Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (UK Parliament constituency)

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Welsh: Merthyr Tudful a Rhymni) is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Gerald Jones of the Labour Party.[n 2]

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney in Wales
Electorate55,409 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlementsMerthyr Tydfil, Rhymney
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentGerald Jones (Labour)
Number of membersOne
Created fromMerthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Ebbw Vale, Bedwellty and Brecon & Radnor[2]
Overlaps
Senedd Cymru – Welsh ParliamentSouth Wales East

The constituency is noted for containing the former coal mining village of Aberfan, where a catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip resulted in 144 deaths, 116 of which being children.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Borough of Merthyr Tydfil, and the District of Rhymney Valley wards Nos. 5 and 14 to 20.

1997–2010: The County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil, and the Caerphilly County Borough wards of Abertysswg, Darren Valley, Moriah, New Tredegar, Pontlottyn, Tir-Phil, and Twyn Carno.

2010–present: The Merthyr Tydfil County Borough electoral divisions of Bedlinog, Cyfarthfa, Dowlais, Gurnos, Merthyr Vale, Park, Penydarren, Plymouth, Town, Treharris, and Vaynor, and the Caerphilly County Borough electoral divisions of Darran Valley, Moriah, New Tredegar, Pontlottyn, and Twyn Carno.

As its name suggests, the main towns are Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. The seat is bordered by the constituencies of Blaenau Gwent, Brecon and Radnorshire, Caerphilly, Cynon Valley, and Islwyn.

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, prior to this Merthyr Tydfil had been in its own eponymous constituency and Rhymney was in the seat of Ebbw Vale (at the time Michael Foot's constituency) which was abolished at that election.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[3]Party
1983 Ted Rowlands Labour
2001 Dai Havard Labour
2015 Gerald Jones Labour

Elections

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1983: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Ted Rowlands 29,053 67.3 N/A
Liberal Philip Owen 6,323 14.7 N/A
Conservative Richard Blausten 5,449 12.6 N/A
Plaid Cymru Gerald Howells 2,058 4.8 N/A
Workers Revolutionary Royden Gould 256 0.6 N/A
Majority 22,730 52.6 N/A
Turnout 43,139 72.5 N/A
Registered electors 59,486
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1987: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Ted Rowlands 33,477 75.3 +8.0
Conservative Nicholas Walters 5,270 11.9 −0.7
Liberal Pravat Verma 3,573 8.0 −6.7
Plaid Cymru Janet Davies 2,085 4.7 −0.1
Majority 28,130 63.4 +10.8
Turnout 44,405 76.2 +3.7
Registered electors 58,285
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1992: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[6][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Ted Rowlands 31,710 71.6 −3.7
Liberal Democrats Robyn Rowland 4,997 11.3 +3.3
Conservative Mark Hughes 4,904 11.1 −0.8
Plaid Cymru Alun Cox 2,704 6.1 +1.4
Majority 26,713 60.3 −3.1
Turnout 44,315 75.8 −0.4
Registered electors 58,430
Labour hold Swing −3.5
General election 1997: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Ted Rowlands 30,012 76.7 +5.1
Liberal Democrats Duncan Anstey 2,926 7.5 -3.8
Conservative Jonathan Morgan 2,508 6.4 -4.7
Plaid Cymru Alun Cox 2,344 6.0 -0.1
Independent Labour Alan Cowdell 691 1.8 N/A
Referendum Ronald Hutchings 660 1.7 N/A
Majority 27,086 69.2 +8.9
Turnout 39,141 69.3 -6.5
Registered electors 56,507
Labour hold Swing +4.5

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2001: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[10][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Dai Havard 19,574 61.8 -14.9
Plaid Cymru Robert Hughes 4,651 14.7 +8.7
Liberal Democrats Keith Rogers 2,385 7.5 ±0.0
Conservative Richard Cuming 2,272 7.2 +0.8
Independent Jeffrey Edwards 1,936 6.1 New
Socialist Labour Ken Evans 692 2.2 N/A
ProLife Alliance Anthony Lewis 174 0.5 N/A
Majority 14,923 47.1 -22.1
Turnout 31,684 57.7 -11.6
Registered electors 54,919
Labour hold Swing -11.8
General election 2005: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Dai Havard 18,129 60.5 -1.3
Liberal Democrats Ceirion Rees 4,195 14.0 +6.5
Plaid Cymru Noel Turner 2,972 9.9 -4.8
Conservative Roger Berry 2,680 8.9 +1.7
Forward Wales Neil Greer 1,030 3.4 N/A
UKIP Gwyn Parry 699 2.3 N/A
Socialist Labour Ina Marsden 271 0.9 -1.3
Majority 13,934 46.5 -0.6
Turnout 29,976 54.9 -2.8
Registered electors 54,044
Labour hold Swing -3.9

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2010: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[14][15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Dai Havard 14,007 43.7 -16.8
Liberal Democrats Amy Kitcher 9,951 31.0 +17.0
Conservative Maria Hill 2,412 7.5 -1.4
Independent Clive Tovey 1,845 5.8 N/A
Plaid Cymru Glyndwr Jones 1,621 5.1 -4.8
BNP Richard Barnes 1,173 3.7 N/A
UKIP Adam Brown 872 2.7 +0.4
Socialist Labour Alan Cowdell 195 0.6 -0.3
Rejected ballots 80
Majority 4,056 12.7 -33.8
Turnout 32,076 58.6 +3.2
Registered electors 54,715
Labour hold Swing -16.9

Of the 80 rejected ballots:

  • 22 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[16]
  • 57 voted for more than one candidate.[16]
  • 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[16]
General election 2015: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[17][18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gerald Jones[20] 17,619 53.9 +10.2
UKIP David Rowlands[21] 6,106 18.7 +16.0
Conservative Bill Rees 3,292 10.1 +2.6
Plaid Cymru Rhayna Mann 3,099 9.5 +4.4
Liberal Democrats Bob Griffin[22] 1,351 4.1 -26.9
Green Elspeth Parris[23] 603 1.8 N/A
Independent Eddy Blanche 459 1.4 N/A
Communist Robert Griffiths 186 0.6 N/A
Rejected ballots 95
Majority 11,513 35.2 +22.5
Turnout 32,715 53.0 -5.6
Registered electors 61,716
Labour hold Swing -2.8

Of the 95 rejected ballots:

  • 49 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[18]
  • 46 voted for more than one candidate.[18]
General election 2017: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gerald Jones[26] 22,407 66.8 +12.9
Conservative Pauline Jorgensen[27] 6,073 18.1 +8.0
Plaid Cymru Amy Kitcher[28] 2,740 8.2 -1.3
UKIP David Rowlands[21] 1,484 4.4 -14.3
Liberal Democrats Bob Griffin[29] 841 2.5 -1.6
Rejected ballots 71
Majority 16,334 48.7 +13.5
Turnout 33,545 60.5 +7.5
Registered electors 55,463
Labour hold Swing +2.4

Of the 71 rejected ballots:

  • 41 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[25]
  • 30 voted for more than one candidate.[25]
General election 2019: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[30][31][32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Gerald Jones 16,913 52.4 -14.3
Conservative Sara Jones 6,307 19.6 +1.5
Brexit Party David Jones 3,604 11.2 N/A
Plaid Cymru Mark Evans 2,446 7.6 -0.6
Independent David Hughes 1,860 5.8 N/A
Liberal Democrats Brendan D’Cruz 1,116 3.5 +1.0
Rejected ballots 83
Majority 10,606 32.8 -15.9
Turnout 32,249 57.4 -3.1
Registered electors 56,322
Labour hold Swing -8.0

Of the 83 rejected ballots:

  • 23 voted for more than one candidate.[32]
  • 4 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[32]
  • 56 had want of official mark.[32]
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See also

Notes
  1. A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. As with all constituencies, the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References
  1. "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. "'Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)
  4. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  6. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  8. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. "BBC NEWS > Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  12. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. "Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney BBC Election - Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
  16. "Results". Merthyr Tydfil Council. Merthyr Tydfil Council. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  17. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. "Merthyr result". Election results for Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  19. "Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  20. "Gerald Jones selected as candidate for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney". LabourList. 13 December 2014.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2015-03-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. http://www.libdems.org.uk/general_election_candidates#South_West
  23. "Elspeth Parris Announced as GE Candidate for Merthyr". wales.greenparty.org.uk.
  24. "Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  25. "2017 Results". Merthyr Tydfil Council. Merthyr Tydfil Council. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  26. "Gerald Jones MP". Gerald Jones MP.
  27. "Councillor details - Pauline Jorgensen". wokingham.moderngov.co.uk.
  28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2017-05-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2017-05-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. "Parliamentary Election Thursday 12 December 2019" (PDF). Merthyr Tydfil Council. Merthyr Tydfil Council. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  31. "Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney Parliamentary constituency". Election 2019 Results. BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  32. "Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Merthyr Tydfil Council. Merthyr Tydfil Council. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
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