Arfon (UK Parliament constituency) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Arfon is a constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

(at Westminster

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...

). Although the constituency is relatively large by geographical area, it is a predominantly urban rather than rural seat, with the majority of the population living in the two towns on which the constituency is based, Bangor

Bangor, Wales

Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...

and Caernarfon

Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...

. "Arfon" is a historical name for the area, meaning "facing Anglesey"; it is also the name of the former district council. This seat was created by the Welsh Boundary Commission in time for the 2010 general election, and replaced the old seat of Caernarfon

Caernarfon (UK Parliament constituency)

Caernarfon was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Caernarfon in Wales. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system....

. The same boundaries were used for the Arfon Welsh Assembly constituency in the 2007 Welsh Assembly election.

It is the smallest mainland constituency in the UK by electorate, and larger only than the two Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

island constituencies, Na h-Eileanan an Iar

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (UK Parliament constituency)

Na h-Eileanan an Iar is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created in 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- History :...

and Orkney and Shetland

Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)

Orkney and Shetland is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

.

The Arfon division of Caernarvonshire was a former UK Parliament constituency, which existed from 1885 until 1918. Before 1885 and after 1918 the area was part of the Caernarvonshire

Caernarvonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Caernarvonshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885 and from 1918 until 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post...

constituency. The Liberal MP William Rathbone represented the Arfon seat until 1895, followed by fellow Liberal William Jones. Upon the death of Mr Jones, Griffith C. Rees, for the Liberal Party, was elected unopposed at the subsequent by-election.

Information in the paragraph above is taken in part from F.W.S Craig's "British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918" (Macmillian, 1974).

Boundaries

When first created in 1885, the constituency was defined as the Petty Sessional Divisions of Bangor, Conway and Nant-Conway, with the Parishes of Llanddeinilen and Llanberis (which were within the Carnarvon Petty Sessional Division). The constituency included the boroughs of Bangor and Conway which were part of the Carnarvon District of Boroughs

Caernarfon (UK Parliament constituency)

Caernarfon was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Caernarfon in Wales. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system....

constituency; only those who owned freehold land within the boroughs could vote in elections for the Arfon constituency as a second vote.

The electoral wards which are used to create the twenty-first century Arfon are entirely within the preserved county of Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

. They are Arllechwedd, Bethel, Bontnewydd, Cadnant, Cwm-y-Glo, Deiniol, Deiniolen, Dewi

Dewi

Dewi can refer to any of the following:People*Dewi Bebb, a Welsh rugby player*Dewi Bridges, a Welsh bishop*Dewi Driegen, a Dutch model*Dewi Griffiths, a Welsh television producer and radio host*Dewi Morgan, a Welsh bard...

, Garth, Gerlan, Glyder, Groeslon, Hendre, Hirael, Llanberis

Llanberis

Llanberis is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales, lying on the southern banks of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia. It takes its name from Saint Peris, an early Welsh saint.According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llanberis was 1,954...

, Llanllyfni, Llanrug, Llanwnda, Marchog, Menai (Bangor

Bangor, Wales

), Menai (Caernarfon

Caernarfon

), Ogwen, Peblig (Caernarfon), Penisarwaun, Pentir, Penygroes, Seiont, Talysarn, Tregarth and Mynydd Llandygai, Waunfawr and Y Felinheli.

2010 Election

The latest boundary change created a battle ground in Arfon particularly for Labour, Plaid Cymru, and the Conservatives, with the latter being labelled as a ‘resurgent’ party by the Caernarfon Herald. The scale of contention had been reached due to the large shift in boundary changes which in turn has created a need within each party to achieve a relatively unforeseen outcome. Plaid Cymru had previously never represented Bangor, which had been held by Conservative Wyn Roberts for twenty-seven years and a further thirteen under Labour’s Betty Williams. It has however also been more than thirty years since Caernarfon has been represented by anyone other than Plaid Cymru.

MPs 1885–1918

	Member	Party
1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918Representation of the People Act 1884Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	William Rathbone William Rathbone VI William Rathbone VI was an English merchant and businessman noted for his philanthropic and public work...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1895 United Kingdom general election, 1895 The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...	William Jones William Jones (Liberal politician) William Jones was a British Liberal Party politician.-Early history:Jones was born in 1857 at Ceint Bach near Llangefni in Wales to Richard and Alice Jones...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1915 Arfon by-election, 1915 The Arfon by-election, 1915 was a parliamentary by-election held on 6 July 1915 for the Arfon division of Caernarvonshire in North Wales, a constituency of the British House of Commons....	Caradoc Rees Caradoc Rees Caradoc Rees was a Welsh Liberal Party politician.At the December 1910 general election he stood as the Liberal candidate in the Denbigh Boroughs, but lost by a margin of only 9 votes to the sitting Conservative MP, William Ormsby-Gore.However, William Jones, the Liberal MP for the Arfon division...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...	constituency abolished

MPs since 2010

Election		Member	Party
	2010	Hywel Williams Hywel Williams Hywel Williams is a Welsh politician and Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Arfon. He previously represented Caernarfon.-Biography:He was educated at Ysgol Glan y Môr, Pwllheli and the University of Wales, Cardiff....	Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

Elections in the 2010s

Had the 2005 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

been held under the same boundaries, then this seat would have been held by the Labour Party, with a slim majority of 456 (1.8%) over Plaid Cymru.

Sources

Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1972)