Conwy (Conway prior to 1983) was an
electoral
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
represented in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. It returned one
Member of Parliament (MP)
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...
by the
single-member district plurality
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per ...
(also known as first-past-the-post)
system of voting.
The constituency was created for the
1950 general election, and abolished for the
2010 general election.
History
It was a marginal between the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
and the
Labour Party throughout its existence.
The
Conwy Welsh Assembly constituency was created with the same boundaries as the Conwy House of Commons constituency in 1999.
Boundaries
The constituency was, geographically, relatively small for its region, as it followed and tended to keep to the coast, taking in parts of two separate densely populated coastal conurbations.
As well as the walled castle town of
Conwy
Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...
from which it bore its name, the constituency mainly comprised the popular holiday resort and retail centre of
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
to the east, and the city of
Bangor, which is home to the
University of Wales, Bangor
Bangor University ( cy, Prifysgol Bangor) is a Public university, public university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Bangor, Wales. It received its Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 and was one of the founding institutions of the federal University of Wales ...
, to the west. It also included the smaller coastal towns of
Penmaenmawr
Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an i ...
and
Llanfairfechan
Llanfairfechan ("Little Mary, Mother of God, St Mary's llan (placename), Parish") is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is known as a seaside resort and had a population at the United Kingdom Census 20 ...
, as well as some sparser inland areas including former
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
-quarrying communities in the
Ogwen Valley
Dyffryn Ogwen, or Ogwen Valley, is a valley mostly located in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The upper section of the valley, east of Llyn Ogwen, lies in the county of Conwy.
Geography
The valley lies to the south of Bangor. It is bordered on ...
.
The constituency, notably, did ''not'' include
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
(or outlying
Rhos-on-Sea
Rhos-on-Sea ( cy, Llandrillo-yn-Rhos) is a seaside resort and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. The population was 7,593 at the 2011 census. It adjoins Colwyn Bay and is named after the Welsh kingdom of Rhos established there in late ...
), which forms part of a coastal conurbation (and the
Conwy county borough
Conwy County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is a county borough in Wales. It borders Gwynedd to the west and south, and Denbighshire to the east. Other settlements in the county borough include Abergele, Betws-y-Coed, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, ...
) with Llandudno and its outlying town of
Penrhyn Bay
Penrhyn Bay ( cy, Bae Penrhyn "headland bay") is a small town on the northern coast of Wales, in Conwy county borough, within the parish or community of Llandudno, and part of the ''ecclesiastical'' parish of Llanrhos. It is a prosperous villag ...
—both in the constituency; this area comes under the
constituency of Clwyd West to the east. Nor did it include the town of
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
—just southwest of Bangor—which was in
a constituency of the same name.
The constituency was also bordered by
Meirionnydd Nant Conwy to the south, and the insular constituency of
Ynys Mon to the west.
Following the decisions of the Welsh Boundary Commission, the Conwy seat was significantly altered, forming the base of a new
Aberconwy constituency established for the
2010 general election. Part of the constituency (notably
Bangor) became part of the new
Arfon constituency.
Profile
Although the constituency included a student population from
the university, most of the voters were towards the older end of the age spectrum as it was a popular retirement area. The constituency was also linguistically diverse, with mainly
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
speakers in the east and mainly
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
speakers in the west and inland areas.
Members of Parliament
The last
MP was
Betty Williams
Elizabeth Williams ( Smyth; 22 May 1943 – 17 March 2020) was a peace activist from Northern Ireland. She was a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, a ...
of the
Labour Party, who held the seat from 1997 (when she gained 35.04% of the vote—a 9.4% swing from the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
) until its abolition in 2010. Williams increased her share of the vote in 2001 (by 6.8%), but it was reduced in 2005 (by 4.7%). She is also the first female MP to hold the seat. The seat was previously held (since its renaming in 1983) by Sir
Wyn Roberts
Ieuan Wyn Pritchard Roberts, Baron Roberts of Conwy, PC (10 July 1930 – 13 December 2013) was a Welsh Conservative politician.
His father was a Minister in a chapel in Llansadwrn, Anglesey, and they lived in the schoolhouse.
He was Member of ...
for the Conservative Party, who was first elected for Conway, the old anglicised name of the constituency, in 1970.
Elections
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 2000s
In the
2005 general election, the seat was the 81st easiest seat for the
Liberal Democrats to gain, and the 153rd easiest seat for the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
to gain. The
Labour Party did not include the seat on its list of vulnerable seats and eventually held the seat (with a reduced proportion of the vote).
Official declaration of result of the poll (in PDF)
See also
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Clwyd
Seven constituencies cover Clwyd. They are county constituencies (CCs) (for type of returning officer and election expenses) of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament (Westminster), and are used also for elections to the Senedd. The current ...
*
List of parliamentary constituencies in Gwynedd
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conwy (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Historic parliamentary constituencies in North Wales
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2010