Swing +9.1

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Aberdare [3][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall Unopposed
Labour hold
1935 general election: Aberdare [3][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall Unopposed
Labour hold

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Aberdare
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Hall 34,398 84.25
Conservative Charles George Clover 6,429 15.75
Majority 27,969 68.51
Turnout 40,827 76.25
Labour hold Swing
1946 Aberdare by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Thomas 24,215 68.32 −15.93
Plaid Cymru Wynne Samuel 7,090 20.0 New
Conservative Lincoln Hallinan 4,140 11.68 −4.07
Majority 17,125 48.31 −20.2
Turnout 35,445
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Thomas 33,930 75.9 −8.67
Conservative Robert N. E. Hinton 6,098 13.6 −1.95
Plaid Cymru Wynne Samuel 3,310 7.4 N/A
Communist Alistair T. M. Wilson 1,382 3.1 New
Majority 27,832 62.3 −6.74
Turnout 44,180 85.89 +9.64
Registered electors 51,437
Labour hold Swing

N.B. Changes in 1950 are from the 1945 election and not the 1946 by-election.

1951 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Thomas 34,783 78.55 +2.77
Conservative Jack Lewis 6,810 15.38 +1.58
Plaid Cymru Wynne Samuel 2,691 6.08 −1.41
Majority 27,963 63.17 +1.4
Turnout 44,284 86.12 +0.23
Registered electors 51,423
Labour hold Swing
1954 Aberdare by-election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Probert 24,658 69.48 −9.07
Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Evans 5,671 15.98 +9.90
Conservative Michael Roberts 5,158 14.53 −0.85
Majority 18,987 53.5 −9.67
Turnout 35,487
Registered electors 50,916
Labour hold Swing
1955 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Probert 30,889 75.6 +0.6
Conservative Bernard McGlynn 6,584 16.1 +0.5
Plaid Cymru Ken P. Thomas 3,367 8.2 New
Majority 24,305 59.5 −0.1
Turnout 40,840 83.1 +4.8
Registered electors 50,333
Labour hold Swing
1959 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Probert 29,528 75.0 −3.5
Conservative William J. A. Bain 6,162 15.6 +0.2
Welsh Nationalist Trefor Beasley 3,703 9.4 New
Majority 23,366 59.4 −3.8
Turnout 39,393 78.3 −7.8
Registered electors 49,124
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Probert 29,106 77.4 +1.8
Conservative Peter Price 5,780 15.4 −0.7
Plaid Cymru Dewi W. Thomas 2,723 7.2 −1.0
Majority 23,326 62.0 +2.5
Turnout 37,609 79.2 −3.9
Registered electors 47,519
Labour hold Swing
1966 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Probert 26,322 73.3 −4.1
Conservative Peter Price 4,204 11.7 −3.7
Plaid Cymru J. E. Williams 3,073 8.6 +1.4
Communist Alistair T. M. Wilson 2,305 6.4 New
Majority 22,118 61.6 −0.4
Turnout 35,904 77.0 −2.2
Registered electors 46,618
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: Aberdare[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Arthur Probert 22,817 60.0 −13.3
Plaid Cymru Gareth Morgan Jones 11,431 30.0 +21.4
Conservative David C. Purnell 2,484 6.5 −5.2
Communist Alistair T. M. Wilson 1,317 3.5 −2.9
Majority 11,386 29.9 −31.7
Turnout 38,049 77.9 +0.9
Registered electors 48,771
Labour hold Swing
February 1974 general election: Aberdare
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Ioan Evans 23,805 59.5 −0.5
Plaid Cymru Glyn Owen 11,973 29.9 −0.1
Conservative Michael J. Niblock 3,169 7.9 +1.4
Communist Alistair T. M. Wilson 1,038 2.6 −0.9
Majority 11,832 29.6 −0.3
Turnout 39,985 83.3 +5.3
Labour Co-op hold Swing
October 1974 general election: Aberdare
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Ioan Evans 24,197 63.3 +3.8
Plaid Cymru Glyn Owen 8,133 21.3 −8.6
Conservative B. G. C. Webb 2,775 7.3 −0.6
Liberal G. Hill 2,118 5.5 New
Communist Alistair T. M. Wilson 1,028 2.7 +0.1
Majority 16,064 42.0 −12.4
Turnout 38,251 79.1 −4.2
Labour Co-op hold Swing
1979 general election: Aberdare
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Ioan Evans 26,716 71.6 +8.3
Conservative D. Deere 6,453 17.3 +10.0
Plaid Cymru Phil Richards 3,652 9.8 −11.5
Communist Mary Winter 518 1.4 −1.3
Majority 20,263 54.3 +12.3
Turnout 37,339 78.6 −0.5
Labour Co-op hold Swing

References

  • Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
  • Kimber, Richard (2008). "UK General Elections since 1832". psr.keele.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  1. ↑ Ninth Schedule, Part I: Parliamentary Boroughs in Wales and Monmouthshire. Representation of the People Act, 1918 (7&8 Geo. 5.) C. 64.
  2. ↑ First Schedule: Parliamentary Constituencies, Part II: Wales, Representation of the People Act, 1948 (11&12 Geo. 6.) C. 65.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 537. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
  4. ↑ Etholiadau'r ganrif 1885-1997, Beti Jones.
  5. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Page 553
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