Neath (UK Parliament constituency)

Neath (Welsh: Castell-nedd) is a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Christina Rees, a Labour and Co-operative MP.[n 2]

Neath
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Neath in Wales
Preserved county	West Glamorgan
Electorate	57,823 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Neath, Pontardawe
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Christina Rees (Labour Co-operative)
Number of members	One
Created from	Mid Glamorganshire and Gower
Overlaps
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	South Wales West

History

The constituency is located in the preserved county of West Glamorgan, Wales. It consists of the electoral wards of: Aberdulais, Allt-wen, Blaengwrach, Bryn-côch North, Bryn-côch South, Cadoxton, Cimla, Crynant, Cwmllynfell, Dyffryn, Glynneath, Godre'r Graig, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Lower Brynamman, Neath East, Neath North, Neath South, Onllwyn, Pelenna, Pontardawe, Resolven, Rhos, Seven Sisters, Tonna, Trebanos, Ystalyfera.

The Neath constituency is a mixture of both industrial and rural communities, running in a north-south strip along the dips, ridges and folded landscape of South Wales. It includes most of the Neath and Dulais valleys, and some of the Upper Swansea Valley as well. The town of Neath is at its southern end and is a medium-sized town which started life as a Roman Nidum.

The constituency boasts historical places of both industrial and natural forms. Neath and the surrounding areas were industrialised very early in Britain's history. Copper smelting was already happening here in the late sixteenth century.

When Neath Abbey (now a magnificent ruin) was founded in 1129, it was the richest of all Welsh monasteries, and in writings of the sixteenth century was described as the 'fairest Abbey of all Wales'. At its height it owned extensive lands and property, from Glamorgan to Somerset; had almost 5,000 sheep, as well as horses and cattle; it owned a ship and a landing-place, and worked mills, fisheries and coal-mines. But it suffered greatly during the many skirmishes between the Welsh and English (or Normans), and by the 1530s had only eight monks left. The ruins date mostly from the late thirteenth century. It has been in turn, a prosperous Abbey, a Jacobean Mansion (painted by Turner), an iron foundry (which explains the Abbey's position in the middle of an industrial area) and now an historical monument.

The constituency was heavily mined and the small communities that grew up around these mines were devastated by the collapse of the mining industry in the 1980s. On the edges of many of these communities there are now "Industrial Villages" springing up, helping to replace the jobs lost by the demise of the mining industry, and so helping to keep young people in these communities.[2]

A legacy to Neath's political history is the memorial stone in Victoria Gardens to the 5 Neath citizens killed during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–38.

The constituency remains a Welsh-speaking area, with approximately 26% of the population reported as Welsh speakers.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[3]	Party
	1918	John Hugh Edwards	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Sir William Jenkins	Labour
	1945 by-election	D. J. Williams	Labour
	1964	Donald Coleman	Labour
	1991 by-election	Peter Hain	Labour
	2015	Christina Rees	Labour Co-operative

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918 Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
C	Liberal	Hugh Edwards	17,818	64.8	N/A
	Labour	Herbert Morgan	9,670	35.2	N/A
Majority			8,148	29.6	N/A
Turnout			27,488	70.6	N/A
Registered electors			38,929
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922 : Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Jenkins	19,566	59.5	+24.3
	National Liberal	Hugh Edwards	13,331	40.5	-24.3
Majority			6,235	19.0	N/A
Turnout			32,897	75.4	+4.8
Registered electors			32,897
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+24.3

General election 1923: Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Jenkins	20,764	62.3	+2.8
	Liberal	Thomas Elias	12,562	37.7	-2.8
Majority			8,202	24.6	+5.6
Turnout			33,326	73.9	-1.5
Registered electors			33,326
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

General election 1924: Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Jenkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			46,996
	Labour hold

General election 1929: Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Jenkins	29,455	60.2	N/A
	Liberal	Jack Jones	14,554	29.8	N/A
	Unionist	David J. Evans	4,892	10.0	N/A
Majority			14,901	30.4	N/A
Turnout			48,901	82.1	N/A
Registered electors			48,901
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Jenkins	30,873	64.0	+3.8
	Liberal	David G Davies	17,389	36.0	+6.2
Majority			13,484	27.9	-2.5
Turnout			48,262	78.4	-3.7
Registered electors			61,550
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.2

General election 1935:Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Jenkins	Unopposed
Registered electors			64,975
	Labour hold

Elections in the 1940s

1945 Neath by-election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David James Williams	30,847	79.3	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Wynne Samuel	6,290	16.2	N/A
	Revolutionary Communist	Jock Haston	1,781	4.6	N/A
Majority			24,557	63.1	N/A
Turnout			38,918	58.0	N/A
Registered electors			67,083
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1945: Neath[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David James Williams	37,957	75.8	N/A
	Liberal National	David Bowen	8,466	16.9	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Wynne Samuel	3,659	7.3	N/A
Majority			29,491	58.9	N/A
Turnout			50,082	75.7	N/A
Registered electors			67,083
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David James Williams	33,034	73.0	-2.8
	Conservative	Jack C. Hope	6,225	13.7	N/A
	Liberal	O Vaughan Jones	4,425	9.8	N/A
	Communist	A Thomas	1,584	3.5	N/A
Majority			26,809	59.2	+0.3
Turnout			45,268	87.5	+11.8
Registered electors			51,720
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David James Williams	34,496	76.9	+3.9
	Conservative	Geoffrey Jennings	10,367	23.1	+9.4
Majority			24,129	53.8	-5.4
Turnout			44,863	85.9	-1.6
Registered electors			52,203
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David James Williams	30,581	76.4	-0.5
	Conservative	Jack C. Hope	9,467	23.6	+0.5
Majority			21,114	52.7	-1.1
Turnout			40,048	77.9	-8.0
Registered electors			51,422
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David James Williams	30,469	71.4	-5.0
	Conservative	Daniel Norton Idris Pearce	10,263	24.0	+0.4
	Communist	James J. David	1,962	4.6	N/A
Majority			20,206	47.3	-5.4
Turnout			42,694	82.6	+4.7
Registered electors			51,711
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	29,692	73.4	+2.0
	Conservative	Mervyn Nelson Scorgie	8,342	20.6	-3.4
	Communist	James J. David	2,432	6.0	+1.4
Majority			21,350	52.8	+5.5
Turnout			41,466	80.4	-2.2
Registered electors			50,318
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	31,183	79.9	+6.5
	Conservative	Paul H. Valerio	6,312	16.1	-4.5
	Communist	James J. David	1,632	4.2	-1.8
Majority			24,871	63.6	+10.8
Turnout			39,127	78.7	-1.7
Registered electors			49,694
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Neath[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	28,378	71.4	-8.5
	Conservative	David Henry J. Martin-Jones	6,765	17.0	+0.9
	Plaid Cymru	Glyn John	4,012	10.1	N/A
	Communist	Bert Pearce	579	1.5	+2.7
Majority			21,613	54.4	-9.2
Turnout			38,734	75.3	+3.4
Registered electors			52,744
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Neath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	25,351	62.2	-9.2
	Plaid Cymru	H G Evans	8,758	21.5	+11.4
	Conservative	L J Walters	6,616	16.2	-0.8
Majority			16,593	40.7	-13.7
Turnout			40,725	78.5	+3.2
Registered electors			51,887
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Neath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	25,028	61.4	-0.8
	Plaid Cymru	H G Evans	7,305	17.9	-3.6
	Conservative	M Harris	4,641	11.4	-4.8
	Liberal	D Owen	3,759	9.2	N/A
Majority			17,723	43.5	+2.8
Turnout			40,733	77.9	-0.6
Registered electors			52,257
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Neath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	27,071	64.5	+3.1
	Conservative	C Sandy	8,455	20.1	+8.7
	Plaid Cymru	Aled Gwyn	6,430	15.3	-2.6
Majority			18,616	44.4	+0.9
Turnout			41,956	81.2	+3.3
Registered electors			51,659
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Neath[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	22,670	53.6	-10.9
	SDP	K Davies	9,066	21.4	N/A
	Conservative	R Buckley	7,350	17.4	-2.7
	Plaid Cymru	Ieuan Owen	3,046	7.2	-8.1
	Computer Democrat	J Donavon	150	0.3	N/A
Majority			13,604	32.2	-12.2
Turnout			42,282	76.5	-4.7
Registered electors			55,272
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1987: Neath[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Donald Coleman	27,612	63.4	+9.8
	Conservative	Martin Howe	7,034	16.1	-1.3
	SDP	John Warman	6,132	14.1	-7.3
	Plaid Cymru	Huw John	2,792	6.4	-0.8
Majority			20,578	47.2	+15.0
Turnout			43,570	78.8	+2.3
Registered electors			55,261
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

1991 Neath by-election[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Hain	17,962	51.7	−11.7
	Plaid Cymru	Dewi Evans	8,132	23.3	+16.9
	Conservative	Richard Evans	2,995	8.6	−7.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Lloyd	2,000	5.8	N/A
	SDP	John Warman	1,826	5.3	−8.8
	Local Independent Labour	Rhys Jeffreys	1,253	3.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	263	0.8	N/A
	Captain Beany of the Bean Party	Barry Kirk	262	0.7	N/A
Majority			9,830	28.7	−18.5
Turnout			34,753	64.0	−14.8
Registered electors			54,482
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

General election 1992: Neath[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Hain	30,903	68.0	+4.6
	Conservative	David R. Adams	6,928	15.2	−0.9
	Plaid Cymru	Dewi R. Evans	5,145	11.3	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Phillips	2,467	5.4	N/A
Majority			23,975	52.8	+5.6
Turnout			45,443	80.6	+1.8
Registered electors			56,392
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

General election 1997: Neath[11][12][13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Hain	30,324	73.5	+5.5
	Conservative	David M. Evans	3,583	8.7	−6.5
	Plaid Cymru	Trefor Jones	3,344	8.1	−3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Frank H. Little	2,597	6.3	+0.9
	Referendum	Peter A. Morris	975	2.4	N/A
	Legalise Cannabis Party	Howard Marks	420	1.0	N/A
Majority			26,741	64.8	+12.0
Turnout			41,243	74.3	-6.3
Registered electors			55,541
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Neath[15][16][17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Hain	21,253	60.7	−12.8
	Plaid Cymru	Alun Llewelyn	6,437	18.4	+10.3
	Liberal Democrats	Dai Davies	3,335	9.5	+3.2
	Conservative	David Devine	3,310	9.5	+0.8
	Socialist Alliance	Huw Pudner	483	1.4	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Gerry Brienza	202	0.6	N/A
Majority			14,816	42.3	-22.5
Turnout			35,020	62.5	−11.8
Registered electors			56,001
	Labour hold		Swing	-11.5

General election 2005: Neath[18][19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Hain	18,835	52.6	−8.1
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Owen	6,125	17.1	−1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Waye	5,112	14.3	+4.8
	Conservative	Harri Davies	4,136	11.5	+2.0
	Green	Susan Jay	658	1.8	N/A
	Independent	Gerry Brienza	360	1.0	N/A
	Legalise Cannabis	Pat Tabram	334	0.9	N/A
	Respect	Heather Falconer	257	0.7	N/A
Majority			12,710	35.5	-6.8
Turnout			35,817	62.2	−0.3
Registered electors			57,278
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.4

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Neath[21][22][23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Hain	17,172	46.3	−6.3
	Plaid Cymru	Alun Llywelyn	7,397	19.9	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Little	5,535	14.9	+0.6
	Conservative	Emmeline Owens	4,847	13.1	+1.5
	BNP	Michael Green	1,342	3.6	N/A
	UKIP	James Bevan	829	2.2	N/A
Majority			9,775	26.3	-9.2
Turnout			37,122	64.9	+2.7
Rejected ballots			67
Registered electors			57,295
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.6

Of the 67 rejected ballots:

• 44 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[24]
• 22 voted for more than one candidate.[24]
• 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[24]

General election 2015: Neath[25][26][27][28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Christina Rees	16,270	43.8	−2.5
	Plaid Cymru	Daniel Thomas	6,722	18.1	−1.8
	UKIP	Richard Pritchard	6,094	16.4	+14.2
	Conservative	Ed Hastie	5,691	15.3	+2.2
	Green	Catrin Brock	1,185	3.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Clare Bentley	1,173	3.2	−11.7
Majority			9,548	25.7	−0.6
Turnout			37,135	66.2	+1.3
Rejected ballots			114
Registered electors			56,097
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−0.3

Of the 114 rejected ballots:

• 81 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[28]
• 33 voted for more than one candidate.[28]

General election 2017: Neath[29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Christina Rees	21,713	56.7	+12.9
	Conservative	Orla Lowe	9,082	23.7	+8.4
	Plaid Cymru	Daniel Williams	5,339	13.9	−4.2
	UKIP	Richard Pritchard	1,419	3.7	−12.7
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Little	732	1.9	−1.2
Rejected ballots			83
Majority			12,631	33.0	+7.3
Turnout			38,285	68.5	+1.3
Registered electors			55,862
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+2.2

Of the 83 rejected ballots:

• 57 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[30]
• 22 voted for more than one candidate.[30]
• 3 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[30]
• 1 had want of official mark.[30]

General election 2019: Neath[31][32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Christina Rees	15,920	43.3	–13.4
	Conservative	Jon Burns	10,283	28.0	+4.3
	Plaid Cymru	Daniel Williams	4,495	12.2	–1.7
	Brexit Party	Simon Briscoe	3,184	8.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Kingston-Jones	1,485	4.0	+2.1
	Green	Megan Lloyd	728	2.0	N/A
	Independent	Philip Rogers	594	1.6	N/A
	SDP	Carl Williams	67	0.2	N/A
Rejected ballots			107
Majority			5,637	15.3	–17.7
Turnout			36,756	65.2	–3.3
Registered electors			56,416
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	–8.8

Of the 107 rejected ballots:

• 84 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[32]
• 23 voted for more than one candidate.[32]

See also

• Neath (Assembly constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Glamorgan
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Wales

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. "Neath Port Talbot Council". www.npt.gov.uk.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 1)
4. Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 560
5. Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Page 580
6. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
7. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
8. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987-92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
9. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
11. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
12. "Welsh Counties". Election 1997. David Boothroyd. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
13. "'Neath', May 1997 -". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Project. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
14. "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Neath". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
15. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "BBC NEWS > Neath". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
17. "2001 Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
18. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Neath parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
20. "2005 Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
21. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
22. Neath Archived 2011-08-28 at Wikiwix, Neath Port Talbot CBC – candidates Neath
23. Neath BBC Election – Neath
24. "Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
25. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
26. "Aberavon and Neath Results" (PDF). UK Parliamentary Elections May 2015 results. Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
27. "Neath Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
28. "Neath Results". UK Parliamentary Elections May 2015 results. Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
29. "Neath Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
30. "2017 Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
31. "Neath parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
32. "Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.

External links

• Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
• 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)

Further reading

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)