Cardiff South and Penarth (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Cardiff South and Penarth (Senedd constituency).
For the geographical area, see Cardiff South (disambiguation).

Cardiff South and Penarth
Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
Map
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Boundary of Cardiff South and Penarth in Wales
Preserved countySouth Glamorgan
Population107,455 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate72,269 (March 2020)[2]
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentStephen Doughty (Labour Co-op)
SeatsOne
Created fromCardiff South East & parts of Barry and Monmouth[3]
Overlaps
SeneddCardiff South and Penarth, South Wales Central

Cardiff South and Penarth (Welsh: De Caerdydd a Phenarth) is a constituency created in 1983 represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2012 by Stephen Doughty, a Labour Co-op MP.[n 1] It was the largest constituency in Wales, with an electorate of 75,175 and one of the most ethnically diverse.[4]

The constituency retained its name, but with altered boundaries, 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 2024 general election.[5]

History

Creation and boundary history

Prior to 1983 Penarth had been part of the abolished Barry constituency, represented by the Conservative backbencher Sir Raymond Gower. Most of the electorate of the new constituency had previously fallen into the abolished seat of Cardiff South East, represented by former Prime Minister, James Callaghan.

Its boundaries remained unchanged until the 2010 redistribution, when Sully was added to this constituency from the Vale of Glamorgan seat.

Political history

Cardiff South and Penarth has had three MPs since its creation, containing some very safe Labour wards from Cardiff such as Butetown, Grangetown and Splott, and several wards from the neighbouring borough of the Vale of Glamorgan, with Penarth mostly favourable to Labour, but with some areas such as Plymouth and Sully in the southern end of the seat where the Conservatives attracted more support. The first, elected at the 1983 general election, was the former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, who secured the seat with a 5.4% majority over Conservative David Tredinnick. Callaghan had immediately prior to the dissolution of Parliament, represented Cardiff South East. Callaghan first became an MP at the 1945 general election, for Cardiff South.

The second MP was Alun Michael (Labour and Co-operative Party) who served 25 years from 1987 before choosing to stand down in 2012. Michael's affiliation with the Co-operative Party did not appear on ballot papers at the 2010 general election because the Electoral Commission ruled that any joint candidates who wanted the names of both their parties included on the ballot paper could not also display the Labour red rose logo.[6] Michael opted to drop the reference to the Co-operative Party but after the election denounced the ruling as "an outrageous piece of incompetence by the Electoral Commission".[7] Michael briefly became Secretary of State for Wales in 1998. Michael held the seat at the 2010 general election with a majority of 10.6% following a 6% swing to the Conservative candidate.[8]

In 2012, Michael was selected by the Labour and Co-operative Parties as their candidate for the election of a Police and Crime Commissioner for the South Wales Police force area and announced he would be standing down from Parliament.[9][10]

At a by-election held on 15 November 2012, Labour's decline was reversed coupled with very low turnout (down 38.2% on the previous election). Labour's Stephen Doughty succeeded Alun Michael winning 47.3% of the overall vote. This was an increase (in share-of-the-vote terms) on Michael's 2010 performance. However, in terms of actual votes cast (9,193 compared with 17,262 in 2010), it was Labour's lowest in this constituency. The 2015 result gave the seat the 83rd-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[11] Labour's result in 2017 saw them secure their largest ever margin in the constituency in terms of raw votes.

Other parties

Five parties' candidates achieved more than the deposit-retaining threshold of 5% of the vote in 2015. The second-placed candidate has been a Conservative candidate since the seat was formed. The closest result was in 1983, when Callaghan won by 5.5% of the vote.

Turnout

Turnout at general elections has ranged between 77.2% in 1992 and 56.2% in 2005.

Boundaries

Map
Map of boundaries 2010–2024

1983–2010: The City of Cardiff wards of Butetown, Grangetown, Llanrumney, Rumney, Splott, and Trowbridge, and the Borough of Vale of Glamorgan wards of Alexandra (became Plymouth and St Augustine's from 2004), Cornerswell, Llandough, and Stanwell.

2010–2024: The Cardiff electoral divisions of Butetown, Grangetown, Llanrumney, Rumney, Splott, and Trowbridge, and the Vale of Glamorgan County Borough electoral divisions of Cornerswell, Dinas Powys (from 2024), Llandough, Plymouth, St Augustine's, Stanwell, and Sully.

2024–present: From the 2024 general election, the constituency gained Cathays and Dinas Powys,[12] though lost Llanrumney, Rumney, and Trowbridge to the new Cardiff East constituency.[13]

Members of Parliament

Election Member[14][15] Party
1983 James Callaghan Labour
1987 Alun Michael Labour and Co-operative
2012 by-election Stephen Doughty Labour and Co-operative

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Cardiff South and Penarth[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 17,448 41.3 N/A
Conservative David Tredinnick 15,172 35.9 N/A
Liberal Winston Roddick 8,816 20.8 N/A
Plaid Cymru Sian Edwards 673 1.6 N/A
Freedom from World Domination Benjamin Lewis 165 0.4 N/A
Majority 2,276 5.4 N/A
Turnout 42,274 71.0 N/A
Registered electors 59,520
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1987: Cardiff South and Penarth[18][19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alun Michael 20,956 46.7 +5.4
Conservative Gareth Neale 16,382 36.5 +0.6
Liberal Jenny Randerson 6,900 15.4 −5.4
Plaid Cymru Sian Edwards 599 1.3 −0.3
Majority 4,574 10.2 +4.8
Turnout 44,837 76.4 +5.4
Registered electors 58,714
Labour Co-op hold Swing +1.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Cardiff South and Penarth[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alun Michael 26,383 55.5 +8.8
Conservative Thomas Jarvie 15,958 33.6 −2.9
Liberal Prabhat Verma 3,707 7.8 −7.6
Plaid Cymru Barbara Anglezarke 776 1.6 +0.3
Green Lester Davey 676 1.4 N/A
Majority 10,425 21.9 +11.7
Turnout 47,500 77.2 +0.8
Registered electors 61,484
Labour Co-op hold Swing +5.9
General election 1997: Cardiff South and Penarth[22][23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alun Michael 22,647 53.4 −2.1
Conservative Caroline E. Roberts 8,786 20.7 −12.9
Liberal Democrats Simon J. Wakefield 3,964 9.3 +1.5
New Labour John Foreman 3,942 9.3 N/A
Plaid Cymru David B. L. Haswell 1,356 3.2 +1.6
Referendum Phillip S. E. Morgan 1,211 2.9 N/A
Socialist Alternative Mike K. Shepherd 344 0.8 N/A
Natural Law Barbara Caves 170 0.4 N/A
Majority 13,861 32.7 +10.8
Turnout 42,420 68.3 −8.9
Registered electors 62,138
Labour Co-op hold Swing +5.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Cardiff South and Penarth[24][25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alun Michael 20,094 56.2 +2.8
Conservative Maureen Owen 7,807 21.8 +1.1
Liberal Democrats Rodney Berman 4,572 12.8 +3.5
Plaid Cymru Lila Haines 1,983 5.5 +2.3
UKIP Justin Callan 501 1.4 N/A
Socialist Alliance David Bartlett 427 1.2 N/A
ProLife Alliance Anne Savoury 367 1.0 N/A
Majority 12,287 34.4 +1.7
Turnout 35,751 57.1 −11.2
Registered electors 62,627
Labour Co-op hold Swing +0.8
General election 2005: Cardiff South and Penarth[26][27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alun Michael 17,447 47.3 −8.9
Conservative Victoria Green 8,210 22.2 +0.4
Liberal Democrats Gavin Cox 7,529 20.4 +7.6
Plaid Cymru Jason Toby 2,023 5.5 ±0.0
Green John Matthews 729 2.0 N/A
UKIP Jennie Tuttle 522 1.4 ±0.0
Socialist Alternative David Bartlett 269 0.7 N/A
Independent Andrew Taylor 104 0.3 N/A
Rainbow Dream Ticket Catherine Taylor-Dawson 79 0.2 N/A
Majority 9,237 25.1 −9.3
Turnout 36,912 56.2 −0.9
Registered electors 65,786
Labour Co-op hold Swing -4.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2010: Cardiff South and Penarth[28][29][30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Alun Michael 17,262 38.9 −7.7
Conservative Simon Hoare 12,553 28.3 +4.4
Liberal Democrats Dominic Hannigan 9,875 22.3 +2.4
Plaid Cymru Farida Aslam 1,851 4.2 −1.1
UKIP Simon Zeigler 1,145 2.6 +1.2
Independent George Burke 648 1.5 N/A
Green Matthew Townsend 554 1.2 −0.6
Christian Clive Bate 285 0.6 N/A
Communist Robert Griffiths 196 0.4 N/A
Majority 4,709 10.6 −14.4
Turnout 44,369 60.2 +2.0
Registered electors 73,707
Labour Co-op hold Swing −6.0
2012 Cardiff South and Penarth by-election[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Stephen Doughty 9,193 47.3 +8.4
Conservative Craig Williams 3,859 19.9 −8.4
Liberal Democrats Bablin Molik 2,103 10.8 −11.5
Plaid Cymru Luke Nicholas 1,854 9.5 +5.3
UKIP Simon Zeigler 1,179 6.1 +3.5
Green Anthony Slaughter 800 4.1 +2.9
Socialist Labour Andrew Jordan 235 1.2 N/A
Communist Robert Griffiths 213 1.1 +0.7
Rejected ballots 135
Majority 5,334 27.4 +16.8
Turnout 19,436 25.7 −34.5
Registered electors 76,764
Labour Co-op hold Swing +8.4

Of the 135 rejected ballots:

  • 63 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[31]
  • 69 voted for more than one candidate.[31]
  • 3 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified.[31]
General election 2015: Cardiff South and Penarth[32][33][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Stephen Doughty[35] 19,966 42.8 +3.9
Conservative Emma Warman 12,513 26.8 −1.5
UKIP John Rees-Evans[36] 6,423 13.8 +11.2
Plaid Cymru Ben Foday[37] 3,443 7.4 +3.2
Liberal Democrats Nigel Howells 2,318 5.0 −17.3
Green Anthony Slaughter 1,746 3.7 +2.5
TUSC Ross Saunders 258 0.6 N/A
Rejected ballots 121
Majority 7,453 16.0 +5.4
Turnout 46,667 61.4 +1.2
Registered electors 76,006
Labour Co-op hold Swing +2.7

Of the 121 rejected ballots:

  • 82 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[33]
  • 35 voted for more than one candidate.[33]
  • 4 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified.[33]
General election 2017: Cardiff South and Penarth[38][39][40]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Stephen Doughty 30,182 59.5 +16.7
Conservative Bill Rees[41] 15,318 30.2 +3.4
Plaid Cymru Ian Titherington[42] 2,162 4.3 −3.1
Liberal Democrats Emma Sands 1,430 2.8 −2.2
UKIP Andrew Bevan 942 1.9 −11.9
Green Anthony Slaughter[43][44] 532 1.0 −2.7
Pirate Jebediah Hedges 170 0.3 N/A
Rejected ballots 107
Majority 14,864 29.3 +13.3
Turnout 50,736 66.3 +4.9
Registered electors 76,499
Labour Co-op hold Swing +6.7

Of the 107 rejected ballots:

  • 76 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[40]
  • 29 voted for more than one candidate.[40]
  • 2 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified.[40]
General election 2019: Cardiff South and Penarth[45][46][47]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Stephen Doughty 27,382 54.1 −5.4
Conservative Phillippa Broom 14,645 29.0 −1.2
Liberal Democrats Dan Schmeising 2,985 5.9 +3.1
Plaid Cymru Nasir Adam 2,386 4.7 +0.4
Brexit Party Tim Price 1,999 4.0 N/A
Green Ken Barker 1,182 2.3 +1.3
Rejected ballots 160
Majority 12,737 25.1 −3.8
Turnout 50,579 64.2 −2.1
Registered electors 78,837
Labour Co-op hold Swing −2.1

Of the 160 rejected ballots:

  • 132 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.[47]
  • 27 voted for more than one candidate.[47]
  • 1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.[47]

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Cardiff South and Penarth[48]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Stephen Doughty 17,428 44.5 –9.2
Green Anthony Slaughter 5,661 14.5 +12.2
Conservative Ellis Smith 5,459 13.9 –16.2
Reform UK Simon Llewellyn 4,493 11.5 +8.7
Plaid Cymru Sharifah Rahman[a] 3,227 8.2 +4.0
Liberal Democrats Alex Wilson 2,908 7.4 +0.4
Majority 11,767 30.0 +4.9
Turnout 39,176 54.0 –15.7
Registered electors 72,613
Labour Co-op hold Swing −10.7

See also

Notes

  1. ^ A borough constituency in terms of election expenses and type of returning officer
  1. ^ Plaid Cymru withdrew their support for Rahman on 7 June 2024, after nominations closed the same day, so she still appeared as the Plaid Cymru candidate on the ballot paper.[49]

References

  1. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  2. ^ Mrs Justice Jefford; Thomas, Huw Vaughan; Hartley, Sam A (June 2023). "Appendix 1: Recommended Constituencies" (PDF). The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales. Cardiff: Boundary Commission for Wales. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-5286-3901-9. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  3. ^ "'Cardiff South and Penarth', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  4. ^ "Election 2015 – Cardiff South & Penarth". BBC. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  5. ^ 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies – The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
  6. ^ David Ottewell (21 April 2010). "Labour candidates barred from using red rose emblem". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  7. ^ Alun Michael (27 May 2010). "Party facts". Penarth Times. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  8. ^ A notional calculation using estimated 2005 results for the boundary-changed constituency. "Cardiff South and Penarth". BBC News Online. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Alun Michael stands down as Cardiff South and Penarth MP today". Wales Online. 21 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Date set for three parliamentary by-elections". BBC News Online. 23 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Map of Welsh MPs seats redrawn as number to be cut to 32". BBC News. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth Parliamentary constituency reorganised". Penarth Times. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth 1983–". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  15. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)
  16. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1983. Politics Resources. 9 June 1983. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  18. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1987. Politics Resources. 11 June 1987. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  20. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  22. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. ^ "BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Cardiff South and Penarth". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  24. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  25. ^ "BBC NEWS > Cardiff South and Penarth". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  26. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth parliamentary constituency – Election 2005". BBC.
  28. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  29. ^ Cardiff South and Penarth Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Cardiff County Council – candidates Cardiff South and Penarth
  30. ^ BBC Election Results BBC News – Election Results – Cardiff South and Penarth
  31. ^ a b c d "Cardiff South and Penarth result". Election results for Cardiff South and Penarth. City of Cardiff Council. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  32. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  33. ^ a b c d "Cardiff South and Penarth result". Election results for Cardiff South and Penarth. City of Cardiff Council. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  34. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  35. ^ "Labour MP Stephen Doughty Is Nominated To Stand Again In 2015 general election"Archived 21 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Penarth Daily News (blog), 15 July 2013.
  36. ^ "UKIP Takes Its 2015 Parliamentary Election Challenge Onto The Streets Of Penarth"Archived 4 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Penarth Daily News (blog), 25 November 2014.
  37. ^ "UK ELECTION RESULTS: CARDIFF SOUTH & PENARTH 2015". UK Election Results. Election Blog. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  38. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll". Caerphilly County Borough Council. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  39. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  40. ^ a b c d "Election Results". Cardiff Council. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  41. ^ "Norfolk North and Penistone & Stocksbridge choose their candidates. Latest selection news". Conservative Home. 2 May 2017.
  42. ^ "GENERAL ELECTION: First candidates for Penarth seat are announced". Penarth Times. 4 May 2017.
  43. ^ "Back on the campaign trail as @WalesGreenParty candidate for #GE2017 in Cardiff South and Penarth". Twitter. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  44. ^ "GENERAL ELECTION: First candidates for Penarth seat are announced". Penarth Times. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  45. ^ "Scheduled elections and polls" (PDF). Cardiff Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  46. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  47. ^ a b c d "Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Cardiff Council. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  48. ^ "Cardiff South and Penarth results". BBC News Online. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  49. ^ Lewis, Rhodri; Grey, Jack (7 June 2024). "Plaid Cymru withdraws candidate support over social media posts". BBC News Online. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the father of the House
1983–1987 		Succeeded by

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