Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency)

Aberavon (Template:Langx) was a constituency in Wales in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was represented from 1922 until 2024 by the Welsh Labour Party. It included the town of Aberavon, although the largest town in the constituency was Port Talbot.

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 general election. Its area was split between Aberafan Maesteg and Neath and Swansea East.

History

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election by the dividing of the Swansea District. With the exception of the first term, it has always been held by the Labour Party. Ramsay MacDonald, who became Labour's first Prime Minister in 1924, held the seat from 1922 to 1929. Its final MP, Stephen Kinnock, is the son of Neil Kinnock, who was Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1992.

It was one of the most consistently safe seats for Labour; since the end of the Second World War, the Labour candidate had always won Aberavon with a majority at least 33%, and with the exception of 2015, the Labour candidate has also always won an overall majority of the vote in the seat. In 2015, Kinnock only won 48.9% of the vote in Aberavon, against a surge in the vote for the UKIP candidate; however, in 2017, Kinnock's vote share rose by 19.2 percentage points, the biggest increase in the Labour vote in the seat's history, and his majority increased to 50.4%, the highest for an Aberavon MP since 2001. The 2017 result also made Aberavon the safest Labour seat in Wales, however the seat saw a significant swing against Labour in 2019.

Boundaries

Template:Maplink 1918–1950: The Borough of Aberavon, the Urban Districts of Briton Ferry, Glencorwg, Margam, and Porthcawl and part of the Rural Districts of Neath and Penybont.

1950–1983: The Borough of Port Talbot, the Urban Districts of Glyncorrwg and Porthcawl, and part of the Rural District of Penybont.

1983–1997: The Borough of Afan, and the Borough of Neath wards nos. 3 and 6.

1997–2010: The Borough of Port Talbot; and the Borough of Neath wards of Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North, and Coedffranc West.

2010–2024: The Neath Port Talbot County Borough electoral divisions of Aberavon, Baglan, Briton Ferry East, Briton Ferry West, Bryn and Cwmavon, Coedffranc Central, Coedffranc North, Coedffranc West, Cymmer, Glyncorrwg, Gwynfi, Margam, Port Talbot, Sandfields East, Sandfields West, and Tai-bach.

The constituency was in South Wales, situated on the right bank of the River Afan, near its mouth in Swansea Bay.

Commenting on the 1983 boundary changes to the constituency when moving the 2000 Loyal Address of the Blair Government in Parliament, the seat's then-MP Sir John Morris, who would retire at the 2001 general election, said:

"It is a happy tradition on this occasion to refer to one's constituency and to the people who sent one here....Whatever may occur in future, I would deplore the loss of the Member-constituency link. When, after 23 years, I lost part of my constituency, I missed the friendship of two generations. My constituents and I had grown up and grown older together."

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1918	Jack Edwards	Coalition Liberal
rowspan="5" style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1922	Rt Hon. Ramsay MacDonald	Labour
1929	William Cove
1959	Sir John Morris
2001	Hywel Francis
2015	Stephen Kinnock
	2024	Constituency abolished

Elections

File:Aberavon Election Results 1918-2019.png

Aberavon Election Results 1918–2019

Elections in the 1910s

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link coalition 1918Template:Election box end 1918

• Jones withdrew in favour of Edwards on 13 December 1918.

Elections in the 1920s

1918 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Robert Williams	7,758	35.7
		T G Jones	324	1.5
Majority			5,877	27.1
Turnout			21,697	71.4
Registered electors			30,415
	win (new seat)

1922 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ramsay MacDonald	Template:Replace	46.6
		Sidney Hutchinson Byass	11,111	36.1
		Jack Edwards	5,238	17.3
Majority			3,207	10.5
Turnout			30,667	88.6
Registered electors			34,716
	gain from Template:Yesno		Swing	+28.2

1923 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ramsay MacDonald	Template:Replace	55.6
		Sidney Hutchinson Byass	13,927	44.4
Majority			3,512	11.2
Turnout			31,366	87.2
Registered electors			39,750
	hold		Swing	+0.3

1924 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Ramsay MacDonald	Template:Replace	53.1
		William Henry Williams	15,624	46.9
Majority			2,100	6.2
Turnout			33,348	89.6
Registered electors			37,200
	hold		Swing

File:J. Ramsay MacDonald LCCN2014715885 (cropped).jpg

Ramsay MacDonald

1929 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Cove	Template:Replace	55.9
		William Henry Williams	13,155	33.2
		Francis Bertram Reece	4,330	10.9
Majority			9,039	22.7
Turnout			39,679	87.0
Registered electors			45,613
	hold		Swing	+8.2

File:Henry Williams.jpg

Henry Williams

Elections in the 1930s

1931 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Cove	Template:Replace	58.4
		Edward Curran	16,378	41.6
Majority			6,651	16.9
Turnout			39,407	84.4
Registered electors			46,689
	hold		Swing	−3.0

Template:Election box winning candidate unopposed with party link

1935 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Registered electors			49,729
	hold

Elections in the 1940s

1945 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Cove	Template:Replace	72.5
		David Llewellyn	11,860	27.5
Majority			19,426	45.0
Turnout			43,146	79.4
Registered electors			54,323
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1950s

1950 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Cove	Template:Replace	68.7
		Auberon Herbert	8,091	19.0
		Maldwyn Thomas	5,263	12.3
Majority			21,187	49.7
Turnout			42,634	85.8
Registered electors			49,667
	hold		Swing	+2.3

1951 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Cove	Template:Replace	72.0
		John Loveridge	11,878	28.0
Majority			18,620	44.0
Turnout			42,376	84.6
Registered electors			50,071
	hold		Swing	−2.9

1955 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Cove	Template:Replace	69.5
		Geoffrey Howe	12,706	30.5
Majority			16,297	39.0
Turnout			41,709	79.3
Registered electors			52,616
	hold		Swing	−2.4

1959 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	65.8
		Geoffrey Howe	12,759	27.6
		Illtyd M. Lewis	3,066	6.6
Majority			17,638	38.2
Turnout			46,222	82.1
Registered electors			56,316
	hold		Swing	−0.5

Elections in the 1960s

1964 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	72.2
		John Stradling Thomas	9,424	20.5
		Glyn John	2,118	4.6
		Julian Tudor Hart	1,260	2.7
Majority			23,679	51.7
Turnout			45,905	80.8
Registered electors			56,777
	hold		Swing	+6.7

1966 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	75.5
		Robert Hicks	9,369	20.9
		Julian Tudor Hart	1,620	3.6
Majority			24,394	54.6
Turnout			45,146	78.3
Registered electors			57,179
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

1970 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	67.0
		Ian Grist	10,419	22.3
		Graham Farmer	3,912	8.4
		Julian Tudor Hart	1,102	2.3
Majority			20,895	44.7
Turnout			46,747	74.8
Registered electors			62,516
	hold		Swing

February 1974 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	65.2
		Peter Hubbard-Miles	10,968	22.6
		D G Foster	5,898	12.2
Majority			20,688	42.6
Turnout			48,522	75.6
Registered electors			64,162
	hold		Swing	−1.0

October 1974 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	62.8
		Nigel K Hammond	7,931	16.8
		Sheila M. Cutts	5,178	11.0
		Geraint Thomas	4,032	8.5
		J Bevan	427	0.9
Majority			21,752	46.0
Turnout			47,251	73.1
Registered electors			64,667
	hold		Swing	+1.7

1979 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	61.7
		F McCarthy	12,692	24.7
		Sheila M. Cutts	4,624	9.0
		Geraint Thomas	1,954	3.8
		G Rowden	406	0.8
Majority			18,973	37.0
Turnout			47,179	79.2
Registered electors			64,864
	hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

1983 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	58.8
		Sheila M. Cutts	8,206	20.3
		George Bailey	6,605	16.3
		Glenn Phillips	1,859	4.6
Majority			15,539	38.5
Turnout			40,415	75.6
Registered electors			53,443
	hold		Swing

1987 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	66.8
		Marilyn Harris	6,517	16.0
		Paul Warwick	5,861	14.4
		Anne Howells	1,124	2.8
Majority			20,609	50.8
Turnout			40,628	77.7
Registered electors			52,280
	hold		Swing	+6.1

Elections in the 1990s

1992 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	67.1
		Hywel Williams	5,567	13.9
		Marilyn Harris	4,999	12.5
		David W. J. Saunders	1,919	4.8
	Real Bean	Captain Beany	707	1.8
Majority			21,310	53.2
Turnout			40,069	77.6
Registered electors			51,650
	hold		Swing	+0.4

1997 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		John Morris	Template:Replace	71.3
		Ronald McConville	4,079	11.3
		Peter Harper	2,835	7.9
		Philip Cockwell	2,088	5.8
		Peter David	970	2.7
		Captain Beany	341	1.0
Majority			21,571	60.0
Turnout			35,963	71.9
Registered electors			50,031
	hold		Swing	+1.6

Elections in the 2000s

2001 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Hywel Francis	Template:Replace	63.1
		Lisa Turnbull	2,955	9.8
		Christopher Davies	2,933	9.7
		Ali Miraj	2,296	7.6
		Andrew Tutton	1,960	6.5
	New Millennium Bean	Captain Beany	727	2.4
		Martin Chapman	256	0.8
Majority			16,108	53.3
Turnout			30,190	61.0
Registered electors			49,524
	hold		Swing	−6.1

2005 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Hywel Francis	Template:Replace	60.0
		Claire Waller	4,140	13.8
		Philip Evans	3,545	11.8
		Annunziata Rees-Mogg	3,064	10.2
		Jim Wright	768	2.6
		Miranda La Vey	510	1.7
Majority			13,937	46.2
Turnout			30,104	58.9
Registered electors			50,685
	hold		Swing	−3.6

Elections in the 2010s

2010 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Hywel Francis	Template:Replace	51.9
		Keith Davies	5,034	16.3
		Caroline Jones	4,411	14.2
		Paul Nicholls-Jones	2,198	7.1
		Kevin Edwards	1,276	4.1
		Andrew Tutton	919	3.0
	New Millennium Bean Party	Captain Beany	558	1.8
		Joe Callan	489	1.6
Rejected ballots			44
Majority			11,039	35.7
Turnout			30,958	61.0
Registered electors			50,838
	hold		Swing	−5.3

Of the 44 rejected ballots:

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

File:Official portrait of Stephen Kinnock MP crop 2.jpg

Stephen Kinnock

2015 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephen Kinnock	Template:Replace	48.9
		Peter Bush	4,971	15.8
		Edward Yi He	3,742	11.9
		Duncan Higgitt	3,663	11.6
		Helen Ceri-Clarke	1,397	4.4
		Captain Beany	1,137	3.6
		Jonathan Tier	711	2.3
		Andrew Jordan	352	1.1
		Owen Herbert	134	0.4
Rejected ballots			57
Majority			10,445	33.1
Turnout			31,523	63.3
Registered electors			49,821
	hold		Swing	−8.6

Of the 57 rejected ballots:

• 37 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.
• 20 voted for more than one candidate.

2017 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephen Kinnock	Template:Replace	68.1
		Sadie Vidal	5,901	17.7
		Andrew Bennison	2,761	8.3
		Caroline Jones	1,345	4.0
		Cen Phillips	599	1.8
Rejected ballots			57
Majority			16,761	50.4
Turnout			33,268	66.7
Registered electors			49,892
	hold		Swing	+6.7

Of the 57 rejected ballots:

• 41 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.
• 16 voted for more than one candidate.

2019 general election: Aberavon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Stephen Kinnock	Template:Replace	53.8
		Charlotte Lang	6,518	20.6
		Glenda Davies	3,108	9.8
		Nigel Hunt	2,711	8.6
		Sheila Kingston-Jones	1,072	3.4
		Captain Beany	731	2.3
		Giorgia Finney	450	1.4
Rejected ballots			82
Majority			10,490	33.2
Turnout			31,598	62.3
Registered electors			50,747
	hold		Swing	−8.6

Of the 82 rejected ballots:

• 61 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.
• 19 voted for more than one candidate.
• 2 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.

See also

• Aberavon (Senedd constituency)

External links

• Politics Resources (election results from 1922 onwards)
• Electoral Calculus (election results from 1955 onwards)
• 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
• A Vision Of Britain Through Time (constituency elector numbers)
• Aberavon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK
• Aberavon UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK