Newport West (UK Parliament constituency)

Newport West (Welsh: Gorllewin Casnewydd) was one of two parliamentary constituencies for the city of Newport, South Wales, in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system. Paul Flynn, of the Labour Party, was the MP from the 1987 general election until his death on 17 February 2019.[3] Consequently, a by-election was held in the constituency on Thursday 4 April 2019 and Ruth Jones of the Labour Party was elected.

Newport West
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Newport West in Wales
Electorate63,056 (December 2010)[1]
19832024
SeatsOne
Created fromNewport and Monmouth[2]
Replaced byNewport East
Newport West and Islwyn
SeneddNewport West, South Wales East

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. Its wards were split between the existing Newport East constituency and a new constituency named Newport West and Islwyn.[4]

Boundaries

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Map of boundaries 1983–2024

The constituency comprised the electoral divisions of Allt-yr-yn, Bettws, Caerleon, Gaer, Graig, Malpas, Marshfield, Pillgwenlly, Rogerstone, Shaftesbury, Stow Hill and Tredegar Park in the city of Newport. The western and northern boundaries were formed by the city boundary, the eastern boundary by the River Usk, and the southern boundary by the Bristol Channel.

History

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Newport West was created when the former Newport constituency was split into two seats in 1983. The seat was won on a narrow three-figure majority by the Conservatives. However, Paul Flynn gained the seat for the Labour Party in 1987 and held it until his death in 2019.

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[5] Party
1983 Mark Robinson Conservative
1987 Paul Flynn Labour
2019 by-election Ruth Jones Labour
2024 Constituency abolished

Elections

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Elections in the 1980s

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General election 1983: Newport West[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Mark Robinson 15,948 38.0 N/A
Labour Bryan Davies 15,367 36.6 N/A
Liberal Whitney Jones 10,163 24.2 N/A
Plaid Cymru Denis Watkins 477 1.2 N/A
Majority 581 1.4 N/A
Turnout 41,955 77.5 N/A
Registered electors 54,125
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1987: Newport West[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 20,887 46.1 +9.5
Conservative Mark Robinson 18,179 40.1 +2.1
Liberal Winston Roddick 5,903 13.0 −11.2
Plaid Cymru Digby Bevan 377 0.8 −0.4
Majority 2,708 6.0 N/A
Turnout 45,346 81.8 +4.3
Registered electors 55,455
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +3.7

Elections in the 1990s

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General election 1992: Newport West[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 24,139 53.1 +7.0
Conservative Andrew Taylor 16,360 36.0 −4.1
Liberal Democrats John Toye 4,296 9.5 −3.5
Plaid Cymru (Green) Peter Keelan 653 1.4 +0.6
Majority 7,770 17.1 +11.1
Turnout 45,059 82.8 +1.0
Registered electors 54,871
Labour hold Swing +5.6
General election 1997: Newport West[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 24,331 60.5 +7.4
Conservative Peter Clarke 9,794 24.4 −11.6
Liberal Democrats Stanley Wilson 3,907 9.7 +0.2
Referendum Andrew Thompsett 1,199 3.0 N/A
Plaid Cymru Huw Jackson 648 1.6 +0.2
UKIP Hugh Hughes 323 0.8 N/A
Majority 14,357 36.1 +19.0
Turnout 40,202 74.6 −8.2
Registered electors 53,914
Labour hold Swing +9.5

Elections in the 2000s

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General election 2001: Newport West[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 18,489 52.7 −7.8
Conservative William Morgan 9,185 26.2 +1.8
Liberal Democrats Veronica Watkins 4,095 11.7 +2.0
Plaid Cymru Anthony Salkeld 2,510 7.2 +5.6
UKIP Hugh Hughes 506 1.4 +0.6
BNP Terrance Cavill 278 0.8 N/A
Majority 9,304 26.5 −9.6
Turnout 35,063 59.1 −15.5
Registered electors 59,345
Labour hold Swing -4.8
General election 2005: Newport West[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 16,021 44.8 −7.9
Conservative William Morgan 10,563 29.6 +3.4
Liberal Democrats Nigel Flanagan 6,398 17.9 +6.2
Plaid Cymru Anthony Salkeld 1,278 3.6 −3.6
UKIP Hugh Hughes 848 2.4 +1.0
Green Peter Varley 540 1.5 N/A
Independent Saeid Arjomand 84 0.2 N/A
Majority 5,458 15.2 −11.3
Turnout 35,732 59.3 +0.2
Registered electors 60,303
Labour hold Swing -5.6

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2010: Newport West[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 16,389 41.3 −3.5
Conservative Matthew Williams 12,845 32.3 +2.7
Liberal Democrats Veronica German 6,587 16.6 −1.3
BNP Timothy Windsor 1,183 3.0 N/A
UKIP Hugh Hughes 1,144 2.9 +0.5
Plaid Cymru Jeff Rees 1,122 2.8 −0.8
Green Pippa Bartolotti 450 1.1 −0.4
Majority 3,544 9.0 −6.2
Turnout 39,720 64.8 +5.5
Registered electors 62,111
Labour hold Swing -3.2
General election 2015: Newport West[14][15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn 16,633 41.2 −0.1
Conservative Nick Webb 13,123 32.5 +0.2
UKIP Gordon Norrie 6,134 15.2 +12.3
Plaid Cymru Simon Coopey 1,604 4.0 +1.2
Liberal Democrats Ed Townsend 1,581 3.9 −12.7
Green Pippa Bartolotti 1,272 3.2 +2.1
Majority 3,510 8.7 −0.3
Turnout 40,347 64.9 +0.1
Registered electors 62,137
Labour hold Swing −0.1
General election 2017: Newport West[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Paul Flynn[19] 22,723 52.3 +11.1
Conservative Angela Jones-Evans[20][19] 17,065 39.3 +6.8
UKIP Stan Edwards 1,100 2.5 −12.7
Plaid Cymru Morgan Bowler-Brown[19] 1,077 2.5 −1.5
Liberal Democrats Sarah Lockyer 976 2.2 −1.7
Green Pippa Bartolotti[21] 497 1.1 −2.1
Rejected ballots 82
Majority 5,658 13.0 +4.3
Turnout 43,438 67.5 +2.6
Registered electors 64,399
Labour hold Swing +2.2

Of the 82 rejected ballots:

  • 47 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[18]
  • 29 voted for more than one candidate.[18]
  • 4 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[18]
2019 Newport West by-election[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ruth Jones 9,308 39.6 −12.7
Conservative Matthew Evans 7,357 31.3 −8.0
UKIP Neil Hamilton 2,023 8.6 +6.1
Plaid Cymru Jonathan Clark 1,185 5.0 +2.5
Liberal Democrats Ryan Jones 1,088 4.6 +2.4
Green Amelia Womack 924 3.9 +2.8
Renew June Davies 879 3.7 N/A
Abolish Richard Suchorzewski 205 0.9 N/A
SDP Ian McLean 202 0.9 N/A
Democrats and Veterans Philip Taylor 185 0.8 N/A
For Britain Hugh Nicklin 159 0.7 N/A
Rejected ballots 100
Majority 1,951 8.2 −4.8
Turnout 23,615 37.1 −30.4
Registered electors 63,623
Labour hold Swing −2.4

Of the 100 rejected ballots:

  • 69 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[22]
  • 23 voted for more than one candidate.[22]
  • 8 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[22]
General election 2019: Newport West[23][24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ruth Jones 18,977 43.7 −8.6
Conservative Matthew Evans 18,075 41.6 +2.3
Liberal Democrats Ryan Jones 2,565 5.9 +3.7
Brexit Party Cameron Edwards 1,727 4.0 N/A
Plaid Cymru Jonathan Clark 1,187 2.7 +0.2
Green Amelia Womack 902 2.1 +1.0
Rejected ballots 130
Majority 902 2.1 −10.9
Turnout 43,433 65.2 −2.3
Registered electors 66,657
Labour hold Swing −5.5

Of the 130 rejected ballots:

  • 98 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[25]
  • 29 voted for more than one candidate.[25]
  • 3 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Beyond 20/20 WDS – Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  2. ^ "'Newport West', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Veteran Labour MP Paul Flynn dies aged 84". 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. ^ 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies – The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
  5. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 1)
  6. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  10. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Newport West Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Newport West Results". UK Parliamentary Elections May 2015 results. Newport City Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Newport West Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  18. ^ a b c d "2017 Results". Newport City Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  19. ^ a b c "Election candidate 'imposition' upsets Bridgend Tories". BBC News. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  20. ^ "Norfolk North and Penistone & Stocksbridge choose their candidates. Latest selection news. – Conservative Home". conservativehome.com. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  21. ^ Wales Green Party
  22. ^ a b c d "Newport West By-election results | Newport City Council". www.newport.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  23. ^ "General Election 2019" (PDF). Newport City Council. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  24. ^ "Newport West parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  25. ^ a b c d "Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Newport City Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
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51°34′59″N 3°02′35″W / 51.583°N 3.043°W / 51.583; -3.043