Abertillery (UK Parliament constituency)
# Abertillery (UK Parliament constituency)

Abertillery was a county constituency centred on the town of Abertillery in Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system of election. From 1950 up to (and including) 1970, it was the safest Labour seat in the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election.

## Boundaries

The constituency consisted of the urban districts of Abercarn, Abertillery and Nantyglo and Blaina.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1918 | William Brace | Labour |
| | 1920 by-election | George Barker | Labour |
| | 1929 | George Daggar | Labour |
| | 1950 by-election | Rev Llywelyn Williams | Labour |
| | 1965 by-election | Clifford Williams | Labour |
| | 1970 | Jeffrey Thomas | Labour |
| | 1981 | Jeffrey Thomas | SDP |
| 1983 | 1983 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections

### Elections in the 1910s

1918 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | William Brace | Unopposed | Unopposed | Unopposed |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |

### Elections in the 1920s

1920 Abertillery by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Barker | 15,942 | 66.4 | N/A |
| C | Liberal | George Hay Morgan | 7,842 | 33.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,650 | 32.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,784 | 70.8 | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

1922 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Barker | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

1923 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Barker | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

1924 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Barker | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

1929 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Daggar | 20,175 | 64.5 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Walter Reynallt Meredith | 8,425 | 26.9 | New |
| | Unionist | Peter John Feilding Chapman-Walker | 2,697 | 8.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,750 | 37.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,297 | 82.4 | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Daggar | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

1935 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Daggar | Unopposed | N/A | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

* Labour: George Daggar
* Conservative:

### Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Daggar | 28,615 | 86.6 | N/A |
| | National | John Hayward | 4,422 | 13.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 24,193 | 73.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,037 | 81.1 | N/A |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | George Daggar | 29,609 | 87.05 | |
| | Conservative | OJ Lewis | 4,403 | 12.95 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 25,206 | 74.10 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,012 | 84.58 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

1950 Abertillery by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 24,622 | 86.51 | −0.54 |
| | Conservative | Richard Body | 3,839 | 13.49 | +0.54 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,783 | 73.02 | −1.09 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,461 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

1951 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 29,321 | 86.94 | −0.11 |
| | Conservative | John Radcliffe | 4,404 | 13.06 | +0.11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 24,917 | 73.88 | −0.22 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,725 | 84.04 | −0.54 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −0.11 | |

1955 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 25,599 | 82.74 | −4.20 |
| | Conservative | Arthur G Davies | 4,081 | 13.19 | +0.13 |
| | Welsh Nationalist | Trefor Richard Morgan | 1,259 | 4.07 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,518 | 69.55 | −4.33 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,939 | 79.11 | −4.93 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −2.17 | |

1959 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 26,931 | 85.0 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative | Ronald J Maddocks | 4,740 | 15.0 | +1.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 22,191 | 70.0 | +0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,671 | 81.9 | +2.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +0.3 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Llywelyn Williams | 24,204 | 85.9 | +0.9 |
| | Conservative | Peter Rees | 3,973 | 14.1 | -0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,231 | 71.8 | +1.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,177 | 75.5 | -6.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

1965 Abertillery by-election :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Clifford Williams | 18,256 | 79.0 | −6.9 |
| | Conservative | Peter Rees | 3,309 | 14.3 | +0.2 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Edward Merriman | 1,551 | 6.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,947 | 64.7 | −7.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,116 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

1966 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Clifford Williams | 23,353 | 88.1 | +2.2 |
| | Conservative | Anthony Peter Wallis | 3,151 | 11.9 | −2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,202 | 76.2 | −4.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,504 | 73.4 | −2.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 22,819 | 81.4 | −6.7 |
| | Conservative | John E. Rendle | 3,478 | 12.4 | +0.5 |
| | Plaid Cymru | David B. Harries | 1,751 | 6.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 19,341 | 69.0 | −7.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,048 | 75.0 | +1.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

February 1974 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 20,068 | 70.3 | −11.1 |
| | Plaid Cymru | William Aneurin Richards | 3,119 | 10.9 | +4.7 |
| | Conservative | Neil Hamilton | 2,730 | 9.6 | −2.8 |
| | Liberal | Hugh Westcott Clark | 2,632 | 9.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,949 | 59.4 | −9.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,549 | 78.6 | −3.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

October 1974 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 20,835 | 76.9 | +5.6 |
| | Plaid Cymru | William Aneurin Richards | 2,480 | 9.0 | −1.9 |
| | Conservative | Pamela Joan Evelyn Larney | 2,364 | 8.6 | −1.0 |
| | Liberal | Hugh Westcott Clark | 1,779 | 6.5 | −2.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,355 | 66.9 | +7.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,458 | 75.1 | −3.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

1979 general election: Abertillery :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Jeffrey Thomas | 21,698 | 76.0 | -0.9 |
| | Conservative | Ralph Tuck | 4,613 | 16.2 | +7.6 |
| | Plaid Cymru | David Brian Harries | 2,248 | 7.9 | −1.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 17,085 | 59.8 | −7.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,559 | 80.2 | +5.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
