Rhondda (Assembly constituency)

Coordinates: 51°38′38″N 3°25′37″W / 51.644°N 3.427°W

Rhondda
National Assembly for Wales county constituency
Rhondda shown within the South Wales Central electoral region and the region shown within Wales
Current National Assembly for Wales county constituency
Created	1999
Party	Plaid Cymru
AM	Leanne Wood
Preserved county	Mid Glamorgan South Glamorgan

Rhondda 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 Central 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 Rhondda Westminster constituency. It is entirely within the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan.

The other seven constituencies of the region are Cardiff Central, Cardiff North, Cardiff South and Penarth, Cardiff West, Cynon Valley, Pontypridd and Vale of Glamorgan.

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.

Members of the National Assembly for Wales

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Geraint Davies	Plaid Cymru
	2003	Leighton Andrews	Labour
	2016	Leanne Wood	Plaid Cymru

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Rhondda[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Leanne Wood	11,891	50.6	+21.1
	Labour	Leighton Andrews	8,432	35.9	-27.3
	UKIP	Stephen Clee	2,203	9.4	+9.4
	Conservative	Maria Hill	528	2.2	-2.6
	Green	Pat Matthews	259	1.1	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Rhys Taylor	173	0.7	-1.7
Majority			3,459	14.7	-18.9
Turnout			23,486	47.2	+9.2
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Welsh Assembly Election 2011: Rhondda[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leighton Andrews	12,650	63.2	+4.9
	Plaid Cymru	Sera Evans-Fear	5,911	29.5	−0.6
	Conservative	James Eric Jeffreys	969	4.8	−0.3
	Liberal Democrats	George Summers	497	2.5	−4.0
Majority			6,739	33.6	+5.5
Turnout			20,027	38	−4.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.8

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Rhondda[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leighton Andrews	12,875	58.2	−3.4
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans	6,660	30.1	+3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Roberts	1,441	6.5	+3.5
	Conservative	Howard Parsons	1,131	5.1	+2.9
Majority			6,215	28.1	-6.5
Turnout			22,107	42.1	-3.5
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.3

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Rhondda
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Leighton Andrews	14,170	61.6	+21.1
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Davies	6,216	27.0	−21.7
	Independent	Jeffrey Gregory	909	4.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Mrs Veronica K. Watkins	680	3.0	−1.7
	UKIP	Dr. Kunnathur T. Rajan	524	2.3	N/A
	Conservative	Paul J. Williams	504	2.2	−0.6
Majority			7,954	34.6
Turnout			23,003	45.6	−4.6
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing	+21.4

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Rhondda
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Davies	13,558	48.7	N/A
	Labour	Wayne David	11,273	40.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Meurig Williams	1,303	4.7	N/A
	Independent	Glyndwr Summers	913	3.3	N/A
	Conservative	Peter Hobbins	774	2.8	N/A
Majority			2,285	8.2	N/A
Turnout			27,821	50.2	N/A
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)

References

1. "Wales elections > Aberavon". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
2. "Wales elections > Rhondda". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
3. Election results - 2007, National Assembly for Wales