Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency)

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Monmouth
County constituency
Monmouth
Monmouth shown within Wales
Created: 1918
MP: David Davies
Party: Conservative
Type: House of Commons
Preserved county: Gwent
EP constituency: Wales
For constituencies which may be confused with this constituency, see Monmouth constituency

Monmouth is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster), first used in the 1918 general election. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post of election.

The Monmouth Welsh Assembly constituency, created in 1999, has normally the same boundaries as the Westminster constituency.

Contents

[edit] Boundaries

Preserved county of Gwent boundaries as defined in 2003.
Preserved county of Gwent
boundaries as defined in 2003.

[edit] Current

The constituency is one of eight covering the preserved county of Gwent. The other seven are Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Islwyn, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, Newport East, Newport West and Torfaen. Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, however, straddles the boundary with the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan. It covers most of current local authority of Monmouthshire.

For the next United Kingdom general election, there will be no changes to the boundaries of the Monmouth constituency stemming from the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Wales.[1]

[edit] Historic

[edit] 1918 to 1983

As first used in the 1918 general election, the constituency was a creation of the Representation of the People Act 1918 as one of six constituencies covering the county of Monmouth. Prior to the 1918 election the county had been covered, nominally, by the county constituencies of Northern Monmouthshire, Southern Monmouthshire, and Western Monmouthshire, and the Monmouth Boroughs borough constituency. By 1918, however, administrative county boundaries were out of alignment with constituency boundaries. The new constituency boundaries took account of the new local government boundaries.

The other Monmouthshire constituencies defined by 1918 legislation were the county constituencies of Abertillery, Bedwellty, Ebbw Vale and Pontypool, and the borough constituency of Newport. This general pattern was maintained until 1983, nine years after the administrative county they were based on had been abolished, but there were some boundary changes during the 1918 to 1983 period.

In 1918 the Monmouth constituency was defined as consisting of the municipal boroughs of Abergavenny, and Monmouth, the urban districts of Caeleon, Chepstow, and Usk, the rural districts of Abergavenny, Chepstow, Magor, Monmouth, and Pontypool, and part of the rural district of St Mellons,[2] and the same boundaries were used for the general elections of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1945.

New boundaries, created by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, were used for the 1950 general election, and the Monmouth constituency was defined as consisting of the municipal boroughs of Abergavenny, and Monmouth, the urban districts of Caeleon, Chepstow, and Usk, and rural districts of Abergavenny, Chepstow, Magor and St Mellons, Monmouth, and Pontypool.[2]

For the 1951 general election, there was some alteration to the boundaries of rural district of Magor and St Mellons.[2]

The constituency was redefined again for the 1955 general election, taking account of new local government boundaries. The result was the same list of boroughs and districts as for the 1951 election.[2] 1951 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1959, 1964, 1966, 1970, February 1974, October 1974 and 1979.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the local government county of Monmouth was abolished. For the 1983 general election, new constituency boundaries were drawn, taking account of new local government boundaries.

[edit] From 1983


[edit] Member of Parliament

List as per Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, minus MPs who actually represented Monmouth Boroughs:

[edit] Elections

[edit] Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Leolin Forestier-Walker 24,829 70.8 +21.5
Labour Rev D. Hughes 10,217 29.2 +4.3
Majority 14,612 41.6 +18.1
Turnout 45,046 78.0 −0.9
Conservative hold Swing
Monmouth by-election, 1934
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Arthur Herbert 20,640 65.0 −5.8
Labour Rev D. Hughes 11,094 35.0 +5.8
Majority 9,546 30.0 −11.6
Turnout 31,734 69.2 −8.8
Conservative hold Swing −5.8
General Election 1935: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Arthur Herbert 23,262 63.4 −1.6
Labour Michael Foot 13,454 36.6 +1.6
Majority 9,808 26.8 −3.2
Turnout 76.8 +7.4
Conservative hold Swing −1.6
Monmouth by-election, 1939
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Leslie Pym 17,358 60.1 −3.3
Labour F. R. Hancock 11,543 39.9 +3.3
Majority 5,815 20.2 −6.6
Turnout 28,901 58.2 −18.6
Conservative hold Swing −3.3

[edit] Elections in the 1940s

General Election July 1945: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Leslie Pym 22,195 51.9 −8.2
Labour A. B. L. Oakley 20,543 48.1 +8.2
Majority 1,652 3.8 −16.4
Turnout 42,738 72.0 +13.8
Conservative hold Swing −8.2
Monmouth by-election, October 1945
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Peter Thorneycroft 21,092 52.7 +0.8
Labour A. B. L. Oakley 18,953 47.3 −0.8
Majority 2,139 5.4 +1.6
Turnout 40,045 39.8
Conservative hold Swing +0.8

[edit] Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Stradling Thomas 22,387 47.5 +1.6
Labour K. Gass 13,037 27.7 +6.0
Social Democrat C. D. Lindley 11,313 24.0 −4.0
Plaid Cymru S. Meredudd 363 0.77 −0.3
Majority 9,530 19.9 −1.2
Turnout 47,100 80.6 +1.73
Conservative hold Swing −2.2

[edit] Elections in the 1990s

Monmouth by-election, 1991
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Huw Edwards 17,733 39.3 +11.6
Conservative Roger Evans 15,327 34.0 −13.5
Liberal Democrat Frances David 11,164 24.8 +0.8
Monster Raving Loony David Sutch 314 0.7 N/A
Green Party & Plaid Cymru Melvin Witherden 277 0.6 N/A
Unitax independent Peter Carpenter 164 0.4 N/A
Corrective Party Lindi St Clair 121 0.3 N/A
Majority 2,406 5.3
Turnout 45,100
Labour gain from Conservative Swing 12.6
General Election 1997: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Huw Edwards 23,404 47.7 +6.8
Conservative Roger Evans 19,226 39.2 -8.0
Liberal Democrat Mark F. Williams 4,689 9.6 -1.4
Referendum Party T.N. Warry 1,190 2.4 N/A
Plaid Cymru A.F.C. Cotton 516 1.1 -+0.2
Majority 4,178 8.5
Turnout - 80.5 -
Labour hold Swing -

[edit] Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Huw Edwards 19,021 42.8 -5.0
Conservative Roger Evans 18,637 41.9 +2.7
Liberal Democrat Neil Parker 5,080 11.4 +1.9
Plaid Cymru Marc Hubbard 1,068 2.4 +1.3
UK Independence David Rowlands 656 1.5 N/A
Majority 384 0.9
Turnout 44,462 71.5 -9.1
Labour hold Swing
General Election 2005: Monmouth
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David Davies 21,396 46.9 +5.0
Labour Huw Edwards 16,869 37.0 -5.8
Liberal Democrat Phylip A. D. Hobson 5,852 12.8 +1.4
Plaid Cymru Jonathan Clark 993 2.2 -0.2
UK Independence John Bufton 543 1.2 -0.3
Majority 4,527 9.9
Turnout 45,653 72.4 +0.9
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +5.4

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Boundary Commission for Wales website
    The Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006, OPSI website
  2. ^ a b c d Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig 1972
    Craig attributes the 1951 alteration to SI 1851/1390 under section 2(3) of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949
  • (2003) in Iain Dale: The Times House of Commons 1929, 1931, 1935. Politico's (reprint). ISBN 1-84275-033-X. 
  • (1945) The Times House of Commons 1945. The Times. 
  • Craig, F. W. S. [1969] (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, 3rd edition, Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.