Conwy_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

Conwy (UK Parliament constituency)

Conwy (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–2010


Conwy (Conway prior to 1983) was an electoral constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the single-member district plurality (also known as first-past-the-post) system of voting.

Quick Facts Preserved county, Major settlements ...

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 2010 general election.

History

It was a marginal between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party throughout its existence.

The Conwy Welsh Assembly constituency was created with the same boundaries as the Conwy House of Commons constituency in 1999.

Boundaries

The constituency was, geographically, relatively small for its region, as it followed and tended to keep to the coast, taking in parts of two separate densely populated coastal conurbations.

As well as the walled castle town of Conwy from which it bore its name, the constituency mainly comprised the popular holiday resort and retail centre of Llandudno to the east, and the city of Bangor, which is home to the University of Wales, Bangor, to the west. It also included the smaller coastal towns of Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan, as well as some sparser inland areas including former slate-quarrying communities in the Ogwen Valley.

The constituency, notably, did not include Colwyn Bay (or outlying Rhos-on-Sea), which forms part of a coastal conurbation (and the Conwy county borough) with Llandudno and its outlying town of Penrhyn Bay—both in the constituency; this area comes under the constituency of Clwyd West to the east. Nor did it include the town of Caernarfon—just southwest of Bangor—which was in a constituency of the same name.

The constituency was also bordered by Meirionnydd Nant Conwy to the south, and the insular constituency of Ynys Mon to the west.

Following the decisions of the Welsh Boundary Commission, the Conwy seat was significantly altered, forming the base of a new Aberconwy constituency established for the 2010 general election. Part of the constituency (notably Bangor) became part of the new Arfon constituency.

Profile

Although the constituency included a student population from the university, most of the voters were towards the older end of the age spectrum as it was a popular retirement area. The constituency was also linguistically diverse, with mainly English speakers in the east and mainly Welsh speakers in the west and inland areas.[citation needed]

Members of Parliament

The last MP was Betty Williams of the Labour Party, who held the seat from 1997 (when she gained 35.04% of the vote—a 9.4% swing from the Conservatives) until its abolition in 2010. Williams increased her share of the vote in 2001 (by 6.8%), but it was reduced in 2005 (by 4.7%). She is also the first female MP to hold the seat. The seat was previously held (since its renaming in 1983) by Sir Wyn Roberts for the Conservative Party, who was first elected for Conway, the old anglicised name of the constituency, in 1970.

More information Election, Member ...

Elections

Election results since 1950

Elections in the 1950s

More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...

Elections in the 1960s

More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...

Elections in the 1970s

More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...

Elections in the 1980s

More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...

Elections in the 1990s

More information Party, Candidate ...
More information Party, Candidate ...

Elections in the 2000s

More information Party, Candidate ...

In the 2005 general election, the seat was the 81st easiest seat for the Liberal Democrats to gain, and the 153rd easiest seat for the Conservative Party to gain. The Labour Party did not include the seat on its list of vulnerable seats and eventually held the seat (with a reduced proportion of the vote).

More information Party, Candidate ...

See also


References

  1. Wales at Westminster a History of Parliamentary representation in Wales 1800–1979 Arnold J James and John E Thomas Gwasg Gomer 1981 ISBN 0-85088-684-8
  2. Wales at Westminster a History of Parliamentary representation in Wales 1800–1979 Arnold J James and John E Thomas Gwasg Gomer 1981 ISBN 0-85088-684-8
  3. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. "1983: Wales Counties". Election Demon. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  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 6 December 2010.
  8. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

53.191°N 3.688°W / 53.191; -3.688


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Conwy_(UK_Parliament_constituency), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.