Llanelli (UK Parliament constituency)

For other uses, see Llanelli (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Llanelli (Senedd constituency).

Llanelli is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.^{[n 1]} From 1918 to 1970 the official spelling of the constituency name was Llanelly. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Since 2005, it is currently represented by Nia Griffith of the Labour Party.

Llanelli
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Llanelli in Wales
Preserved county	Dyfed
Electorate	59,266 (December 2010)^[1]
Major settlements	Llanelli, Burry Port, Llangennech
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of Parliament	Nia Griffith (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	East Carmarthenshire
Overlaps
Senedd	Llanelli, Mid and West Wales

The Llanelli Senedd constituency was created with the same boundaries in 1999 (as an Assembly constituency).

The constituency is to retain its name and gain wards, as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the next United Kingdom general election.^[2]

Boundaries

1918 The constituency was established in 1918, as a division of Carmarthenshire, located in the south east of the county. This area had, until 1918, been the southern part of the constituency of East Carmarthenshire.

It consisted of the then local authority areas of the Municipal Borough of Llanelly; the Urban Districts of Ammanford, Burry Port and Cwmamman; the Rural Districts of Lanelly and part of Llandilofawr (namely the civil parishes of Betws, Llandybie and Quarter Bach, and Ward I of the civil parish of Llandilo Rural)^[3]

The division bordered Carmarthen to the west and north, Brecon and Radnor to the north east, Neath to the east, Gower to the south east and the sea to the south.

1950 In the next redistribution of constituencies in Wales, which took effect in 1950, the northern boundary of the constituency was slightly altered. Llanelly no longer bordered Brecon and Radnor and Gower was extended north and took over the part of the 1918 Neath constituency that had previously adjoined Carmarthenshire. The constituency area continued to include the same local authorities as in 1918 (apart from a spelling change to Llandilo for the part RDC included):^[4]

• The borough of Llanelly;
• The urban districts of Ammanford, Burry Port and Cwmamman;
• The rural district of Llanelly and the parish of Bettws in the rural district of Llandilo.

At the 1970 general election the official spelling of the constituency name was altered to Llanelli.^[5] This followed the change in name of both the borough and rural district in 1966.^[6][7][8]

1974 The constituency appears to have been unchanged by the redistribution. The local authorities remained the same (apart from spelling changes):

• The borough of Llanelli;
• the urban districts of Ammanford, Burry Port and Cwmamman;
• the rural district of Llanelli and the parish of Bettws in the rural district of Llandeilo.^[9]

The substantial local government changes which took effect in 1974 did not affect this redistribution as it used the boundaries as they existed in November 1970 to construct parliamentary constituencies.^[9]

1983 The redistribution altered the constituency by 8.4%. 96.2% of the new constituency had been in the old one. 3.8% of the electors came from the former Carmarthen constituency.

The area now formed part of the new county of Dyfed. The district level local government units contained in the constituency were the Borough of Llanelli and Wards 2–6 and 9 of the Borough of Dinefwr.

1997 In this redistribution the constituency was reduced so that it covered the same area as the Borough of Llanelli.

 

Map of current boundaries

2010 After the United Kingdom general election in May 2010, the constituency has comprised the Carmarthenshire County electoral divisions of Bigyn, Burry Port, Bynea, Dafen, Elli, Felinfoel, Glanymor, Glyn, Hendy, Hengoed, Kidwelly, Llangennech, Llannon, Lliedi, Llwynhendy, Pembrey, Pontyberem, Swiss Valley, Trimsaran, Tycroes and Tyisha.

The constituency includes the whole of 9 Carmarthenshire communities (Kidwelly; Llanedi; Llanelli; Llanelli Rural; Llangennech; Llannon; Pembrey and Burry Port Town; Pontyberem; and Trimsaran).

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[10]	Party
	1918	Josiah Towyn Jones	Coalition Liberal
	1922	John Henry Williams	Labour
	1936 by-election	Jim Griffiths	Labour
	1970	Denzil Davies	Labour
	2005	Nia Griffith	Labour

History

Llanelli has traditionally been an ultra-safe Labour seat, with a Labour MP representing the constituency since 1922. It was represented by one-time deputy leader of the Labour Party, Jim Griffiths, from 1936 until his retirement in 1970. In recent years however Labour's majority had been somewhat eroded by Plaid Cymru, who as of 2021 have won the equivalent seat in the Senedd in two of the six Senedd elections to date. At the 2015 general election, however, the Labour majority increased once again.

Elections

 

Llanelli election results

Elections in the 1910s

 

Jones

General election 1918: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Josiah Towyn Jones	16,344	53.1	N/A
	Labour	John Williams	14,409	46.9	N/A
Majority			1,935	6.2	N/A
Turnout			30,753	68.9	N/A
Registered electors			30,753
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	23,213	59.3	+12.4
	National Liberal	George Clark Williams	15,947	40.7	-12.4
Majority			7,266	18.6	N/A
Turnout			39,160	80.3	+11.4
Registered electors			49,795
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+12.4

General election 1923: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	21,603	55.1	-4.2
	Liberal	Richard Thomas Evans	11,765	30.7	-10.0
	Unionist	Lionel Beaumont-Thomas	5,442	14.2	N/A
Majority			9,298	24.4	+5.8
Turnout			38,810	76.8	-3.5
Registered electors			49,825
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1924: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	20,516	52.9	-2.8
	Liberal	Richard Thomas Evans	18,259	47.1	+16.4
Majority			2,259	5.8	-18.6
Turnout			38,775	75.7	-1.8
Registered electors			51,213
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1929: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	28,595	55.4	+2.5
	Liberal	Richard Thomas Evans	19,075	36.9	-10.2
	Unionist	James Purdon Lewes Thomas	3,969	7.7	N/A
Majority			9,520	18.5	+12.7
Turnout			51,639	79.1	+3.4
Registered electors			65,255
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.3

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	34,196	65.3	+9.9
	Conservative	Frank J. Rees	18,163	34.7	+27.0
Majority			16,033	30.6	+12.1
Turnout			52,359	78.1	-1.0
Registered electors			67,047
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1935: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	Unopposed
Registered electors			70,380
	Labour hold

1936 Llanelli by-election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	32,188	66.8	N/A
	National Liberal	William Albert Jenkins	15,967	33.3	N/A
Majority			16,221	33.5	N/A
Turnout			48,155	68.4	N/A
Registered electors			70,380
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Llanelly^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	44,514	81.1	N/A
	Conservative	G O George	10,397	18.9	N/A
Majority			34,117	62.2	N/A
Turnout			54,911	74.9	N/A
Registered electors			73,728
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Llanelly^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	39,326	70.8	-10.3
	Liberal	Huw Thomas	7,700	13.9	N/A
	Conservative	D P Owen	6,362	11.5	-7.4
	Plaid Cymru	David Eirwyn Morgan	2,134	3.8	N/A
Majority			31,626	56.9	-5.3
Turnout			55,522	80.9	+6.0
Registered electors			68,655
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Llanelly^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	39,731	72.5	+1.7
	Conservative	Henry Gardner	11,315	20.6	+9.1
	Plaid Cymru	David Eirwyn Morgan	3,765	6.9	+3.1
Majority			28,416	51.9	-5.0
Turnout			54,811	81.6	+0.7
Registered electors			67,157
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Llanelly^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	34,021	66.6	-5.9
	Conservative	Trevor Skeet	10,640	20.8	+0.2
	Plaid Cymru	David Eirwyn Morgan	6,398	12.5	+5.6
Majority			23,381	45.8	-6.1
Turnout			51,059	78.7	-2.9
Registered electors			64,858
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Llanelly^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	34,625	66.7	+0.1
	Conservative	Henry Gardner	10,128	19.5	-0.7
	Plaid Cymru	David Eirwyn Morgan	7,176	13.8	+1.3
Majority			24,497	47.2	-4.6
Turnout			51,929	81.1	+2.4
Registered electors			64,048
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Llanelly^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	32,546	65.9	+0.8
	Conservative	Philip A. Maybury	6,300	12.8	-6.7
	Liberal	Esyr G. Lewis	6,031	12.2	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Pennar Davies	3,469	7.0	-6.8
	Communist	Robert E. Hitchon	1,061	2.2	N/A
Majority			26,246	53.1	+5.9
Turnout			49,407	79.4	-1.7
Registered electors			62,235
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Llanelly^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Griffiths	33,674	71.4	+5.5
	Conservative	Jeremy C. Peel	7,143	15.2	+2.4
	Plaid Cymru	Pennar Davies	5,132	10.9	+3.9
	Communist	Robert E. Hitchon	1,211	2.6	+0.4
Majority			26,531	56.2	+3.1
Turnout			47,160	76.2	-3.2
Registered electors			61,868
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Llanelli^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	31,398	62.8	-8.6
	Plaid Cymru	Carwyn James	8,387	16.8	+5.9
	Conservative	Mary A. Jones	5,777	11.6	-3.6
	Liberal	Donald Lewis	3,834	7.7	N/A
	Communist	Robert E. Hitchon	603	1.2	-1.4
Majority			23,011	46.0	-10.2
Turnout			49,999	77.3	+1.1
Registered electors			64,650
	Labour hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Llanelli^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	28,941	57.8	-5.0
	Conservative	G Richards	7,496	15.0	+3.4
	Liberal	E J Evans	7,140	14.3	+6.6
	Plaid Cymru	R Williams	6,060	12.0	-4.8
	Communist	Robert E. Hitchon	507	1.0	-0.2
Majority			23,011	46.0	±0.0
Turnout			50,144	77.3	±0.0
Registered electors			64,076
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Llanelli^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	29,474	59.4	+2.6
	Liberal	Michael Willis Gimblett	7,173	14.5	+0.2
	Plaid Cymru	R Williams	6,797	13.7	+1.7
	Conservative	G Richards	6,141	12.4	-2.6
Majority			22,301	45.0	-1.0
Turnout			49,585	76.9	-0.4
Registered electors			64,495
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Llanelli^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	30,416	59.5	+0.1
	Conservative	G D J Richards	10,471	20.5	+8.1
	Liberal	K D Rees	5,856	11.5	-3.0
	Plaid Cymru	H Roberts	3,793	7.4	-6.3
	Communist	Robert E. Hitchon	617	1.2	N/A
Majority			19,945	39.0	-6.0
Turnout			51,153	79.4	+2.5
Registered electors			64,429
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Llanelli^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	23,207	48.2	−11.3
	Conservative	N Kennedy	9,601	20.0	−0.5
	Alliance (Liberal)	K D Rees	9,076	18.9	+7.4
	Plaid Cymru	Hywel Teifi Edwards	5,880	12.2	+4.8
	Communist	Robert E. Hitchon	371	0.8	−0.4
Majority			13,606	28.3	−10.7
Turnout			48,135	75.4	−4.0
Registered electors			63,826
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1987: Llanelli^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	29,506	59.2	+11.0
	Conservative	Philip Circus	8,571	17.2	−2.8
	Alliance (Liberal)	Martyn Shrewsbury	6,714	13.5	−5.4
	Plaid Cymru	Adrian Price	5,088	10.2	−2.0
Majority			20,935	42.0	+13.7
Turnout			49,879	78.1	+2.7
Registered electors			63,845
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Llanelli^[18][19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	27,802	55.0	−4.2
	Conservative	Graham L. Down	8,532	16.9	−0.3
	Plaid Cymru	Marc Phillips	7,878	15.6	+5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Keith L. Evans	6,404	12.7	−0.8
Majority			19,270	38.1	-3.9
Turnout			50,616	77.8	−0.3
Registered electors			65,058
	Labour hold		Swing	−2.0

General election 1997: Llanelli^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	28,851	57.9	+2.9
	Plaid Cymru	Marc Phillips	7,812	19.0	+3.4
	Conservative	Andrew Hayes	5,003	12.1	−4.8
	Liberal Democrats	Nick Burree	3,788	9.2	−3.5
	Socialist Labour	John Willock	757	1.8	N/A
Majority			21,039	38.9	+0.9
Turnout			41,211	70.7	−7.1
Registered electors			58,293
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.1

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Llanelli^[22][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Denzil Davies	17,586	48.6	−9.3
	Plaid Cymru	Dyfan Jones	11,183	30.9	+11.9
	Conservative	Simon Hayes	3,442	9.5	−2.6
	Liberal Democrats	Ken Rees	3,065	8.5	−0.7
	Green	Jan Cliff	515	1.4	N/A
	Socialist Labour	John Willock	407	1.1	−0.7
Majority			6,403	17.7	-21.2
Turnout			36,198	62.3	−8.4
Registered electors			58,148
	Labour hold		Swing	-10.6

General election 2005: Llanelli^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nia Griffith	16,592	46.9	−1.7
	Plaid Cymru	Neil Baker	9,358	26.5	−4.4
	Conservative	Adrian Phillips	4,844	13.7	+4.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ken Rees	4,550	12.9	+4.4
Majority			7,234	20.4	+2.7
Turnout			35,344	63.5	+1.2
Registered electors			55,280
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.4

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Llanelli^[26][27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nia Griffith	15,916	42.5	−4.4
	Plaid Cymru	Myfanwy Davies	11,215	29.9	+3.4
	Conservative	Christopher Salmon	5,381	14.4	+0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Myrddin Edwards	3,902	10.4	−2.5
	UKIP	Andrew Marshall	1,047	2.8	N/A
Majority			4,701	12.6	-7.8
Turnout			37,461	67.3	+3.8
Registered electors			55,637
	Labour hold		Swing	−4.0

General election 2015: Llanelli^[28][29][30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nia Griffith^[31]	15,948	41.3	−1.2
	Plaid Cymru	Vaughan Williams^[32]	8,853	23.0	−6.9
	UKIP	Kenneth Rees	6,269	16.3	+13.5
	Conservative	Selaine Saxby^[33]	5,534	14.3	-0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Cen Phillips^[34]	751	1.9	−8.5
	Green	Guy Smith	689	1.8	N/A
	People First	Siân Caiach^[35]	407	1.1	N/A
	TUSC	Scott Jones	123	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,095	18.3	+5.7
Turnout			38,574	64.5	-2.8
Registered electors			59,314
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.9

General election 2017: Llanelli^[36][37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nia Griffith	21,568	53.5	+12.2
	Conservative	Stephen Davies	9,544	23.7	+9.4
	Plaid Cymru	Mari Arthur	7,351	18.2	-4.8
	UKIP	Kenneth Rees	1,331	3.3	-13.0
	Liberal Democrats	Rory Daniels	548	1.4	-0.5
Majority			12,024	29.8	+11.5
Turnout			40,342	67.0	+2.5
Registered electors			60,185
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 2019: Llanelli^[38][39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Nia Griffith	16,125	42.2	-11.3
	Conservative	Tamara Reay	11,455	30.0	+6.3
	Plaid Cymru	Mari Arthur	7,048	18.4	+0.2
	Brexit Party	Susan Boucher	3,605	9.4	N/A
Rejected ballots			152
Majority			4,670	12.2	-17.6
Turnout			38,233	63.2	-3.8
Registered electors			60,513
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.8

Of the 152 rejected ballots:

• 135 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.^[39]
• 17 voted for more than one candidate.^[39]

See also

• Llanelli (Senedd constituency)
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Dyfed
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales

Notes

1. A county constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References

1. "Beyond 20/20 WDS – Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
2. 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
3. Representation of the People Act 1918, Ninth Schedule, Part II, Parliamentary Counties: Wales and Monmouthshire.
4. Schedule 1, Representation of the People Act 1948, c. 65.
5. "Over 1,800 candidates for 630 seats in Commons". The Times. 9 June 1970. p. 10.
6. The borough was renamed on 4 March 1966 and the rural district on 3 May 1966 Census of England and Wales 1961. County Report: Carmarthenshire. HMSO.
7. "No. 43915". The London Gazette. 4 March 1966. p. 2444.
8. Llanelli is the spelling Craig uses in his compilation of results from 1950–1973, despite the entry in his book on parliamentary boundaries for the 1950 redistribution following the statute in using Llanelly.
9. The Parliamentary Constituencies (Wales) Order 1970 (1970/1675).
11. Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 552
12. Craig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Page 571
13. . Election February 1974. Politics Resources. 28 February 1974. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
14. . Election October 1974. Politics Resources. 10 October 1974. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
15. . Election 1979. Politics Resources. 3 May 1979. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
16. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
17. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. . Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
20. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Llanelli". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
22. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "BBC NEWS > Llanelli". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
24. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
25. "Llanelli parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
26. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
27. "Election 2010 – Llanelli". BBC News.
28. . Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
29. . The Newsroom. Carmarthenshire County Council. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
30. "Llanelli Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
31. "Nia Griffith". 1 March 2010.
32. "Local Llanelli members select Plaid Cymru's Williams as Westminster candidate". Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
33. "Llanelli - Selaine Saxby". www.selainesaxby.com.
34. . Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
35. Shipton, Martin (5 January 2015). "Maverick independent Sian Caiach to contest Llanelli at the General Election". walesonline.
36. "Aberavon Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
37. "2017 Results". Carmarthenshire County Council. Carmarthenshire County Council. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
38. "Llanelli Parliamentary constituency". Election 2019 Results. BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
39. "Election-Results/General-Election-2019" (PDF). Carmarthenshire County Council. Carmarthenshire County Council. Retrieved 4 April 2020.

Further reading

• Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885–1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1972)
• British Parliamentary Constituencies: A Statistical Compendium, by Ivor Crewe and Anthony Fox (Faber and Faber 1984)
• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

External links

• (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)

51°43′14″N 4°13′33″W / 51.72056°N 4.22583°W / 51.72056; -4.22583