Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Assembly constituency).

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
County constituency for the House of Commons
120px Boundary of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney in Wales.
Electorate	55,409 (December 2010)
Major settlements	Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of parliament	Gerald Jones (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Merthyr Tydfil
Overlaps
Welsh Assembly	South Wales East
European Parliament constituency	Wales

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Welsh: Merthyr Tudful a Rhymni) is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

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

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Ted Rowlands	Labour
	2001	Dai Havard	Labour
	2015	Gerald Jones	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gerald Jones	17,619	53.9	+10.2
	UKIP	Dave Rowlands	6,106	18.7	+15.9
	Conservative	Bill Rees	3,292	10.1	+2.5
	Plaid Cymru	Rhayna Pritchard	3,099	9.5	+4.4
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Griffin	1,351	4.1	−26.9
	Green	Elspeth Parris	603	1.8	n/a
	Independent	Eddy Blanche	459	1.4	n/a
	Communist	Robert David Griffiths	186	0.6	n/a
Majority			11,513	35.2	+22.6
Turnout			32,715	53.0	−5.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.8

General Election 2010: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dai Havard	14,007	43.7	−16.8
	Liberal Democrat	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	−4.9
	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
Majority			4,056	12.6
Turnout			32,076	58.6	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	−16.9

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dai Havard	18,129	60.5	−1.3
	Liberal Democrat	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	+3.4
	UKIP	Gwyn Parry	699	2.3	+2.3
	Socialist Labour	Ina Marsden	271	0.9	−1.3
Majority			13,934	46.5
Turnout			29,976	54.9	−2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.9

General Election 2001: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dai Havard	19,574	61.8	−14.9
	Plaid Cymru	Robert Hughes	4,651	14.7	+8.7
	Liberal Democrat	Keith Rogers	2,385	7.5	+0.1
	Conservative	Richard Cuming	2,272	7.2	+0.8
	Independent	Jeffrey Edwards	1,936	6.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Ken Evans	692	2.2	N/A
	ProLife Alliance	Anthony Lewis	174	0.5	N/A
Majority			14,923	47.1
Turnout			31,684	57.7	−11.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Rowlands	30,012	76.7
	Liberal Democrat	Duncan Anstey	2,926	7.5	+0.1
	Conservative	Jonathan Morgan	2,508	6.4	+0.8
	Plaid Cymru	Alun G. Cox	2,344	6.0
	Independent Labour	Alan B. Cowdell	691	1.8
	Referendum	Ron W. Hutchings	660	1.7
Majority			27,086	69.2
Turnout			39,141	69.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Rowlands	31,710	71.6	−3.8
	Liberal Democrat	Robyn P.J. Rowland	4,997	11.3	+3.2
	Conservative	Mark J. Hughes	4,904	11.1	−0.8
	Plaid Cymru	Alun G. Cox	2,704	6.1	+1.4
Majority			26,713	60.3	−3.2
Turnout			44,315	75.8	−0.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Rowlands	33,477	75.3
	Conservative	Nicholas McIndoe Walters	5,270	11.9
	Liberal	Pravat Kumar Verma	3,573	8.0
	Plaid Cymru	Janet Marion Davies	2,085	4.7
Majority			28,130	63.4
Turnout				76.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Rowlands	29,053	67.3	N/A
	Liberal	P.C. Owen	6,323	14.7	N/A
	Conservative	R. Blausten	5,449	12.6	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Gerald Howells	2,058	4.8	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	R.T. Gould	256	0.6	N/A
Majority			22,730	52.7	N/A
Turnout			43,139	72.5	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

See also

• Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (National Assembly for Wales constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Mid Glamorgan