Neath (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Neath 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:...

 represented in 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...

. It elects one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) by the first past the post system of election and one Assembly Member by the first past the post system of election.

The Constituency of Neath

The constituency is located in the preserved county of West Glamorgan
West Glamorgan
West Glamorgan is a preserved county and former administrative county of Wales, one of the divisions of the ancient county of Glamorgan.West Glamorgan was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 from the county borough of Swansea, the municipal boroughs of Neath and Port Talbot,...

, Wales
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...

. It consists of the electoral wards of: Aberdulais
Aberdulais
Aberdulais or mouth & Dulais) is a village in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, lying on the River Neath.- History, amenities & attractions:...

, Allt-wen
Alltwen
Alltwen – meaning "white wooded slope" – is a village in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, near Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley...

, Blaengwrach
Blaengwrach
Blaengwrach is a village near Glynneath and Resolven in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It is also the name of a community and an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough. There are, however, some differences between the boundaries of the community and the ward...

, Bryn-côch North
Bryncoch North
Bryncoch North is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales forming part of the parish of Blaenhonddan.Bryncoch North covers some or all of the following Areas: Bryncoch and Gilfach in the parliamentary constituency of Neath...

, Bryn-côch South
Bryncoch South
Bryncoch South is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales forming part of the parish of Blaenhonddan.Bryncoch South covers some or all of the following areas: Bryncoch, Caewern and Rhydding in the parliamentary constituency of Neath. Bryncoch South is an almost completely...

, Cadoxton
Cadoxton (electoral ward)
Cadoxton is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It forms part of the parish of Blaenhonddan.Cadoxton consists of some or all of the settlements of Cadoxton-juxta-Neath and Cilfrew in the parliamentary constituency of Neath...

, Cimla
Cimla
Cimla is a suburb of the town of Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It is set high up on a hill. It is pronounced Kim-la. The Welsh language spelling is Cymla, pronounced the same way....

, Crynant
Crynant
Crynant is a village in the Dulais Valley, lying between the mountains of Mynydd Marchywel to the west, Hirfynydd to the east and Mynydd y Drum to the north. It lies 7¾ miles north-east from the town of Neath in Neath Port Talbot, Wales....

, Cwmllynfell
Cwmllynfell
Cwmllynfell is the name of a village, community and electoral ward in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.- Amenities :Cwmllynfell has its own local rugby union team - Cwmllynfell RFC. Also, a Welsh Primary School, CK's Supermarket, Post Office, village hall, church, chapel and a grooming parlour...

, Dyffryn
Dyffryn, Neath Port Talbot
Dyffryn, Neath Port Talbot may refer to:*Dyffryn Cellwen*Dyffryn Clydach*Dyffryn School...

, Glynneath
Glynneath (electoral ward)
Glynneath is the name of an electoral ward and a parish in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.The electoral ward of Glynneath consists of some or all of the following settlements: Glynneath, Morfa Glas, Rheola, Crugau, Pont-walby, Bryn-awel, Pentreclwydau and Aber-pergwym in the parliamentary...

, Godre'r Graig
Godre'r Graig
Godre'r Graig is village and an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.The village developed alongside the coal workings at the Tarenni Colliery, which closed in 1949....

, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen (electoral ward)
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The ward of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen along with the Lower Brynamman electoral ward makes up the parish of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen....

, Lower Brynamman
Lower Brynamman
Lower Brynamman is village and an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.The electoral ward of Lower Brynamman forms part of the parish of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen. The ward consists of some or all of the settlements of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Lower Brynamman and Tairgwaith in the...

, Neath East
Neath East
Neath East is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Neath East falls within the community of Neath.Neath East includes some or all of the neighbourhoods of Melincryddan, Pencaerau, Penrhiwtyn in the parliamentary constituency of Neath...

, Neath North
Neath North
Neath North is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales falling within the community of Neath.Neath North includes some or all of the neighbourhoods of Llantwit and Neath town centre in the parliamentary constituency of Neath...

, Neath South
Neath South
Neath South is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales falling in the community of Neath.Neath South consists of some or all of the settlements of Cimla and Mount Pleasant in the parliamentary constituency of Neath...

, Onllwyn
Onllwyn
Onllwyn is a small village in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, near Seven Sisters.-History:First developed by the Romans, local village Banwen is confined to the Roman Road of Sarn Helen. There are two Roman forts and the remains of a Roman Road within the community.Legend has it that St Patrick was born...

, Pelenna
Pelenna
Pelenna is an electoral ward coterminous with a community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, south Wales. The ward consists of some or all of the following areas: Cefn-Saeson, Tonmawr, Pontrhydyfen in the parliamentary constituency of Neath....

, Pontardawe
Pontardawe
Pontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...

, Resolven
Resolven
Resolven is a small village in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. It is located in the heart of the Vale of Neath.- Location :The village is situated in the Vale of Neath, next to the A465 Heads of Valleys Road, and is the main settlement in the community of Resolven...

, Rhos
Rhos, Neath Port Talbot
Rhos is a village in the Swansea Valley, located between Neath and Pontardawe, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, South Wales.-History:Originally part of the Cilybebyll estate, the Primrose Colliery was developed from the mid-1800's, close to the village. On 13 October 1858, when owned by Morgan...

, Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters (electoral ward)
Seven Sisters is an electoral ward coterminous with a parish in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.The electoral ward of Seven Sisters consists of some or all of the following settlements: Seven Sisters, Bryndulais and Nant-y-cafn in the parliamentary constituency of Neath...

, Tonna, Trebanos
Trebanos (electoral ward)
Trebanos is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales, part of the Pontardawe community.Trebanos includes some or all of the following areas: Trebanos, Craig Trebanos and Pontardawe, in the parliamentary constituency of Neath. Trebanos is bounded by the wards of Pontardawe to...

, Ystalyfera
Ystalyfera
Ystalyfera is a former industrial village in the upper Swansea Valley, on the River Tawe, about north-east of Swansea. It is an electoral ward and a community in the unitary authority of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, comprising a resident population of just over 3,000 people, approximately 60% of whom...

.

The Neath constituency is a mixture of both industrial and rural communities, running in a north-south strip along the dips, ridges and folded landscape of South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

. It includes most of the Neath and Dulais valleys, and some of the Upper Swansea Valley as well. The town of Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...

 is at its southern end and is a medium-sized town which started life as a Roman Nidum.

The constituency boasts historical places of both industrial and natural forms. Neath and the surrounding areas were industrialised very early in Britain's history. Copper smelting was already happening here in the late sixteenth century.

When Neath Abbey
Neath Abbey
Neath Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located near the present-day town of Neath in southern Wales, UK.It was once the largest abbey in Wales. Substantial ruins can still be seen, and are in the care of Cadw...

 (now a magnificent ruin) was founded in 1129, it was the richest of all Welsh monasteries, and in writings of the sixteenth century was described as the 'fairest Abbey of all Wales'. At its height it owned extensive lands and property, from Glamorgan to Somerset; had almost 5,000 sheep, as well as horses and cattle; it owned a ship and a landing-place, and worked mills, fisheries and coal-mines. But it suffered greatly during the many skirmishes between the Welsh and English (or Normans), and by the 1530s had only eight monks left. The ruins date mostly from the late thirteenth century. It has been in turn, a prosperous Abbey, a Jacobean Mansion (painted by Turner), an iron foundry (which explains the Abbey's position in the middle of an industrial area) and now an historical monument.

The constituency was heavily mined and the small communities that grew up around these mines were devastated by the collapse of the mining industry in the 1980s. On the edges of many of these communities there are now "Industrial Villages" springing up, helping to replace the jobs lost by the demise of the mining industry, and so helping to keep young people in these communities.

A legacy to Neath's political history is the memorial stone in Victoria Gardens to the 5 Neath citizens killed during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-38.

The constituency remains a Welsh-speaking
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 area, with approximately 26% of the population reported as Welsh speakers.

Members of Parliament

Its current Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 is Peter Hain
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...

, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.
ElectionMember Party
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...

John Hugh Edwards
John Hugh Edwards
Hugh Edwards was a British Liberal Party politician.Aberystwyth-born Edwards was an author, having written a history of Wales and three biographies of David Lloyd George. He was a governor of University College Aberystwyth and University College Cardiff...

Coalition Liberal/Constitutionalist
1922
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...

Sir William Jenkins
William Jenkins (British politician)
Sir William Jenkins was a British Labour politician and trade union leader.Jenkins was the son of a coal miner and attended Glyncorrwg National School before taking up work on the railways at the age of 11½...

Labour
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...

1945 by-election
Neath by-election, 1945
The Neath by-election, 1945, was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Neath in South Wales.Neath was considered a safe seat for the Labour Party and had been held by William Jenkins since the 1922 UK general election. No other candidate had stood in...

D. J. Williams
D. J. Williams (politician)
David James Williams was a British miner and checkweighman who became a Labour Party Member of Parliament .-Coal mining career:...

Labour
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...

1964
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...

Donald Coleman
Donald Coleman
Donald Richard Coleman, CBE, JP, DL was the Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for Neath from 1964 until his death in 1991....

Labour
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...

1991 by-election
Neath by-election, 1991
The Neath by-election, 1991 was a by-election held on 4 April 1991 for the British House of Commons constituency of Neath in Wales. It was won by the Labour Party candidate Peter Hain.- Vacancy :...

Peter Hain
Peter Hain
Peter Gerald Hain is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Neath since 1991, and has served in the Cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, firstly as Leader of the House of Commons under Blair and both Secretary of State for...

Labour
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...


Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

See also

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