Cardiff West () is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

of the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

since 2024 by Alex Barros-Curtis of the Labour Party. The constituency retained its name and gained a ward as part of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the

Boundary Commission for Wales In the United Kingdom, the boundary commissions are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: one each f ...

for the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

Boundaries

Until 2024 Cardiff West was entirely within the boundaries of the City of Cardiff, though in 2024 (as a result of the 2023 Review of UK constituences) it gained the

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff () and Ely valleys, ...

ward of Pontyclun. 1950–1974: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Canton, Ely, Grangetown,

Llandaff Llandaff (; ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of the Bisho ...

, and Riverside. 1974–1983: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Canton, Ely, Llandaff, Grangetown, Plasmawr, and Riverside. 1983–2010: The City of Cardiff wards of Caerau, Canton, Ely, Fairwater, Llandaff, Radyr and St Fagans, and Riverside. 2010–2024: The City of Cardiff wards of Caerau, Canton, Creigiau and St Fagans, Ely, Fairwater, Llandaff, Pentyrch, Radyr, and Riverside. 2024–present: As above with the addition of the

ward of Pontyclun (as it existed on 1 December 2020), transferred primarily from

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

. Following local government boundary reviews which came into effect in May 2022, the constituency now comprises the following from the 2024 general election: * The City and County of Cardiff wards of Caerau, Canton, Ely, Fairwater, Llandaff, Pentyrch and St Fagans, Radyr, and Riverside. * The County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf wards of Pontyclun Central, Pontyclun East, and Pontyclun West (part). Until 2024 Cardiff West was entirely within the boundaries of the City of Cardiff.

Constituency profile

Population areas within the constituency include Riverside, Pontcanna, St Fagans and Ely. There are some

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and Plaid Cymru-leaning areas in the north of the seat such as Creigiau and St Fagans, Pentyrch and Radyr, but the bulk of the seat comprises districts towards the centre of Cardiff such as Caerau, Canton, Ely and Riverside which are very strongly Labour.

History

A traditionally safe Labour seat, represented for 33 years by George Thomas (who became Speaker in 1976 and was re-elected without party affiliation in 1979). It has returned a

only once, in the Tories' landslide year of 1983, when Stefan Terlezki became the MP. Labour regained the seat at the next general election in 1987, when Rhodri Morgan was elected. After the creation of the Welsh Assembly Government, Morgan stepped down from his Westminster seat in 2001 to serve as leader of

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...

and First Minister for Wales. Kevin Brennan retained the seat for Labour on Morgan's retirement from Westminster politics. Following the announcement of the date of the 2024 general election Brennan announced his retirement from politics.

Members of Parliament

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

Elections in the 2010s

Of the 113 rejected ballots: *80 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. *30 voted for more than one candidate. *3 had writing or a mark by which the voter could be identified. Of the 89 rejected ballots: *66 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. *23 voted for more than one candidate. Of the 144 rejected ballots: *115 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. *28 voted for more than one candidate. *1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.

Elections in the 2020s

The selection of Barros-Curtis as Labour candidate, with minimal input from local party members, was criticised. He is the Labour Party's executive director of legal affairs. Barros-Curtis had no connection to the Cardiff area, though had grown up in North Wales.

Notes

References

External links

nomis Constituency Profile for Cardiff West
– presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.

(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)

(boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at ''MapIt UK''

(boundaries from June 2024) at ''MapIt UK'' {{Coord, 51.486, -3.214, display=title, region:GB_scale:20000 Parliamentary constituencies in South Wales Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950 Constituencies of Cardiff