Blaenau Gwent (Assembly constituency)

Coordinates: 51°46′37″N 3°11′42″W / 51.777°N 3.195°W / 51.777; -3.195

**Blaenau Gwent**
Welsh Assembly county constituency

Blaenau Gwent shown as one of the 40 Welsh Assembly constituencies
Created:	1999
Electoral region:	South Wales East
AM:	Alun Davies
Party:	Labour

Blaenau Gwent is a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales. It elects one Assembly Member 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.

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 Welsh Assembly Election, 2007. 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%.

Party averages from 5 elections, plus the by-election: Labour - 50.1%, Plaid Cymru - 13.5%, Lib Dem - 6.4%, Conservative - 4.9%

Blaenau Gwent People's Voice won the seat in the 2006 by-election and the 2007 election.
Independent Jayne Sullivan received 18.8% of the vote in the 2011 election.
UKIP achieved 16.1% of the vote in the 2016 election.

Voting

In general elections for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Assembly Member 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

	Member	Party
1999	Peter Law	Labour Co-operative
2005	Peter Law	Independent
2006	Trish Law	Blaenau Gwent People's Voice
2011	Thomas Alun Rhys Davies	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thomas Alun Rhys Davies	8,442	39.7	−24.3
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Copner	7,792	36.6	+31.2
	UKIP	Kevin Boucher	3,423	16.1	+16.1
	Conservative	Tracey West	1,334	6.3	+1
	Liberal Democrats	Brendan D'Cruz	300	1.4	−0.4
Majority			650	3.1	-42.0
Turnout				42.1	+3.3
	Labour hold		Swing	−28.0

Welsh Assembly Election 2011: Blaenau Gwent^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thomas Alun Rhys Davies	12,926	64.0	+32.6
	Independent	Jayne Sullivan	3,806	18.8	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Jones	1,098	5.4	+0.6
	Conservative	Bob Hayward	1,066	5.3	+1.2
	BNP	Brian Urch	948	4.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Oliver Blakebrough	367	1.8	−3.9
Majority			9,120	45.1
Turnout			20,211	37.8	−6.7
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Blaenau Gwent PV	Trish Law	12,722	54.1	N/A
	Labour	Keren Bender	7,365	31.3	−38.9
	Liberal Democrats	Gareth H. Lewis	1,351	5.7	−5.1
	Plaid Cymru	Miss Natasha Batool Asghar	1,129	4.8	−4.8
	Conservative	Bob J.C. Hayward	951	4.0	−1.7
Majority			5,357	22.8	+6.5
Turnout			23,518	44.5	+7.1
	Blaenau Gwent PV gain from Labour Co-op		Swing

By-election 2006: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Blaenau Gwent PV	Trish Law	13,785	50.3	N/A
	Labour	John Hopkins	9,321	34.0	−36.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen R. 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	N/A
Majority			4,464	16.3	−43.1
Turnout			27,387	49.6	+12.2
	Blaenau Gwent PV gain from Labour Co-op		Swing

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Peter Law	13,884	70.2	+8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen R. Bard	2,184	10.9	−0.6
	Plaid Cymru	Rhys Ab Ellis	1,889	9.6	−11.6
	Conservative	Barrie O'Keefe	1,131	5.7	+0.2
	UKIP	Roger Thomas	719	3.6	N/A
Majority			11,736	59.4	+18.7
Turnout			20,022	37.8	−10.7
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+4.5

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Blaenau Gwent
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour Co-op	Peter Law	16,069	61.8	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Professor Philip James Stradling Williams	5,501	21.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Rogers	2,980	11.4	N/A
	Conservative	David N. Thomas	1,444	5.6	N/A
Majority			10,568	40.7	N/A
Turnout			25,994	48.2	N/A
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

Notes

↑ "Wales elections > Blaenau Gwent". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.

Electoral regions and Constituencies of the National Assembly for Wales
Mid and West Wales	Brecon and Radnorshire Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Ceredigion Dwyfor Meirionnydd Llanelli Montgomeryshire Preseli Pembrokeshire
North Wales	Aberconwy Alyn and Deeside Arfon Clwyd South Clwyd West Delyn Vale of Clwyd Wrexham Ynys Môn
South Wales Central	Cardiff Central Cardiff North Cardiff South and Penarth Cardiff West Cynon Valley Pontypridd Rhondda Vale of Glamorgan
South Wales East	Blaenau Gwent Caerphilly Islwyn Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Monmouth Newport East Newport West Torfaen
South Wales West	Aberavon Bridgend Gower Neath Ogmore Swansea East Swansea West

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