Denbigh (UK Parliament constituency)

For the 1542–1918 constituency, see Denbigh Boroughs (UK Parliament constituency).
Denbigh
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Preserved county Denbighshire
Major settlements Denbigh
1918–1983
Replaced by Clwyd North West and Clwyd South West
Created from Denbigh Boroughs
East Denbighshire
West Denbighshire

Denbigh was a county constituency centred on the town of Denbigh in North Wales. 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 voting system.

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

Boundaries

This was a county division of Denbighshire. In 1918 it comprised the whole of the county, except for the Municipal Borough of Wrexham and part of the Chirk Rural District which formed the Wrexham division.

The local authorities in the Denbigh division were the Municipal Boroughs of Denbigh and Ruthin; the Urban Districts of Abergele and Pensarn, Colwyn Bay and Colwyn, Llangollen, and Llanrwst; as well as the Rural Districts of Llangollen, Llanrwst, Llansillin, Ruthin, St Asaph (Denbigh), Uwchaled, part of Chirk, and the part of Glan Conway not in Caernarvonshire.

The local authorities in Denbighshire were re-organised in 1935, but that did not affect the boundaries of the parliamentary constituency.

In the redistribution which took effect in 1950, the division was re-defined as comprising the Municipal Boroughs of Colwyn Bay, Denbigh, and Ruthin; the Urban Districts of Abergele, Llangollen, and Llanrwst; and the Rural Districts of Aled, Hiraethog, Ruthin, part of Ceiriog, and part of Wrexham. The same local authorities remained within the constituency in the 1974 redistribution.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1918 Sir David Sanders Davies Coalition Liberal
1922 John Cledwyn Davies National Liberal 1
1923 Ellis William Davies Liberal
1929 Sir Henry Morris-Jones Liberal
1931 National Liberal 2
1942 Independent
1943 National Liberal 2
1950 Emlyn Garner Evans National Liberal 2
1959 Geraint Morgan Conservative
1983 constituency abolished

Notes:-

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918

Electorate 30,448

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal 14,773 83.3 n/a
Labour Edward Thomas John 2,958 16.7 n/a
Majority 11,815 66.6 n/a
Turnout 58.2 n/a
Liberal win

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922

Electorate 31,403

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal John Cledwyn Davies 12,975 53.9 -29.4
Unionist Hon. Mrs L Broderick 9,138 37.9 n/a
Liberal Llewellyn G Williams 1,974 8.2 n/a
Majority 3,837 16.0
Turnout 76.7
National Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1923

Electorate 31,997

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ellis William Davies 12,164 59.8 +51.6
Unionist Rhys David 8,186 40.2 +2.3
Majority 3,978 19.6
Turnout 63.6
Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1924

Electorate 32,979

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ellis William Davies 12,671 53.0
Unionist Hon. Mrs L Broderick 11,250 47.0
Majority 1,421 6.0
Turnout 79.7
Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1929

Electorate 43,173

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dr John Henry Morris-Jones 21,305 61.9
Unionist Alan Crosland Graham 13,116 38.1
Majority 8,189 23.8
Turnout 79.7
Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931

Electorate 44,614

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dr John Henry Morris-Jones unopposed n/a n/a
Liberal hold Swing n/a
General Election 1935

Electorate 46,158

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal National Dr John Henry Morris-Jones 17,372 50.1 n/a
Liberal John Cledwyn Davies 12,329 35.6 n/a
Labour J. R. Hughes 4,963 14.3 n/a
Majority 5,043 14.5 n/a
Turnout n/a
Liberal National hold Swing n/a

Elections in the 1940s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

General Election 1945

Electorate 54,572

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal National Sir John Henry Morris-Jones 17,023 41.7
Liberal Emlyn Hugh Garner Evans 12,101 29.6
Labour W L M Jones 11,702 28.7
Majority 4,922 12.1
Turnout 74.8
Liberal National hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950

Electorate 54,614

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Emlyn Hugh Garner Evans 17,473 38.9 -2.8
Liberal Dr Glyn Tegai Hughes 16,264 36.2 +6.8
Labour J. G. Hughes 11,205 24.9 -3.8
Majority -9.6
Turnout
National Liberal hold Swing -4.8
General Election 1951

Electorate 54,011

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Emlyn Hugh Garner Evans 20,269
Labour James Idwal Jones 12,354
Liberal Hugh Eifion Pritchard Roberts 11,758
Majority
Turnout
National Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1955

Electorate 53,589

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Emlyn Hugh Garner Evans 18,312
Liberal Dr Glyn Tegai Hughes 13,671
Labour Robyn Lewis 10,421
Majority
Turnout
National Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1959

Electorate

Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William Geraint Oliver Morgan 17,893
Liberal Dr Glyn Tegai Hughes 13,268
Labour Stanley Williams 8,620
Plaid Cymru Dr Dafydd Alun Jones 3,077
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

See also

References