Merthyr Tydfil by-election, 1972

The Merthyr Tydfil by-election of 13 April 1972 was held after the death of S. O. Davies on 25 February the same year. The Labour Party won the by-election in what had traditionally been a safe seat, although Davies had been elected in the 1970 general election as an Independent after he had been deselected due to his age.

Results

Merthyr Tydfil, 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Edward Rowlands 15,562 48.58 +19.89
Plaid Cymru Emrys Roberts 11,852 37.0 +27.44
Conservative Christopher Barr 2,336 7.29 -2.56
Communist Arthur Lewis Jones 1,519 4.74 N/A
Liberal Angus Donaldson 765 2.39 N/A
Turnout 32,034
Labour gain from Independent Swing

NB: If one combines the totals for Labour and Independent Labour from the 1970 election the total was 80.59% making a loss of 32.01% of the vote.

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