Carmarthen ( Welsh: ''Caerfyrddin'') was the name of a

parliamentary 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 (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

which returned one

Member of Parliament 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 o ...

(MP) to 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. T ...

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 ...

between 1542 and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. It was named Carmarthen Boroughs from 1832 to 1918. At its abolition in 1997 it was replaced, partly by the new Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency and partly by Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

History

Because the seat contained mining areas in the valley of the

River Gwendraeth The River Gwendraeth ( cy, Afon Gwendraeth) is a river in Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It has two almost equal branches that have their confluence in their joint estuary at Carmarthen Bay. The Gwendraeth Fawr (''large Gwendraeth'' in English) ...

(until the 1980s), much countryside and a high proportion of Welsh speakers, it was fertile territory for the Labour Party, 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 ...

and

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

alike. Although the Conservatives never won the seat, they came within 1200 votes of doing so in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. Carmarthen is notable as the first constituency to elect a Plaid Cymru MP,

Gwynfor Evans Gwynfor Richard Evans (1 September 1912 – 21 April 2005) was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. He was President of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru for thirty-six years and was the first Member of Parliament to represent it at Westmi ...

, at a 1966 by-election. Evans was later involved in one of the closest General Election results ever in February 1974, when he lost to the Labour candidate by only three votes. The constituency also shot to fame in the following election in October 1974 as the only seat in the country to see its turnout rise on that of February 1974.

Boundaries

Until 1832, it was a borough constituency consisting of the town of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

. Between 1832 and 1918 it was a district of boroughs constituency, consisting of Carmarthen itself and

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

, and was sometimes called "The Carmarthen Boroughs". In 1918, the borough was abolished, but the name was transferred to one of the divisions of the county of

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

. The constituency was made up of the whole of the county of

except for the urban area around

. Notable towns were

itself, Ammanford and

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the ...

. In 1997, the

Boundary Commission for Wales The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission for ...

recommended an extra seat for

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...

. This led to the seat being split two to one between Carmarthen East & Dinefwr and Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1542–1640

1640–1832

1832–1918: Carmarthen Boroughs

1918–1997: county constituency

Elections

Carmarthen - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr election results

Elections in the 1830s

At the 1830 general election, rioting broke out during polling, at which point John Jones and his Whig rival, John George Philipps, had secured three votes apiece. The vote was abandoned and a by-election was called four months later in December.

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Morris' death caused a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Nevill resigned, causing a by-election. Cowell-Stepney resigned, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1880s

Williams resigned after being appointed a County Court judge, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1890s

* Lewis Morris was Liberal candidate but retired before the poll.'MORRIS, Sir Lewis', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 201
accessed 23 April 2015
/ref>

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

1941 Carmarthen by-election Labour: Moelwyn Hughes elected unopposed.

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Notes and references

Sources

* Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807

* D Brunton & D H Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) * ''Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803'' (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808

* ''The Constitutional Year Book for 1913'' (London: National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations, 1913) * F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885'' (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) * J Holladay Philbin, ''Parliamentary Representation 1832 – England and Wales'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmarthen Historic parliamentary constituencies in South Wales Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1542 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1997 Politics of Carmarthenshire