Llanelli (Senedd Cymru constituency)

Llanelli is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Mid and West Wales electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Not to be confused with Llanelli (UK Parliament constituency).

Llanelli
National Assembly for Wales county constituency
Llanelli shown within the Mid and West Wales electoral region and the region shown within Wales
Current National Assembly for Wales county constituency
Created	1999
Party	Labour
AM	Lee Waters
Preserved county	Dyfed

Boundaries

1999 to 2007

The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Llanelli Westminster constituency. It is a Dyfed constituency, one of five constituencies covering, and entirely within, the preserved county of Dyfed.

The other four Dyfed constituencies are Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Preseli Pembrokeshire. They are all within the Mid and West Wales electoral region.

The region consists of the eight constituencies of Brecon and Radnorshire, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Llanelli, Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, Montgomeryshire and Preseli Pembrokeshire.

From 2007

The constituency includes the whole of 9 Carmarthenshire communities (Kidwelly; Llanedi; Llanelli; Llanelli Rural; Llangennech; Llannon; Pembrey and Burry Port Town; Pontyberem; and Trimsaran).

Boundaries changed for the 2007 Assembly election. Llanelli remained one of five Dyfed constituencies and one of eight constituencies in the Mid and West Wales region. However, boundaries within Dyfed changed, to realign them with local government ward boundaries and to reduce disparities in the sizes of constituency electorates, and the boundaries of the region changed, to align them with the boundaries of preserved counties.

The other four Dyfed constituencies were, again, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Preseli Pembrokeshire, all within the Mid and West Wales electoral region.

The region consisted of the constituencies of Brecon and Radnorshire, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Llanelli, Montgomeryshire and Preseli Pembrokeshire.

For Westminster purposes, the same new constituency boundaries became effective for the 2010 United Kingdom general election.

Voting

In general elections for the Senedd, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Member of the Senedd for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation.

It is a marginal seat between Plaid and the Labour Party, and until the 2016 Assembly election, had never been held by the same party for more than one consecutive term.

Members of the Senedd

Election		Member	Party	Portrait
	1999	Helen Mary Jones	Plaid Cymru
	2003	Catherine Thomas	Labour
	2007	Helen Mary Jones	Plaid Cymru
	2011	Keith Davies	Labour
	2016	Lee Waters	Labour

Results

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Llanelli[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Lee Waters	10,267	36.5	-3.2
	Plaid Cymru	Helen Mary Jones	9,885	35.2	-4.3
	UKIP	Kenneth Rees	4,132	14.7	+14.7
	Conservative	Stefan Ryszewski	1,937	6.9	-4.2
	Putting Llanelli First	Siân Caiach	1,113	4.0	-3.7
	Green	Guy Smith	427	1.5	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gemma Bowker	355	1.3	-0.8
Majority			382	1.3	1.0
Turnout			28,116	47.1	2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.55

Welsh Assembly Election 2011: Llanelli[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Keith Davies	10,359	39.7	+3.7
	Plaid Cymru	Helen Mary Jones	10,279	39.4	−10.7
	Conservative	Andrew Morgan	2,880	11.0	+1.1
	Putting Llanelli First	Siân Caiach	2,004	7.7	+7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Cheryl Philpott	548	2.1	−1.7
Majority			80	0.3
Turnout			26,070	44.6	4.6
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing	+7.2

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Llanelli

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Plaid Cymru	Helen Mary Jones	13,839	50.1	+7.4
	Labour	Catherine Thomas	9,955	36.1	−6.7
	Conservative	Andrew D. Morgan	2,757	10.0	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jeremy N. Townsend	1,051	3.8	−3.3
Majority			3,884	14.1
Turnout			27,602	49.2	8.9
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing	+7.1

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Llanelli

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Catherine Thomas	9,916	42.8	+3.1
	Plaid Cymru	Helen Mary Jones	9,895	42.8	+0.5
	Conservative	Gareth John Jones	1,712	7.4	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Kenneth Denver Rees	1,644	6.1	−3.2
Majority			21	0.1
Turnout			23,167	40.3	8.6
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing	+1.3

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Llanelli

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Plaid Cymru	Helen Mary Jones	11,973	42.1	N/A
	Labour Co-op	Ann Garrard	11,285	39.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Tim R. Dumper	2,920	10.3	N/A
	Conservative	Barrie Harding	1,864	6.6	N/A
	Independent	Anthony G. Popham	345	1.3	N/A
Majority			688	2.4	N/A
Turnout			28,387	48.9	N/A
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)

References

1. "Wales elections > Llanelli". BBC News. 6 May 2016.
2. "Wales elections > Llanelli". BBC News. 6 May 2011.