Pontypridd is a

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

UK Parliament 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 supremac ...

since

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

by Alex Davies-Jones of the Labour Party.

Boundaries

Pontypridd constituency can be split into two parts, a northern part containing the town itself, and a southern part focussed on Llantrisant. In

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

township itself the wards are: Town,

Treforest Treforest ( cy, Trefforest) is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is situated in the Treforest electoral ward, along with the village of Glyntaff (or Glyn-Taf). It is part of the Pon ...

, Rhondda (consisting of

Hopkinstown Hopkinstown ( cy, Trehopcyn) is a small village to the west of Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, alongside the River Rhondda. Hopkinstown is a former coalmining and industrial community, now a district in the town of Po ...

Maesycoed Maesycoed is a settlement to the south and west of Pontypridd town centre in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Maesycoed is a district in the town of Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cy ...

, Pantygraigwen,

Trehafod Trehafod is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley between Porth and Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 698 in the 2011 census.(The earlier name ''Hafod'' was altered in 1905 to avoid confu ...

, &

Pwllgwaun Pwllgwaun (or Pwll-Gwaun) is a village and small suburb of Pontypridd within the 'Rhondda' electoral ward, bordered by Hopkinstown and Graigwen hill to the north and east, the hillsides of Maesycoed above, and is located along the banks of the ...

), Graig,

Trallwng Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

Rhydyfelin Rhydyfelin (, ''Mill Ford'') is a large village (originally known as Rhydfelen) and part of the community of Pontypridd Town, about two miles to its south east of Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf. It is on the eastern ban ...

Central & Ilan, &

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

. The Western half consists of the following wards:

Taffs Well Taff's Well () is a semi-rural village, community and electoral ward located at the south easterly tip of Rhondda Cynon Taf, to the north of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Known locally as the 'Gates to the Valleys', it is separated from ...

Beddau Beddau ( en, Graves cy, Y Beddau) is a large former mining village (and electoral ward) situated within the South Wales Valleys Davies (2008), page 507. around from Llantrisant and from the larger town of Pontypridd in the county borough of R ...

, Church Village,

Tonteg Tonteg is a village around three and a half miles (6 km) from Pontypridd, south Wales. It is north west of Cardiff and four miles (6.5 km) north east of Llantrisant. The village is within the community of Lla ...

Llantwit Fardre Llantwit Fardre ( cy, Llanilltud Faerdref) is a large village and community (and electoral ward) situated on the A473, Pontypridd to Bridgend, road near the Welsh towns of Pontypridd and Llantrisant. Llantwit Fardre is also the name of the old ...

, Llantrisant,

Pontyclun Pontyclun (or Pont-y-clun) is a village and community located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Like the surrounding towns, it has seen a sharp increase in its population in the last ten years as people migrate south from the S ...

Talbot Green Talbot Green ( cy, Tonysguboriau "lea of the barns") is a town (and electoral ward) just north of the M4 motorway, in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales in the United Kingdom. The town is part of Llantrisant Community Council. Geogr ...

Tonyrefail Tonyrefail is a village and community in the Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough, Wales. It is situated at the head of the River Ely; northwest of Llantrisant, about from Trebanog and about from Williamstown. During the second half of the 19th ...

East and Tonyrefail West. Alternatively, one can think of the constituency as being divided between a 'suburban' district in the south and communities that grew in the industrial revolution to the north; the Southern area, particularly between Church Village and Llantrisant, contains much new residential and light industrial development, and benefits from good transport links due to its proximity to the M4. This section has a growing population and is an important 'dormitory' for Cardiff. The Northern parts, particularly Tonyrefail and the northern end of Pontypridd town consists of large sections of 19th century housing and suffered high unemployment in the 1980s as the old industries closed. However, in recent years, economic recovery has been firm, especially considered with neighbouring constituencies to the north. The Pontypridd constituency was created in its original form from parts of the old South Glamorganshire & East Glamorganshire constituencies as part of the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

(sometimes referred to as 'The Fourth Reform Act') which granted virtually all men over 21 the right to vote, extended voting rights to women over 30 years of age, & increased the number of the now abolished

University constituencies A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve plural voting, in which voters a ...

. Part of this Act also effected a 'General Redistribution of Seats' on an 'equitable basis'. It originally included the old Borough of

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...

, the Cowbridge Rural District (which included

Ystradowen Ystradowen is a small village twelve miles west of Cardiff, located in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales; its nearest town is Cowbridge which is about three miles to the south. The village was served by Ystradowen railway station between 18 ...

Bonvilston Bonvilston ( cy, Tresimwn) is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The village is situated on the A48 about four miles east of Cowbridge and near the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. The population in 2011 was 392. History It is named af ...

St Athan St Athan ( cy, Sain Tathan) is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated to t ...

, Llantwit Major & Llandow) & the Urban District of Pontypridd plus the Rural District of Llantrisant & Llantwit Fardre. The constituency remained unchanged from this form until the Third Periodic Parliamentary Boundary Review's proposals were implemented in 1983. This removed Cowbridge Borough and the southern part of the former Cowbridge Rural District, placing them in the Vale of Glamorgan constituency, and additionally moving the communities of

Llanharry Llanharry ( cy, Llanhari) is a village, Community (Wales), community (civil parish) and electoral ward in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan, Llanharry has been inextricab ...

, Llanharan, and Brynna (i.e. the northern part of the former Cowbridge RDC) into the Ogmore constituency. However, the communities of

Creigiau Creigiau is a dormitory settlement in the north-west of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The village currently has about 1,500 houses and a population of approximately 5,000 people. The Cardiff electoral ward is called Creigiau/St. Fagans. The ...

and

Pentyrch Pentyrch ( cy, Pen-tyrch) is a village and community located on the western outskirts of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The village gives its name to a Cardiff local authority electoral ward, Pentyrch, which covers the village and immediat ...

were added to the seat at this time. Prior to 2010 the Pontypridd Constituency also included the

Cilfynydd Cilfynydd is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, a mile from the South Wales Valleys town of Pontypridd, and 13 miles north of the capital city, Cardiff. Cilfynydd is also an electoral ward for the county council and ...

Glyncoch Glyncoch is a village to the north of Pontypridd in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is also the name of an electoral ward. History The name Glyncoch is Welsh language for 'Red glen' (''glyn'' "glen, small valley" + ''coch'' "red"). How the name or ...

and

Wards. The Fifth Periodic Parliamentary Boundary Review for Wales placed the Cilfynydd and Glyncoch wards in the

Cynon Valley (UK Parliament constituency) Cynon Valley ( cy, Cwm Cynon) is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Beth Winter of the Labour Party. The Cynon Valley Senedd constituency was created with the same boundaries in 1999 (as a ...

and the Creigiau and Pentyrch wards in the Cardiff West (UK Parliament constituency). These changes were put in place for the

2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...

Members of Parliament

Like many seats in South Wales, Pontypridd has been held by the Labour party for over 100 years. In all the years since the Labour Party first took the seat in the 1922 by-election, its smallest majority has been the 2,785 (7.6%) by which it held the seat over the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Generally its majorities have been considerably higher.

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 2010s

Of the 96 rejected ballots: *70 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. *26 voted for more than one candidate.

Footnotes

* In 1983 the Third Periodical Boundary Review report made major changes to the constituency, removing the Cowbridge community & placing it in the new Vale of Glamorgan (UK Parliament constituency), Vale of Glamorgan seat & also by removing the Llanharry & Llanharan communities to the Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency), Ogmore seat. However, the Pentyrch & Creigiau communities were added to the new seat from the old

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

seat, to give a new seat with nearly 15,000 fewer electors. * This was and still is the largest number of electors for the Pontypridd constituency in any of its forms. * Arthur Pearson's initial selection following a closely contested process at a selection conference at Pontyclun occurred only after several rounds of voting, and he was finally chosen against the prominent local miners' agent W. H. May on 15 January 1938. * Enacted in the

& created from the old East Glamorganshire (which included Pontypridd & the Tonteg/Church Village/Llantwit Fardre areas) & South Glamorganshire (which included the Llantrisant, Tonyrefail, Pontyclun, Llanharry & Cowbridge areas)

parliamentary constituencies 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 ...

, the Pontypridd constituency from 1918 to the 1983 UK General Election remained unchanged & consisted of the

urban district council area, the Llantrisant and

Rural District Council area, the

municipal borough, and the Cowbridge Rural District Council area (which included the Llantwit Major,

, Llandow,

, Llanharan & Brynna communities).

Notes

References

External links

Politics Resources
(Election results from 1922 onwards)

(Election results from 1955 onwards)
2017 Election
House of Commons Library 2017 Election report
A Vision Of Britain Through Time
(Constituency elector numbers) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pontypridd (Uk Parliament Constituency) Parliamentary constituencies in South Wales Politics of Rhondda Cynon Taf Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918 Pontypridd 1918 establishments in Wales Mid Glamorgan