Cardiff Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 51°30′14″N 3°09′32″W / 51.504°N 3.159°W / 51.504; -3.159
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Cardiff Central (Senedd constituency).
For other uses, see Cardiff Central (disambiguation).

Cardiff Central
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Cardiff Central in Wales
Preserved countySouth Glamorgan
Population88,097 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate64,225 (December 2010)[2]
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentJo Stevens (Labour Party)
SeatsOne
Created fromCardiff North and Cardiff South East[3]
1918–1950
SeatsOne
Type of constituencyBorough constituency
Created fromCardiff
Replaced byCardiff North and Cardiff West
Overlaps
SeneddCardiff Central, South Wales Central

Cardiff Central (Welsh: Canol Caerdydd) is a borough constituency[n 1] in the city of Cardiff. It returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system. The seat is currently held by Jo Stevens of the Labour Party. She was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 6 April 2020.

The constituency is set to be 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 next United Kingdom general election. Its wards is to be split between Cardiff East and Cardiff South and Penarth.[4]

Boundaries[edit]

Map
Map of current boundaries

1918–1950: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Canton, Cathays, Central, and Riverside.

1983–2010: The City of Cardiff wards of Adamsdown, Cathays, Cyncoed, Pentwyn, Plasnewydd, and Roath.

2010–present: The Cardiff electoral divisions of Adamsdown, Cathays, Cyncoed, Pentwyn, Penylan, and Plasnewydd.

As its name suggests, Cardiff Central covers the central area of the City of Cardiff. It extends from the area around the Millennium Stadium in the south to Llanishen Golf Course in the north, taking in the City Centre and the University.[5]

History[edit]

This was a Conservative-held three-way marginal constituency throughout the 1980s but since 1997 Labour and the Liberal Democrats have pushed the Conservative candidate into third place. The Liberal Democrats won the equivalent Welsh Assembly seat in 1999 and 2003 and also dominate the wards which make up the seat in elections to Cardiff Council.

The constituency is socially diverse, with both very affluent and very deprived areas. It has a large student population which seems to have helped Labour to win in 1992 and 1997 but thereafter increasingly switched to the Liberal Democrats due to opposition to government plans for reforming student support. This switched yet again in the 2015 general election where students were disillusioned by the broken promises the Liberal Democrats made regarding tuition fees. This was despite the fact that these student loan promises did not apply to Wales, which has a different funding system and MP Jenny Willott had also voted against the English changes in Parliament.[5][6]

The seat was unchanged in the Fifth Periodical Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales, which took effect at the 2010 general election.

Since the seat's re-creation in 1983, it has been held successively by each of the three main political parties; the Liberal Democrats gained it at the 2005 election after 13 years of Labour representation. The constituency has transformed dramatically from being a Conservative seat for some years, to a Labour–Lib Dem marginal to the safest Labour seat in Wales today.

Members of Parliament[edit]

MPs 1918–1950[edit]

Election Member[7][8] Party
1918 James Childs Gould Unionist
1924 Lewis Lougher Unionist
1929 Ernest Bennett Labour
1931 National Labour
1945 George Thomas Labour
1950 constituency abolished

MPs since 1983[edit]

Election Member[8] Party
1983 Ian Grist Conservative
1992 Jon Owen Jones Labour Co-operative
2005 Jenny Willott Liberal Democrat
2015 Jo Stevens Labour

Elections[edit]

Elections 1918–1945[edit]

Elections in the 1910s[edit]

General election 1918: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Childs Gould* 8,542 41.1 N/A
Labour James Edmunds 4,663 22.4 N/A
Liberal George Frederick Forsdike 4,172 20.1 N/A
Ind. Unionist Robert Hughes 3,419 16.4 N/A
Majority 3,879 18.7 N/A
Turnout 20,796 56.9 N/A
Registered electors 36,557
Unionist win (new seat)
  • coupon issued but withdrawn.

Elections in the 1920s[edit]

General election 1922: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Childs Gould 13,885 50.0 +8.9
Labour James Edmunds 8,169 29.4 +7.0
Liberal Charles Fletcher Sanders 5,732 20.6 +0.5
Majority 5,716 20.6 +1.9
Turnout 27,786 74.4 +17.5
Registered electors 37,326
Unionist hold Swing +1.0
General election 1923: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist James Childs Gould 10,261 38.4 -11.6
Labour James Edmunds 8,563 32.0 +2.6
Liberal Ieuan Watkins Evans 7,923 29.6 +9.0
Majority 1,698 6.4 -14.2
Turnout 26,747 71.4 -3.0
Registered electors 37,444
Unionist hold Swing -7.1
General election 1924: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Lewis Lougher 14,537 49.7 +11.3
Labour David Pole 9,864 33.8 +1.8
Liberal Aneurin Edwards 4,805 16.5 -13.1
Majority 4,673 15.9 +9.5
Turnout 29,206 76.8 +5.4
Registered electors 38,026
Unionist hold Swing +4.8
General election 1929: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ernest Bennett 14,469 39.1 +5.3
Unionist Lewis Lougher 12,903 34.9 -14.8
Liberal Barnett Janner 9,623 26.0 +9.5
Majority 1,566 4.2 N/A
Turnout 36,995 78.2 +1.4
Registered electors 47,282
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +10.1

Elections in the 1930s[edit]

General election 1931: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Labour Ernest Bennett 24,120 69.2 N/A
Labour Edward Archbold 10,758 30.8 -8.3
Majority 13,362 38.4 N/A
Turnout 34,878 72.6 -5.6
Registered electors 48,065
National Labour gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Labour Ernest Bennett 16,954 51.5 -17.7
Labour John Dugdale 12,094 36.8 +6.0
Liberal William Glanville Brown 3,863 11.7 N/A
Majority 4,860 14.7 -23.7
Turnout 32,911 68.7 -3.9
Registered electors 47,912
National Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s[edit]

General election 1939–40: Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

General election 1945: Cardiff Central[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Thomas 16,506 49.1 +12.3
Conservative Charles Stuart Hallinan 11,982 35.7 N/A
Liberal Peter Hopkin Morgan 5,121 15.2 +3.5
Majority 4,524 13.4 N/A
Turnout 33,609 72.3 +3.6
Registered electors 46,505
Labour gain from National Labour Swing

Elections 1983 to current[edit]

Elections in the 1980s[edit]

General election 1983: Cardiff Central[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Grist 16,090 41.4 N/A
Liberal Mike German 12,638 32.6 N/A
Labour Raymond Davies 9,387 24.2 N/A
Plaid Cymru Andrew Morgan 704 1.8 N/A
Majority 3,452 8.8 N/A
Turnout 38,819 72.1 N/A
Registered electors 53,815
Conservative win (new seat)
General election 1987: Cardiff Central[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Ian Grist 15,241 37.1 −4.3
Labour Jon Owen Jones 13,255 32.3 +8.1
Liberal Mike German 12,062 29.3 −3.3
Plaid Cymru Siân Mair Caiach 535 1.3 −0.5
Majority 1,986 4.8 −4.0
Turnout 41,093 77.6 +5.5
Registered electors 52,980
Conservative hold Swing −6.2

Elections in the 1990s[edit]

General election 1992: Cardiff Central[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jon Owen Jones 18,014 42.0 +9.7
Conservative Ian Grist 14,549 33.9 −3.2
Liberal Democrats Jenny Randerson 9,170 21.4 −7.9
Plaid Cymru Huw Marshall 748 1.7 +0.4
Green Christopher Von Ruhland 330 0.8 N/A
Natural Law Brian Francis 105 0.2 N/A
Majority 3,465 8.1 N/A
Turnout 42,916 74.3 −3.3
Registered electors 57,716
Labour Co-op gain from Conservative Swing +6.5
General election 1997: Cardiff Central[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jon Owen Jones 18,464 43.7 +1.7
Liberal Democrats Jenny Randerson 10,541 24.9 +3.5
Conservative David Melding 8,470 20.0 −13.9
Socialist Labour Terence Burns 2,230 5.3 N/A
Plaid Cymru Wayne Vernon 1,504 3.6 +1.9
Referendum Nick Lloyd 760 1.8 N/A
Monster Raving Loony Craig James 204 0.5 N/A
Natural Law Anthony Hobbs 80 0.2 ±0.0
Majority 7,923 18.8 +10.7
Turnout 42,253 70.0 -4.3
Registered electors 60,393
Labour Co-op hold Swing +7.8

Elections in the 2000s[edit]

General election 2001: Cardiff Central[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Jon Owen Jones 13,451 38.6 −5.1
Liberal Democrats Jenny Willott 12,792 36.7 +11.8
Conservative Gregory Walker 5,537 15.9 −4.1
Plaid Cymru Richard Rhys Grigg 1,680 4.8 +1.2
Green Stephen Bartley 661 1.9 N/A
Socialist Alliance Julian Goss 283 0.8 N/A
UKIP Frank Hughes 221 0.6 N/A
ProLife Alliance Madeleine Jeremy 217 0.6 N/A
Majority 659 1.9 -16.9
Turnout 34,842 58.3 −11.7
Registered electors 59,785
Labour Co-op hold Swing -8.5
General election 2005: Cardiff Central[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jenny Willott 17,991 49.8 +13.1
Labour Co-op Jon Owen Jones 12,398 34.3 −4.3
Conservative Gotz Mohindra 3,339 9.2 −6.7
Plaid Cymru Richard Rhys Grigg 1,271 3.5 −1.3
Respect Raja Gul-Raiz 386 1.1 N/A
UKIP Frank Hughes 383 1.1 +0.5
Independent Anne Savoury 168 0.5 N/A
New Millennium Bean Party Captain Beany 159 0.4 N/A
Rainbow Dream Ticket Catherine Taylor-Dawson 37 0.1 N/A
Majority 5,593 15.5 N/A
Turnout 36,132 59.2 +0.9
Registered electors 61,079
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Co-op Swing +8.7

Elections in the 2010s[edit]

General election 2010: Cardiff Central[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jenny Willott 14,976 41.4 −8.4
Labour Jenny Rathbone 10,400 28.8 −5.5
Conservative Karen Robson 7,799 21.6 +12.4
Plaid Cymru Chris Williams 1,246 3.4 −0.1
UKIP Sue Davies 765 2.1 +1.0
Green Sam Coates 575 1.6 N/A
TUSC Ross Saunders 162 0.4 N/A
Monster Raving Loony Mark Beech 142 0.4 N/A
Independent Alun Mathias 86 0.2 N/A
Majority 4,576 12.6 -2.9
Turnout 36,151 59.1 -0.1
Registered electors 61,165
Liberal Democrats hold Swing −1.4
General election 2015: Cardiff Central[22][23][24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jo Stevens 15,462 40.0 +11.2
Liberal Democrats Jenny Willott 10,481 27.1 −14.3
Conservative Richard Hopkin 5,674 14.7 −6.9
UKIP Anthony Raybould 2,499 6.5 +4.4
Green Chris Von Ruhland 2,461 6.4 +4.8
Plaid Cymru Martin Pollard 1,925 5.0 +1.6
TUSC Steve Williams 110 0.3 −0.1
Independent Kazimir Hubert 34 0.1 N/A
Rejected ballots 117
Majority 4,981 12.9 N/A
Turnout 38,646 67.3 +8.2
Registered electors 57,456
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing +12.8

Of the 117 rejected ballots:

  • 81 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[23]
  • 32 voted for more than one candidate.[23]
  • 4 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified.[23]
See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Cardiff Central
General election 2017: Cardiff Central[25][26][27][28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jo Stevens[29] 25,193 62.4 +22.4
Conservative Gregory Stafford 7,997 19.8 +5.1
Liberal Democrats Eluned Parrott[30] 5,415 13.4 -13.7
Plaid Cymru Mark Hooper 999 2.5 -2.5
Green Benjamin Smith 420 1.0 -5.4
UKIP Mohammed Sarul-Islam 343 0.8 -5.7
Rejected ballots 80
Majority 17,196 42.6 +29.7
Turnout 40,367 68.1 +0.8
Registered electors 59,288
Labour hold Swing +8.6

Of the 80 rejected ballots:

  • 59 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[25]
  • 19 voted for more than one candidate.[25]
  • 2 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified.[25]
General election 2019: Cardiff Central[31][32][33]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jo Stevens 25,605 61.2 −1.2
Conservative Meirion Jenkins 8,426 20.1 +0.3
Liberal Democrats Bablin Molik 6,298 15.1 +1.7
Brexit Party Gareth Pearce 1,006 2.4 N/A
Gwlad Gwlad Siân Caiach 280 0.7 N/A
Independent Akil Kata 119 0.3 N/A
Socialist (GB) Brian Johnson 88 0.2 N/A
Rejected ballots 204
Majority 17,179 41.1 -1.5
Turnout 41,822 65.3 -2.8
Registered electors 64,037
Labour hold Swing -0.8

Of the 204 rejected ballots:

  • 166 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[32]
  • 38 voted for more than one candidate.[32]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cardiff Central: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  2. ^ "Beyond 20/20 WDS – Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ^ "'Cardiff Central', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  4. ^ 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Waldram, Hannah (9 December 2010). "Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott resigns over tuition fees" – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ Dewey, Philip (8 May 2015). "Lib Dem Jenny Willott loses to Labour in Cardiff Central". WalesOnline. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Cardiff Central 1918–1950". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Craig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 534
  10. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  14. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  15. ^ "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Cardiff Central". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ^ "BBC NEWS > Cardiff Central". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  18. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Cardiff Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  20. ^ Cardiff Central Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Cardiff County Council – candidates Cardiff Central
  21. ^ Cardiff Central BBC Election – Cardiff Central
  22. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  23. ^ a b c d "Cardiff Central result". Election results for Cardiff Central. City of Cardiff Council. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  24. ^ "Cardiff Central Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  25. ^ a b c d Election results for Cardiff Central, UK Parliamentary Election - Thursday, 8th June, 2017, cardiff.gov.uk, retrieved 18 June 2017
  26. ^ Salter, Christine (11 May 2017), Cardiff Central, Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations (PDF), cardiff.gov.uk, retrieved 16 May 2017[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ Salter, Christine (11 May 2017), Cardiff Central, Notice of Election Agents' Names and Offices (PDF), cardiff.gov.uk, retrieved 16 May 2017[permanent dead link]
  28. ^ "Cardiff Central Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  29. ^ "Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Election 2017: Cardiff Central".[permanent dead link]
  30. ^ "Eluned Parrott to fight for Cardiff Central". Cardiff Liberal Democrats.
  31. ^ "Scheduled elections and polls" (PDF). Cardiff Council. Cardiff Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  32. ^ a b c Election results for Cardiff Central, UK Parliamentary Election - 2019, Cardiff Council, retrieved 9 January 2020
  33. ^ Election results for Cardiff Central, UK Parliamentary Election - 2019, BBC, retrieved 21 December 2019

External links[edit]

51°30′14″N 3°09′32″W / 51.504°N 3.159°W / 51.504; -3.159

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