| Aberavon County constituency |
|
|---|---|
| Aberavon shown within Wales | |
| Created: | 1918 |
| MP: | Hywel Francis |
| Party: | Labour |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| Preserved county: | West Glamorgan |
| EP constituency: | Wales |
Aberavon is a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1918 general election and returns one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system. The seat has been held by the Labour Party since its creation, and for seven years was held by Ramsay MacDonald, the Prime Minister in 1924 and from 1929 to 1935.
Contents |
The constituency is in south Wales, situated on the right bank of the River Afan, near its mouth in Swansea Bay. The constituency includes the wards of Aberavon, Baglan, Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Bryn and Cwmavon, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North, Coedffranc West, Cymmer, Glyncorrwg, Gwynfi, Margam, Port Talbot, Sandfields East, Sandfields West and Tai-bach.
The owners of Aberavon's castle established a chartered town, which in 1372 received a further charter from Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer. In modern times these charters were not acted upon, the town being deemed a borough by prescription, but in 1861 it was incorporated under the Municipal Corporations Act. From 1832 it belonged to the Swansea District constituency, uniting with Kenfig, Loughor, Neath and Swansea to return one member; later it acquired its own MP.
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | John Edwards | Liberal | |
| 1922 | Ramsay MacDonald | Labour | |
| 1929 | William Cove | Labour | |
| 1959 | John Morris | Labour | |
| 2001 | Hywel Francis | Labour | |
| General Election, 5 July 1945 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | William Cove | 31,286 | 72.51 | ||
| Conservative | DT Llewellyn | 11,860 | 27.49 | ||
| Majority | 19,426 | 45.02 | |||
| Turnout | 43,146 | 79.42 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 23 February 1950 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | William Cove | 29,278 | 68.68 | −3.83 | |
| Conservative | A Herbert | 8,091 | 18.98 | −8.51 | |
| Liberal | JM Thomas | 5,263 | 12.35 | N/A | |
| Majority | 21,187 | 49.70 | +4.68 | ||
| Turnout | 42,634 | 85.84 | +6.42 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 25 October 1951 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | William Cove | 30,498 | 71.97 | +3.29 | |
| Conservative | JW Loveridge | 11,878 | 28.03 | +9.05 | |
| Majority | 18,620 | 43.94 | −5.76 | ||
| Turnout | 42,376 | 84.63 | −1.21 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 26 May 1955 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | William Cove | 29,003 | 69.54 | −2.43 | |
| Conservative | REG Howe | 12,706 | 30.46 | +2.43 | |
| Majority | 16,297 | 39.07 | −4.87 | ||
| Turnout | 41,709 | 79.27 | −5.36 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | −2.43 | |||
| General Election, 8 October 1959 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 30,397 | 65.76 | −3.78 | |
| Conservative | REG Howe | 12,759 | 27.60 | −2.86 | |
| Plaid Cymru | IM Lewis | 3,066 | 6.63 | N/A | |
| Majority | 17,638 | 38.16 | −0.91 | ||
| Turnout | 46,222 | 82.08 | +2.81 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 15 October 1964 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 33,103 | 72.11 | +6.35 | |
| Conservative | JS Thomas | 9,424 | 20.53 | −7.07 | |
| Plaid Cymru | G John | 2,118 | 4.61 | −2.02 | |
| Communist | JT Hart | 1,260 | 2.74 | N/A | |
| Majority | 23,679 | 51.58 | +13.42 | ||
| Turnout | 45,905 | 80.85 | −1.23 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 31 March 1966 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 33,763 | 75.44 | +3.33 | |
| Conservative | R Hicks | 9,369 | 20.94 | +0.41 | |
| Communist | JT Hart | 1,620 | 3.62 | +0.88 | |
| Majority | 24,394 | 54.51 | +2.93 | ||
| Turnout | 45,146 | 78.27 | −2.58 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 18 June 1970 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 31,314 | 66.99 | −8.45 | |
| Conservative | I Grist | 10,419 | 22.29 | +1.35 | |
| Plaid Cymru | G Farmer | 3,912 | 8.37 | N/A | |
| Communist | JT Hart | 1,102 | 2.36 | −1.26 | |
| Majority | 20,895 | 44.70 | −9.81 | ||
| Turnout | 46,747 | 74.78 | −3.49 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 28 February 1974 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 31,656 | 65.24 | −1.75 | |
| Conservative | Peter Hubbard-Miles | 10,968 | 22.60 | +0.31 | |
| Plaid Cymru | DG Foster | 5,898 | 12.16 | +3.79 | |
| Majority | 20,688 | 42.64 | −2.06 | ||
| Turnout | 48,522 | 75.62 | +0.84 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 10 October 1974 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 29,683 | 62.82 | −2.42 | |
| Conservative | NK Hammond | 7,931 | 16.78 | −5.82 | |
| Liberal | S Cutts | 5,178 | 10.96 | N/A | |
| Plaid Cymru | G Thomas | 4,032 | 8.53 | −3.63 | |
| Workers' Revolutionary | J Bevan | 427 | 0.90 | N/A | |
| Majority | 21,752 | 46.04 | +3.40 | ||
| Turnout | 47,251 | 73.07 | −2.55 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 3 May 1979 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 31,665 | 61.68 | −1.14 | |
| Conservative | F McCarthy | 12,692 | 24.72 | +7.94 | |
| Liberal | SM Cutts | 4,624 | 9.01 | −1.95 | |
| Plaid Cymru | G Thomas | 1,954 | 3.81 | −4.72 | |
| Communist | G Rowden | 406 | 0.79 | N/A | |
| Majority | 18,973 | 36.95 | −9.09 | ||
| Turnout | 47,179 | 79.15 | +6.08 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 9 June 1983 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 23,745 | 58.75 | −2.93 | |
| SDP-Liberal Alliance | S Cutts | 8,206 | 20.30 | +11.29 | |
| Conservative | G Bailey | 6,605 | 16.34 | −8.38 | |
| Plaid Cymru | G Phillips | 1,859 | 4.6 | +0.79 | |
| Majority | 15,539 | 38.45 | +1.5 | ||
| Turnout | 40,415 | 75.62 | −3.53 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 11 June 1987 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 27,126 | 66.77 | +8.02 | |
| SDP-Liberal Alliance | M Harris | 6,517 | 16.04 | −4.26 | |
| Conservative | P Warwick | 5,861 | 14.43 | −1.91 | |
| Plaid Cymru | A Howells | 1,124 | 2.77 | −1.83 | |
| Majority | 20,609 | 50.73 | +12.28 | ||
| Turnout | 40,628 | 77.71 | +2.09 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 9 April 1992 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 26,877 | 67.08 | +0.31 | |
| Conservative | H Williams | 5,567 | 13.89 | −0.54 | |
| Liberal Democrat | M Harris | 4,999 | 12.48 | −3.56 | |
| Plaid Cymru | D Saunders | 1,919 | 4.79 | +2.02 | |
| Real Bean | Captain Beany | 707 | 1.76 | N/A | |
| Majority | 21,310 | 53.18 | +2.45 | ||
| Turnout | 40,069 | 77.58 | −0.13 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 1 May 1997 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | John Morris | 25,650 | 71.3 | +4.22 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Ronald McConville | 4,079 | 11.3 | −1.18 | |
| Conservative | Peter Harper | 2,835 | 7.9 | −5.99 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Philip Cockwell | 2,088 | 5.8 | +1.01 | |
| Referendum Party | Peter David | 970 | 2.7 | N/A | |
| Independent | Captain Beany | 341 | 1.0 | −0.76 | |
| Majority | 21,571 | 62.8 | +9.62 | ||
| Turnout | 35,963 | 71.9 | −5.68 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 7 June 2001 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Hywel Francis | 19,063 | 63.1 | -8.2 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Lisa Turnbull | 2,955 | 9.8 | +4.0 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Chris Davies | 2,933 | 9.7 | -1.6 | |
| Conservative | Ali Miraj | 2,296 | 7.6 | -0.3 | |
| Independent | Andrew Tutton | 1,960 | 6.5 | N/A | |
| New Millennium Bean | Captain Beany | 727 | 2.4 | +1.4 | |
| Socialist Alliance | Martin Chapman | 256 | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Majority | 16,108 | 53.3 | −9.5 | ||
| Turnout | 30,190 | 61.0 | -10.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| General Election, 5 May 2005 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Hywel Francis | 18,077 | 60.0 | -3.1 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Claire Waller | 4,140 | 13.8 | +4.0 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Philip Evans | 3,545 | 11.8 | +2.1 | |
| Conservative | Annunziata Rees-Mogg | 3,064 | 10.2 | +2.6 | |
| Veritas | Jim Wright | 768 | 2.6 | N/A | |
| Green | Miranda La Vey | 510 | 1.7 | N/A | |
| Majority | 13,937 | 46.3 | -7.1 | ||
| Turnout | 30,104 | 58.9 | -1.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -3.6 | |||
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bewdley |
Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 22 January 1924 – 4 November 1924 |
Succeeded by Bewdley |
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