Cynon Valley by-election, 1984
Encyclopedia
The Cynon Valley by-election, 1984 was a parliamentary by-election
held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons
constituency
of Cynon Valley
.
Member of Parliament (MP), Ioan Lyonel Evans
(July 1927 – 10 February 1984), had died at the age of 56.
Evans was a Labour Co-operative
politician. He was educated at Llanelli
Grammar School
and Swansea University College. He served on the West Bromwich
education committee and acted as Labour Party
agent for the general elections in 1955 and 1959 in Birmingham Small Heath
. He was secretary of Birmingham
and District Co-operative Party.
Evans was elected as Labour Co-operative
MP for Birmingham Yardley at the 1964 general election
, but lost the seat in 1970. He was Comptroller of the Household
from 1968 to 1970.
At the February 1974 general election
he was returned for the Welsh
seat of Aberdare
which was abolished in 1983, with Evans taking the new seat of Cynon Valley.
1. Mrs Ann Clwyd Roberts (usually known as Ann Clwyd)
, born 21 March 1937, was a broadcaster and journalist.
She had been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Mid and West Wales
1979-1984 and had contested the Westmininster seat of Denbigh
in 1970. After winning the by-election, she retained this seat ever since (as at April 2010).
2. Felix Franc Elfed Aubel, a postgraduate research student born in 1960 was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party
(SDP) and represented the SDP-Liberal Alliance
. He had contested the same seat in the 1983 general election
.
3. Clayton Francis Jones was nominated by Plaid Cymru
. He was a 31 year old coach operator and was a member of Taff-Ely Borough Council and Mid-Glamorgan County Council.
4. James Norwich Arbuthnot
, a barrister born in 1952, represented the Conservative Party
. He had been a Councillor in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea since 1978. Arbuthnot contested this constituency in 1983. He became a Conservative MP in 1987 and (in June 2008) he is the member for North East Hampshire.
5. Mrs Mary Winter represented the Communist Party
. She was a senior social services officer with Mid-Glamorgan County Council and was aged 36 at the time of the by-election.
6. Noel Edmundbury Rencontre was an Independent candidate, who sought election under the ballot paper label Womble Independent.
7. Paul Nicholls-Jones was an Independent candidate.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held on 3 May 1984 for the British House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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 Cynon Valley
Cynon Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Cynon Valley 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...
.
Previous MP
The seat had become vacant on 10 February 1984. The constituency's LabourLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Member of Parliament (MP), Ioan Lyonel Evans
Ioan Evans
Ioan Lyonel Evans was a British politician. He served as a Labour Co-operative Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1970 and from 1974 until his death.-Early life:...
(July 1927 – 10 February 1984), had died at the age of 56.
Evans was a Labour Co-operative
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....
politician. He was educated at Llanelli
Llanelli
Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...
Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and Swansea University College. He served on the West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
education committee and acted as Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
agent for the general elections in 1955 and 1959 in Birmingham Small Heath
Birmingham Small Heath (UK Parliament constituency)
Birmingham Small Heath was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Small Heath area of Birmingham. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
. He was secretary of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and District Co-operative Party.
Evans was elected as Labour Co-operative
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative describes those candidates in British elections standing on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party, based on a national agreement between the two parties....
MP for Birmingham Yardley at the 1964 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
, but lost the seat in 1970. He was Comptroller of the Household
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...
from 1968 to 1970.
At the February 1974 general election
United Kingdom general election, February 1974
The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,...
he was returned for the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
seat of Aberdare
Aberdare (UK Parliament constituency)
Aberdare was a constituency in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1918 general election and returned one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system until it was abolished for the 1983 general election....
which was abolished in 1983, with Evans taking the new seat of Cynon Valley.
Candidates
Seven candidates were nominated.1. Mrs Ann Clwyd Roberts (usually known as Ann Clwyd)
Ann Clwyd
Ann Clwyd Roberts is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Cynon Valley since 1984.-Early life:Ann Clwyd is the daughter of Gwilym Henri Lewis and Elizabeth Ann Lewis...
, born 21 March 1937, was a broadcaster and journalist.
She had been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Mid and West Wales
Mid and West Wales (European Parliament constituency)
Mid and West Wales was a European Parliament constituency covering south western Wales.Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
1979-1984 and had contested the Westmininster seat of Denbigh
Denbigh (UK Parliament constituency)
Denbigh was a county constituency centred on the town of Denbigh in North Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
in 1970. After winning the by-election, she retained this seat ever since (as at April 2010).
2. Felix Franc Elfed Aubel, a postgraduate research student born in 1960 was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
(SDP) and represented the SDP-Liberal Alliance
SDP-Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...
. He had contested the same seat in the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
.
3. Clayton Francis Jones was nominated by 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...
. He was a 31 year old coach operator and was a member of Taff-Ely Borough Council and Mid-Glamorgan County Council.
4. James Norwich Arbuthnot
James Arbuthnot
James Norwich Arbuthnot, MP is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Hampshire.-Early life:...
, a barrister born in 1952, represented the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. He had been a Councillor in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea since 1978. Arbuthnot contested this constituency in 1983. He became a Conservative MP in 1987 and (in June 2008) he is the member for North East Hampshire.
5. Mrs Mary Winter represented the Communist Party
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
. She was a senior social services officer with Mid-Glamorgan County Council and was aged 36 at the time of the by-election.
6. Noel Edmundbury Rencontre was an Independent candidate, who sought election under the ballot paper label Womble Independent.
7. Paul Nicholls-Jones was an Independent candidate.
Votes
See also
- Cynon Valley constituencyCynon Valley (UK Parliament constituency)Cynon Valley 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...
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- United Kingdom by-election recordsUnited Kingdom by-election recordsUK by-election records is an annotated list of notable records from UK Parliamentary by-elections. A by-election occurs when a Member of Parliament resigns, dies, or is disqualified or expelled, and an election is held to fill the vacant seat...
Source
- Britain Votes/Europe Votes By-Election Supplement 1983-, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1985)