Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Assembly constituency)

Coordinates: 51°45′04″N 3°18′40″W / 51.751°N 3.311°W

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Welsh Assembly county constituency
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney as one of the 40 Welsh Assembly constituencies
Created:	1999
Electoral region:	South Wales East
AM:	Dawn Bowden
Party:	Welsh Labour

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney is a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales. It elects one Assembly Member by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the South Wales East electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Boundaries

The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Westminster constituency.

The other seven constituencies of the South Wales East electoral region are Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport East, Newport West and Torfaen.

Voting

In general elections for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Assembly Member for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation.

Assembly Members

Elected			Member	Party
	1999		Huw Lewis	Labour Co-op
	2016		Dawn Bowden	Welsh Labour

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dawn Bowden	9,763	47.2%	-7.1%
	UKIP	David Rowlands	4,277	20.7%	+20.7%
	Plaid Cymru	Brian Thomas	3,721	18%	+9.2%
	Conservative	Elizabeth Simon	1,331	6.4%	+0.1%
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Griffin	1,122	5.4%	-7.4%
	Green	Julie Colbran	469	2.3%	+2.3%
Majority			5,486
Turnout			20,683	38.5%
	Labour hold		Swing	-13.9

Welsh Assembly Election 2011: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	10,483	54.3	+17.2
	Independent	Tony Rogers	3,432	17.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Kitcher	2,480	12.8	−2.4
	Plaid Cymru	Noel Turner	1,701	8.8	−3.2
	Conservative	Chris O'Brien	1,224	6.3	+0.9
Majority			7,051	36.5	+14.7
Turnout			19,320	35.3	−3.6
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	7,776	37.0	−23.5
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Kitcher	3,195	15.2	+8.0
	Independent	Clive Tovey	2,622	12.5	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Glyndwr Jones	2,519	12.0	−4.2
	Independent	Jeff Edwards	1,915	9.1	N/A
	Conservative	Giles Howard	1,151	5.5	−2.9
	Independent	Jock Greer	844	4.0	N/A
	Independent	Vivienne Elliott-Hadley	809	3.8	N/A
	Independent	Richard D.M. Williams	162	0.8	N/A
Majority			4,518	21.8	−22.5
Turnout			20,993	38.9	+6.1
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−15.8

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	11,148	60.5	+16.6
	Plaid Cymru	Alun G. Cox	2,988	16.2	−10.9
	Conservative	John L. Prosser	1,539	8.4	+3.4
	Independent	Neil Greer	1,423	7.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John A. Ault	1,324	7.2	+0.5
Majority			8,160	44.3	+27.5
Turnout			18,422	32.8	−12.1
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+13.8

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	11,024	43.9	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Alun G. Cox	6,810	27.1	N/A
	Independent	Tony Rogers	3,746	14.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Elwyn Jones	1,682	6.7	N/A
	Conservative	Mrs. Carole M. Hyde	1,246	5.0	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Michael Jenkins	580	2.3	N/A
Majority			4,214	16.8	N/A
Turnout			25,088	44.9	N/A
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

References

1. "Wales elections > Aberavon". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.