Aberconwy (UK Parliament constituency)

Aberconwy was a constituency[n 1] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.[n 2]

Aberconwy
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Aberconwy in Wales for the 2010 general election
Preserved countyClwyd
Electorate44,444 (December 2018)[1]
Major settlementsLlandudno, Conwy, Llandudno Junction
20102024
SeatsOne
Created fromConwy and Meirionnydd Nant Conwy
Replaced byBangor Aberconwy
SeneddAberconwy, North Wales

The seat was created by the Welsh Boundary Commission for the 2010 general election, and replaced the old north Wales seat of Conwy. The same boundaries have been used for the Aberconwy Senedd constituency since the 2007 Welsh Assembly election.

The constituency was abolished as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the 2024 United Kingdom general election. The entire constituency became part of Bangor Aberconwy.[2]

Boundaries

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Map of boundaries 2010-2024

The constituency was a new creation of the Boundary Commission for Wales and was based on the existing Conwy seat. It was centred on Llandudno, Conwy town and associated suburbs such as Deganwy and Penrhyn Bay, along with the Conwy Valley. The other main component of the former Conwy seat, Bangor, was removed to the Arfon constituency.

The name Aberconwy was chosen partly to avoid confusion between the former Conwy parliamentary seat (which, confusingly, had been the name first proposed by the commission for the new seat), the existing county borough, town council and ward name. The seat was coterminous with the old Aberconwy district, abolished in 1996, and thus the name was thought to be a natural one with which to name the new constituency. Bangor, the main Labour voting area of the former Conwy constituency, is no longer within the constituency, whereas the more Conservative areas such as Llandudno and Conwy itself are retained. The constituency is diverse, combining Welsh-speaking rural areas, English-speaking coastal dwellers, many affluent suburbs, pockets of relative poverty, seaside resorts such as Llandudno and more industrial areas such as Llandudno Junction. In many ways the new Aberconwy seat resembled its neighbour Clwyd West (the other seat covering Conwy County Borough) to a large degree, as both seats have a similar social profile and, as seems likely, a similar voting pattern.

The wards of Conwy County Borough that were incorporated into the Aberconwy seat were:

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[3] Party
2010 Guto Bebb Conservative
2019 Independent
2019 Robin Millar Conservative
2024 Constituency abolished

Elections

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Election results since 1950

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2010: Aberconwy[4][5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Guto Bebb 10,734 35.8 N/A
Labour Ronnie Hughes 7,336 24.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats Mike Priestley 5,786 19.3 N/A
Plaid Cymru Phil Edwards 5,341 17.8 N/A
UKIP Mike Wieteska 632 2.1 N/A
Christian Louise Wynne Jones 137 0.5 N/A
Majority 3,398 11.3 N/A
Turnout 29,966 67.2 N/A
Registered electors 44,593
Conservative win (new seat)

Of the 69 rejected ballots:

  • 49 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[5]
  • 20 voted for more than one candidate.[5]
General election 2015: Aberconwy[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Guto Bebb 12,513 41.5 +5.7
Labour Mary Wimbury 8,514 28.2 +3.7
Plaid Cymru Dafydd Meurig 3,536 11.7 −6.1
UKIP Andrew Haigh 3,467 11.5 +9.4
Liberal Democrats Victor Babu[9] 1,391 4.6 −14.7
Green Petra Haig[10] 727 2.4 N/A
Rejected ballots 59
Majority 3,999 13.3 +2.0
Turnout 30,148 66.2 −1.0
Registered electors 45,525
Conservative hold Swing +1.0

Of the 59 rejected ballots:

  • 33 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[7]
  • 12 voted for more than one candidate.[7]
  • 14 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[7]
General election 2017: Aberconwy[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Guto Bebb 14,337 44.6 +3.1
Labour Emily Owen 13,702 42.6 +14.4
Plaid Cymru Wyn Elis Jones 3,170 9.9 −1.8
Liberal Democrats Sarah Leister-Burgess 941 2.9 −1.7
Rejected ballots 78
Majority 635 2.0 −11.3
Turnout 32,150 71.0 +4.8
Registered electors 45,251
Conservative hold Swing −5.7

Of the 78 rejected ballots:

  • 58 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[11]
  • 20 voted for more than one candidate.[11]
General election 2019: Aberconwy[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Robin Millar 14,687 46.1 +1.5
Labour Emily Owen 12,653 39.7 −2.9
Plaid Cymru Lisa Goodier 2,704 8.5 −1.4
Liberal Democrats Jason Edwards 1,821 5.7 +2.8
Rejected ballots 123
Majority 2,034 6.4 +4.4
Turnout 31,865 71.3 +0.3
Registered electors 44,699
Conservative hold Swing +2.2

Of the 123 rejected ballots:

  • 102 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[13]
  • 20 voted for more than one candidate.[13]
  • 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[13]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
  2. ^ As with all constituencies, the constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years.

References

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  1. ^ "Electoral rolls by Welsh Assembly constituency areas and electoral regions". 2019 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2018. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  2. ^ 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
  4. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Election results for Aberconwy". Conwy Council. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  6. ^ "BBC News -Election 2010-Constituency-Aberconwy". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d "Election-Results/General-Election-2015". Conwy Council. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Aberconwy Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Local surgeon Dr Victor Babu chosen as Aberconwy's Welsh Lib Dem candidate". Welsh Liberal Democrats. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  10. ^ "- Green Party Members' Website". greenparty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. ^ a b c "Election-Results/General-Election-2017". Conwy Council. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Aberconwy Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d "Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Conwy Council. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Aberconwy Parliamentary constituency". Election 2019 Results. BBC. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
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