Merthyr (UK Parliament constituency)

Merthyr
Merthyr
Former Borough constituency; for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Seats	one
Created from	Merthyr Tydfil
Replaced by	Merthyr Tydfil

Merthyr was a borough constituency centred on the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The constituency was created for the 1918 general election, and abolished for the 1950 general election, when it was largely replaced by the new constituency of Merthyr Tydfil.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Sir Edgar Rees Jones	Coalition Liberal
	1922	R. C. Wallhead	Labour
	1931		ILP
	1933		Labour
	1934 by-election	S. O. Davies	Labour
1950		constituency abolished: see Merthyr Tydfil

General election 1918: Merthyr^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Edgar Rees Jones	14,127	52.7
	Labour	James Winstone	12,682	47.3
Majority			1,445	5.4	'
Turnout			26,809	76.5
Registered electors			35,049
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Merthyr ^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. C. Wallhead	17,516	53.0	+5.7
	Independent and Anti-Socialist	Richard Mathias^{[note 1]}	15,552	47.0	New
Majority			1,964	6.0	N/A
Turnout			33,068	90.6	+14.1
Registered electors			36,514
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1923: Merthyr ^[2]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. C. Wallhead	19,511	60.1	+7.1
	Liberal	David Rowland Thomas	7,403	22.8	New
	Unionist	Arthur Fox-Davies	5,548	17.1	New
Majority			12,108	37.3	+31.3
Turnout			32,462	86.8	-3.8
Registered electors			37,413
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: Merthyr^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. C. Wallhead	19,882	59.8	-0.3
	Unionist	Arthur Fox-Davies	13,383	40.2	+23.1
Majority			6,499	19.6	-17.7
Turnout			33,265	86.9	+0.1
Registered electors			38,276
	Labour hold		Swing	-11.7

General election 1929: Merthyr ^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. C. Wallhead	22,701	59.6	-0.2
	Liberal	James Jenkins	8,696	22.8	New
	Unionist	Francis Bradley-Birt	6,712	17.6	-22.6
Majority			14,005	36.8	+17.2
Turnout			38,109	85.8	-1.1
Registered electors			44,408
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1931: Merthyr ^[3]^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Labour Party	R. C. Wallhead	24,623	69.4	+9.8
	New Party	Sellick Davies	10,834	30.6	New
Majority			13,789	38.8	N/A
Turnout			35,547	80.8	-5.0
Registered electors			43,908
	Ind. Labour Party gain from Labour		Swing	N/A

1934 Merthyr by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. O. Davies	18,645	51.8	*New*
	Liberal	Victor Evans	10,376	28.9	New
	Ind. Labour Party	Campbell Stephen	3,508	9.8	-59.6
	Communist	Wal Hannington	3,409	9.5	New
Majority			8,269	22.9	N/A
Turnout			35,938	81.1	+0.3
Registered electors			44,286
	Labour gain from Ind. Labour Party		Swing

General election 1935: Merthyr^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. O. Davies	20,530	68.0	*N/A*
	Ind. Labour Party	Claude Stanfield	9,640	32.0	-37.4
Majority			10,890	36.0	N/A
Turnout			30,170	68.8	-12.0
Registered electors			43,842
	Labour gain from Ind. Labour Party		Swing	N/A

General election 1945: Merthyr^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	S. O. Davies	24,879	81.4	+13.4
	Independent Labour	Samuel Jennings	5,693	18.6	New
Majority			19,186	62.8	+36.8
Turnout			30,572	68.6	−0.2
Registered electors			44,540
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

^ Nominee of the local National Liberal association and supported by the Merthyr Conservative association

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 538. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
^ Etholiadau'r ganrif 1885-1997, Beti Jones
^ "Merthyr Tydfil: Political Parties". A Vision of Britain Through Time.

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)