Blaenau Gwent (Senedd constituency)

Not to be confused with Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency).

Blaenau Gwent is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the South Wales East electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Blaenau Gwent
Senedd county constituency for the Senedd
Blaenau Gwent shown as one of the 40 Senedd constituencies
Current Senedd county constituency
Created	1999
Party	Welsh Labour
Member of the Senedd	Alun Davies
Electoral region	South Wales East

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Blaenau Gwent Westminster constituency.

The other seven constituencies of the South Wales East electoral region are Caerphilly, Islwyn, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, Monmouth, Newport East, Newport West and Torfaen.

History

This seat has had large changes in percentages and swing. Labour have had large majorities but following the By-election in 2006 Blaenau Gwent People's Voice gained the seat, with the previous incumbent Peter Law's wife Trish Law taking the seat and holding it in the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election. The party did not stand in the 2011 election and Labour regained the seat with a very large majority. However, in the 2016 election this was slashed with Plaid Cymru increasing their vote from 5.4% to 36.6%. Blaenau Gwent People's Voice won the seat in the 2006 by-election and the 2007 election.

Voting

In general elections for the Senedd, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Member of the Senedd for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation.

Assembly members and Members of the Senedd

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Peter Law	Welsh Labour and Co-operative
	2005		Independent
	2006 by-election	Trish Law	Blaenau Gwent People's Voice
	2011	Alun Davies	Welsh Labour and Co-operative

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

2021 Senedd election: Blaenau Gwent^[1]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional[2]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alun Davies[a]	10,226	49.1	+9.4	9,983	48.2	+9.4
	Plaid Cymru	Peredur Owen Griffiths	3,588	17.2	-19.4	3,849	18.6	-12.9
	Conservative	Edward Dawson	2,611	12.5	+6.2	2,905	14.0	+8.6
	Independent	Mandy Moore	2,376	11.4	New
	Abolish	Richard Taylor	1,364	6.6	New	1,457	7.0	+3.2
	Liberal Democrats	Paula Yates	333	1.6	+0.2	419	2.0	+0.5
	Reform UK	Robert Beavis	319	1.5	New	277	1.3	New
	Green					653	3.2	+1.6
	UKIP					480	2.3	-13.5
	Gwlad					282	1.4	New
	No More Lockdowns					181	0.9	New
	Propel					118	0.6	New
	Communist					75	0.4	+0.2
	TUSC					44	0.2	-0.2
Majority			6,638	31.9	+28.8
Turnout			20,817	40.31[3]	−1.8
	Labour hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

Regional Ballot void votes: 165. Want of an Official Mark (0), Voting for more than ONE party or individual candidate (50), Writing or mark by which the Voter could be identified (0), Unmarked or Void for uncertainty (115)

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Constituency[4]			Regional[5]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Alun Davies	8,442	39.7	-24.3	8,260	38.8	-23.9
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Copner	7,792	36.6	+31.2	6,716	31.5	+22.2
	UKIP	Kevin Boucher	3,423	16.1	New	3,373	15.8	+10.8
	Conservative	Tracey West	1,334	6.3	+1.0	1,158	5.4	-1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Brendan D'Cruz	300	1.4	-0.4	328	1.5	-1.7
	Abolish					820	3.8	New
	Green					344	1.6	-0.6
	Monster Raving Loony					104	0.5	New
	TUSC					81	0.4	New
	National Front					64	0.3	New
	Communist					51	0.2	-0.1
Majority			650	3.1	−42.0
Turnout			21,291	42.1	+3.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	-28.0

Welsh Assembly Election 2011:Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Constituency[6]			Regional[7]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Alun Davies	12,926	64.0	+32.7	12,567	62.7	+18.9
	Independent	Jayne Sullivan	3,806	18.8	New
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Jones	1,098	5.4	+0.6	1,869	9.3	-4.0
	Conservative	Bob Hayward	1,066	5.3	+1.2	1,404	7.0	+0.2
	BNP	Brian Urch	948	4.7	New	980	4.9	-0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Blakebrough	367	1.8	-3.9	641	3.2	-5.2
	UKIP					1,009	5.0	-1.3
	Socialist Labour					683	3.4	+0.8
	Green					440	2.2	-0.1
	Welsh Christian					292	1.5	-0.9
	English Democrat					89	0.4	New
	Communist					58	0.3	±0.0
Majority			9,120	45.1	N/A
Turnout			20,211	37.8	−6.7
	Labour Co-op gain from Blaenau Gwent PV		Swing

Regional ballots rejected at the count: 171^[8]

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional[9]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Blaenau Gwent PV	Trish Law	12,722	54.1	N/A
	Labour	Keren Bender	7,365	31.3	-38.9	10,141	43.8	-17.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth Lewis	1,351	5.7	-5.2	1,933	8.4	-2.2
	Plaid Cymru	Natasha Asghar	1,129	4.8	-4.8	3,080	13.3	+2.0
	Conservative	Bob Hayward	951	4.0	-1.7	1,584	6.8	+0.3
	Independent - Colin Hobbs					1,680	7.3	New
	UKIP					1,462	6.3	+3.4
	BNP					1,313	5.7	+3.8
	Socialist Labour					608	2.6	+0.2
	Welsh Christian Party					590	2.6	New
	Green					526	2.3	-0.1
	English Democrat					79	0.3	New
	Communist					77	0.3	New
	CPA					54	0.2	New
Majority			5,357	22.8	N/A
Turnout			23,518	44.5	+6.7
	Blaenau Gwent PV gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	+46.5

By-election 2006: Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Blaenau Gwent PV	Trish Law	13,785	50.3	New
	Labour	John Hopkins	9,321	34.0	−36.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Bard	2,054	7.5	−3.4
	Plaid Cymru	John Price	1,109	4.0	−5.6
	Conservative	Jonathan Burns	816	3.0	−2.7
	Green	John Matthews	302	1.1	New
Majority			4,464	16.3	N/A
Turnout			27,387	49.6	+12.2
	Blaenau Gwent PV gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	+43.3

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional[10]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Peter Law[a]	13,884	70.2	+8.4	12,003	60.9	+8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Bard	2,184	10.9	-0.5	2,087	10.6	-0.6
	Plaid Cymru	Rhys Ab Ellis	1,889	9.6	-11.5	2,219	11.3	-12.8
	Conservative	Barrie O'Keefe	1,131	5.7	+0.1	1,273	6.5	+0.8
	UKIP	Roger Thomas	719	3.6	New	573	2.9	New
	Green					480	2.4	+0.6
	Socialist Labour					469	2.4	-1.2
	BNP					379	1.9	New
	Cymru Annibynnol					161	0.3	New
	ProLife Alliance					61	0.3	New
Majority			11,736	59.3	+18.6
Turnout			20,022	37.8	−10.6
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+4.5

1. Incumbent member for this constituency

2003 Electorate: 52,927
Regional ballots rejected: 300

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Blaenau Gwent

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional [11]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Peter Law	16,069	61.8	N/A	13,714	52.5	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Phil Williams	5,501	21.1	N/A	6,289	24.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Rogers	2,980	11.4	N/A	2,931	11.2	N/A
	Conservative	David Thomas	1,444	5.6	N/A	1,475	5.7	N/A
	Socialist Labour					928	3.6	N/A
	Green					463	1.8	N/A
	Others					300	1.1	N/A
Majority			10,568	40.7
Turnout			25,994	48.2
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

References

1. Archived 18 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine Blaenau Gwent Statement of Persons Nominated
2. "2021 Regional declaration" (PDF). Blaenau Gwent. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
3. Hayward, Will (7 May 2021). "The voter turnout figures for every constituency in Wales". WalesOnline. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
4. "Wales elections > Blaenau Gwent". BBC News. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
5. "Results and turnout at the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
6. "Wales elections > Blaenau Gwent". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
7. "Results and turnout at the 2011 National Assembly for Wales Election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
8. "Results and turnout at the 2011 National Assembly for Wales election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
9. "2007 Assembly Election Results (updated) July 2007(Page 78 of the PDF / Page 72 of booklet)" (PDF). National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
10. The National Assembly for Wales elections 2003. The Electoral Commission. November 2003. pp. 110–115. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
11. "Vote 99 Wales (Time Stub 27:54)". YouTube. BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2022.

51.777°N 3.195°W / 51.777; -3.195