South Glamorganshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Glamorganshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1885–1918
Number of members one

South Glamorganshire was a parliamentary constituency in Glamorganshire, Wales. It returned 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.

Overview

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. Of all the Glamorgan seats created by the 1885 redistribution, South Glamorgan was the only one where the Liberal Party could not be assured of victory. The Bute and Dunraven families exercised a powerful influence. The mining areas in the north of the constituency, including the lower reaches of the Rhondda, and the cosmopolitan town of Barry were strongly Liberal but these were juxtaposed against the conservatism of the Vale of Glamorgan and the genteel settlements of Penarth and Llandaff.[1]

The constituency was abolished for the 1918 general election.

Boundaries

Created in the redistribution of seats in 1885 from the old Glamorganshire constituency which had been in existence since 1541, the seat covered a wide area that included Bridgend, Porthcawl, Coity, Ewenny, Ogmore, Llanharry, Llanharan, Cowbridge, Llantwit Major, Dinas Powis, Pendoylan, Bonvilston, Barry, Penarth, Llantrisant, Tonyrefail, Pontyclun and Beddau, and areas which are now part of Cardiff (including St Fagans, Radyr, Whitchurch, Llanishen and Lisvane). It was scrapped in the next redistribution of seats that took place in 1918.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1885 Arthur Williams Liberal
1895 Windham Wyndham-Quin Conservative
1906 William Brace Liberal
1909 Labour
1918 constituency abolished

History

Major Wyndham-Quin

From 1885 until 1895 the seat was held by the Liberals but in 1895 it was captured by a Conservative landowner, who held the seat with a reduced majority in 1900.

William Brace

In 1903, South Glamorgan became the focus of an internal battle within the Liberal Party around whether a labour representative should become the candidate. Although the miners composed only a fifth of the electorate, the claims of William Brace, vice president of the South Wales Miners Federation were also championed by the dockworkers of Barry. Following the intervention of the Liberal Chief Whip, Brace was duly chosen and won the seat in 1906.[2] He held it until its abolition in 1918.

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: South Glamorganshire [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Arthur John Williams 3,945 54.1 n/a
Conservative John Talbot Dillwyn-Llewelyn 3,351 45.9 n/a
Majority 594 n/a
Turnout 82.9 n/a
Liberal win (new seat)
General Election 1886: South Glamorganshire [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Arthur John Williams 3,497 61.6
Liberal Unionist Janes Mowatt 2,177 38.4
Majority 1,320
Turnout 64.4
Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: South Glamorganshire [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Arthur John Williams 4,743 55.4
Conservative Sir Morgan Morgan 3,825 44.6
Majority 918
Turnout 68.6
Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1895: South Glamorganshire [3][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Windham Henry Wyndham-Quin 5,747 53.9
Liberal Arthur John Williams 4,922 46.1
Majority 825
Turnout 75.0
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: South Glamorganshire [3][5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Windham Henry Wyndham-Quin 6,841 52.0
Liberal Walter H. Morgan 6,322 48.0
Majority 519 4.0
Turnout 13,163 73.2
Conservative hold Swing
William Brace
General Election 1906: South Glamorganshire [3][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Lib-Lab 10,514 63.3 +15.3
Conservative Windham Henry Wyndham-Quin 6,096 36.7 -15.3
Majority 4,418 26.6
Turnout 16,610 80.9
Lib-Lab gain from Conservative Swing +15.3

Elections in the 1910s

General Election January 1910: South Glamorganshire [8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour William Brace[10] 11,612 61.0 -2.3
Conservative Lewis Morgan 7,411 39.0 +2.3
Majority 4,201 22.0 -4.6
Turnout 19,023 82.9
Labour hold Swing +2.3
General Election December 1910: South Glamorganshire [6][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour William Brace[10] 10,190 58.43 -2.6
Conservative Lewis Morgan 7,252 41.58 +2.6
Majority 2,938 16.85 -5.2
Turnout 17,442 76.0 -6.9
Labour hold Swing +2.6

General Election 1914/15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

See also

References

  1. ↑ Morgan 1960, p. 10.
  2. ↑ Morgan 1991, p. 209.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Liberal Year Book, 1907
  4. ↑ The Constitutional Year Book, 1904
  5. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901
  6. 1 2 The Times House of Commons Guide 1910, 1911, 1919, Poltico's Publishing Page 101 1911 Section
  7. ↑ The Times House of Commons Guide 1910, 1911, 1919, Poltico's Publishing Page 92 1910 Section
  8. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916
  9. ↑ The Times House of Commons Guide 1910, 1911, 1919, Politico's Publishing Page 92 1910 Section
  10. 1 2 Although some sources described Brace as a Liberal or Lib-Lab candidate, the lengthy discussion in Roy Gregory, The Miners and British Politics shows that he stood as a Labour Party candidate in both 1910 elections, and was surprised not to face a Liberal Party opponent in December.
  11. ↑ Western Mail 5 Sep 1914

Sources

Books and Journals

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