Gower (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°37′12″N 4°08′13″W / 51.620°N 4.137°W / 51.620; -4.137

Gower
constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Gower in Wales.
Preserved county	West Glamorgan
Electorate	62,389 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements	Mumbles, Clydach, Pontarddulais, Penllergaer
Current constituency
Created	1885
Member of parliament	Martin Caton (Labour)
Number of members	One
Created from	Glamorganshire
Overlaps
Welsh Assembly	South Wales West
European Parliament constituency	Wales

Gower (Welsh: Gŵyr) is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Overview

The constituency was first created in 1885 and has existed in various forms ever since. It has elected only Labour MPs since 1906, the longest run (with Normanton and Makerfield) of any British constituency. It is one of three parliamentary seats representing the city and county of Swansea, the others being Swansea West and Swansea East.

Boundaries

The constituency encompasses most of the old Lordship of Gower (less the city of Swansea) and covers the inner Gower Peninsula and outer Gower areas including Clydach, Gowerton, Gorseinon, Felindre and Garnswllt.

Gower currently comprises the electoral wards of Gower, Oystermouth, Newton, Mawr, Pennard, Fairwood, Kingsbridge, Lower Loughor, Upper Loughor, Penyrheol, Bishopston, Gorseinon, Pontarddulais, Clydach, Penclawdd, Gowerton, Penllergaer, Llangyfelach and West Cross.

History

Liberals and Labour 1885-1918

The first years of the constituency history saw a struggle between the Liberals and those who favoured direct labour representation. Although its new electors in 1885 were predominantly the miners and tinplaters of the Swansea Valley, the new MP was Frank Ash Yeo, a local colliery owner and clearly an upper class figure.^[2] In 1885 he comfortably defeated Henry Nathaniel Miers of Ynyspenllwch in the Swansea Valley, a coal owner, tinplate manufacturer and landowner.^[3]

General Election 1885: Gower Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frank Ash Yeo	5,560
	Conservative	Henry Nathaniel Miers	2,103		-
Majority			3,457
Turnout				72.6
	Liberal win (new seat)

On Yeo's death in 1888, representatives of the trade unions in the constituency overturned the Liberal association's choice of Sir Horace Davey and ensured the selection of David Randell as Liberal candidate. Randell was a Methodist solicitor who specialised in trade union litigation and his victory, albeit with a reduced majority over John Dillwyn Llewellyn, formed the basis of later claims that Gower was a 'labour' seat.^[2]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[4]	Party
	1885	Frank Yeo	Liberal
	1888 by-election	David Randell	Liberal
	1900	John Aeron Thomas	Liberal
	1906	John Williams	Liberal-Labour
	1910		Labour
	1922	David Grenfell	Labour
	1959	Ifor Davies	Labour
	1982 by-election	Gareth Wardell	Labour
	1997	Martin Caton	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Gower
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	UKIP	Colin Beckett[5]
	Monster Raving Loony	Baron Barnes Von Claptrap
	Conservative	Byron Davies
	TUSC	Mark Evans
	Labour	Liz Evans
	Green	Julia Marshall
	Independent	Steve Roberts
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Sheehan[6]
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Thomas

General Election 2010: Gower[7][8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Caton	16,016	38.4	-4.0
	Conservative	Byron Davies	13,333	32.0	+6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Mike Day	7,947	19.1	+0.6
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Price	2,760	6.6	-1.2
	BNP	Adrian Jones	963	2.3	N/A
	UKIP	Gordon Triggs	652	1.6	-1.6
Majority			2,683	6.4
Turnout			41,671	67.5	+2.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-5.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Gower
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Caton	16,786	42.5	-4.8
	Conservative	Mike Murray	10,083	25.5	-2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Nick Tregoning	7,291	18.4	+6.3
	Plaid Cymru	Sian Caiach	3,089	7.8	-2.5
	UKIP	Richard Lewis	1,264	3.2	+3.2
	Green	Rhoddri Griffiths	1,029	2.6	+1.0
Majority			6,703	17.0
Turnout			39,542	64.9	+1.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.4

General Election 2001: Gower
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Caton	17,676	47.3	-6.5
	Conservative	John Bushell	10,281	27.5	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Sheila Waye	4,507	12.1	-0.9
	Plaid Cymru	Sian Caiach	3,865	10.3	+5.2
	Green	Tina Shrewsbury	607	1.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Darran Hickery	417	1.1	N/A
Majority			7,395	19.8
Turnout			37,353	63.4	-11.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Gower
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Caton	23,313	53.8	+3.7
	Conservative	Alun Cairns	10,306	23.8	−11.3
	Liberal Democrat	Howard W. Evans	5,624	13.0	+3.0
	Plaid Cymru	D. Elwyn Williams	2,226	5.1	+1.6
	Referendum Party	Richard D. Lewis	1,745	4.0	N/A
	Independent	Anthony G. Popham	122	0.3	N/A
Majority			13,007	30.0	+15.0
Turnout			43,336	75.1	−11.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+7.5

General Election 1992: Gower[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gareth Wardell	23,485	50.1	+3.5
	Conservative	Anthony L. Donnelly	16,437	35.1	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat	Christopher G. Davies	4,655	9.9	−6.2
	Plaid Cymru	Adam Price	1,639	3.5	+0.7
	Green	Brian Kingzett	448	1.0	N/A
	Raving Loony Green Giant Party	Gerry P. Egan	114	0.2	N/A
	Natural Law	Michael S. Beresford	74	0.2	N/A
Majority			7,048	15.0	+2.9
Turnout			46,852	81.9	+1.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+1.5

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Gower
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gareth Wardell	22,139	46.6	N/A
	Conservative	G A L Price	16,374	34.5	N/A
	Social Democratic	D H O Elliott	7,645	16.1	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	J G M Edwards	1,341	2.8	N/A
Majority			5,765	12.0	12.1
Turnout			47,498	80.7	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Gower
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gareth Wardell	16,972	38.1	N/A
	Conservative	A R T Kenyon	15,767	35.3	N/A
	Social Democratic	C G Jones	10,416	23.4	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	N Williams	1,444	3.2	N/A
Majority			1,205	2.8	N/A
Turnout			44,599	78.7	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing

Gower by-election, 1982
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gareth Wardell	17,095	43.5	-9.8
	Social Democratic	Gwynoro Jones	9,875	25.1	+16.1
	Conservative	Trefor Llewellyn	8,690	22.1	-8.4
	Plaid Cymru	Ieuan Owen	3,431	8.7	+1.6
	Computer Democrat	John Donovan	125	0.3	N/A
	Civil Rights/Welsh Political Prisoner	David Burns	103	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,220
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 3 May 1979: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	24,963	53.24	N/A
	Conservative	T Llewellyn	14,322	30.55	N/A
	Liberal	R Blakeborough-Pownal	4,245	9.05	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	E Thomas	3,357	7.16	N/A
Majority			10,641	22.69	N/A
Turnout			46,887	80.8	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 10 October 1974: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	25,067	57.29
	Conservative	DFR George	8,863	20.26
	Liberal	R Owen	5,453	12.46
	Plaid Cymru	M Powell	4,369	9.99
Majority			16,204	37.04
Turnout				76.94
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 28 February 1974: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	23,856	52.88
	Conservative	DFR George	8,780	19.46
	Liberal	RCC Thomas	8,737	19.37
	Plaid Cymru	JN Harris	3,741	8.29
Majority			15,076	33.42
Turnout				79.88
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 18 June 1970: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	26,485	63.38
	Conservative	MJ Carter	9,435	22.58
	Plaid Cymru	CG Davies	5,869	14.04
Majority			17,050	40.80
Turnout				76.94
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 31 March 1966: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	29,910	77.16
	Conservative	DRO Lewie	8,852	22.84
Majority			21,058	54.33
Turnout				77.94
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 15 October 1964: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	27,895	71.02
	Liberal National	JHP Griffiths	8,822	22.46
	Plaid Cymru	JG Griffiths	2,562	6.52
Majority			19,073	48.56
Turnout				79.97
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 8 October 1959: Gower Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ifor Davies	27,441	66.89
	Conservative	Michael Heseltine	9,837	23.98
	Plaid Cymru	JG Griffiths	3,744	9.13
Majority			17,604	42.91
Turnout				82.91
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 26 May 1955: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell	26,304	68.25
	National Liberal	BG Jones	8,135	21.11
	Plaid Cymru	Edward Christopher Rees	4,101	10.64
Majority			18,169	47.14
Turnout				76.78
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 25 October 1951: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell	32,661	75.93
	National Liberal	Rowe Harding	10,351	24.07
Majority			22,310	51.87
Turnout				84.31
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 23 February 1950: constituency of Composed of the wards of Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell	32,564	76.13
	National Liberal	Rowe Harding	10,208	23.87
Majority			22,356	52.27
Turnout				84.77
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 5 to 19 July 1945: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Rhys Grenfell	30,676	68.49
	Liberal National	John Aeron-Thomas	14,115	31.51
Majority			16,561	36.97
Turnout				76.98
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 14 November 1935: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell	25,632	66.80
	Liberal National	GC Hutchinson	13,239	33.20
Majority			13,393	33.59
Turnout				76.12
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 27 October 1931: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell	21,963	53.41
	Liberal	Sir ER Jones	19,157	46.59
Majority			2,806	6.82
Turnout				83.52
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 30 May 1929: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell
	Conservative
	Liberal
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 29 October 1924: Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell
	Conservative
	Liberal
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 6 December 1923: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate , Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell
	Conservative
	Liberal
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 15 November 1922: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate 33,084 Turnout %,
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Grenfell	13,388
	Liberal	Frederick William Davies	11,302
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 14 December 1918: constituency of Gower Composed of the wards of Urban District of Oystermouth and Rural Districts of Gower and Swansea Electorate 29,667
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Williams	10,109
	Liberal	D H Williams	8,353
Majority			1,756
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1900 Gower District of Boroughs[10] Electorate 12,267
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Aeron Thomas	4,276	52.6
	Independent Labour	John Hodge	3,853	47.4
Majority			423	5.2
Turnout				66.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

See also

• A map of Glamorganshire in 1885, showing its new divisions.
• Gower (Assembly constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in West Glamorgan

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Morgan, Kenneth O. (1960). "Democratic Politics in Glamorgan, 1884-1914". Morgannwg 4: 5–27. 
• Rees, Ivor Thomas (Autumn 2004). "Whatever happened to young William?". Gwent Local History 97: 58–66. 

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by North Antrim	Constituency represented by the Father of the House 1952–1959	Succeeded by Woodford

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