Western Monmouthshire (also known as the Western Division of the County of Monmouth) was a parliamentary constituency in Monmouthshire, Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
| Western Monmouthshire | |
|---|---|
| Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1885–1918 | |
| Seats | one |
| Created from | Monmouthshire |
| Replaced by | Abertillery, Bedwellty and Ebbw Vale |
History
The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1918 general election.
Boundaries
The constituency was defined as comprising the "Sessional Division of Bedwellty (except the Parishes of Bedwas and Mynyddislwyn)", and thus constituted the following civil parishes:[1]
- Abertillery
- Aberystruth (including part of Ebbw Vale)
- Bedwellty (including Manmoel, Rhymney, Tredegar and part of Ebbw Vale)
On abolition by the Representation of the People Act 1918, West Monmouthshire's area was divided between three constituencies: Abertillery, Bedwellty and Ebbw Vale.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 | Marshall Warmington | Liberal | |
| 1895 | Sir William Harcourt | Liberal | |
| 1904 | Thomas Richards | Liberal | |
| 1910 | Labour | ||
| 1918 | constituency abolished | ||
Elections
Elections in the 1880s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Marshall Warmington | 6,730 | 83.4 | ||
| Conservative | Benjamin Francis Williams[4] | 1,341 | 16.6 | ||
| Majority | 5,389 | 66.8 | |||
| Turnout | 8,071 | 82.6 | |||
| Liberal win (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Marshall Warmington | Unopposed | |||
| Liberal hold | |||||
Elections in the 1890s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Marshall Warmington | 7,019 | 80.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | William Herbert Meredyth[5] | 1,700 | 19.5 | New | |
| Majority | 5,319 | 61.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 8,719 | 77.5 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 11,251 | ||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | William Vernon Harcourt | 7,243 | 78.7 | -1.8 | |
| Conservative | William Edwin Williams | 1,956 | 21.3 | +1.8 | |
| Majority | 5,287 | 57.4 | −3.6 | ||
| Turnout | 9,199 | 80.2 | +2.7 | ||
| Registered electors | 11,475 | ||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -1.8 | |||
Elections in the 1900s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | William Vernon Harcourt | 5,976 | 71.3 | -7.4 | |
| Conservative | Iltyd William Henry Gardner | 2,401 | 28.7 | +7.4 | |
| Majority | 3,575 | 42.6 | -14.8 | ||
| Turnout | 8,377 | 75.1 | -5.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 11,150 | ||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -7.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lib-Lab | Thomas Richards | 7,995 | 70.4 | -0.9 | |
| Tariff Reform | John Cockburn | 3,360 | 29.6 | New | |
| Majority | 4,635 | 40.8 | -1.8 | ||
| Turnout | 11,355 | 75.1 | 0.0 | ||
| Registered electors | 15,127 | ||||
| Lib-Lab hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lib-Lab | Thomas Richards | Unopposed | |||
| Lib-Lab hold | |||||
Elections in the 1910s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Thomas Richards | 13,295 | 81.4 | N/A | |
| Conservative | John Cameron | 3,045 | 18.6 | New | |
| Majority | 10,250 | 62.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 16,340 | 80.1 | N/A | ||
| Registered electors | 20,399 | ||||
| Labour gain from Lib-Lab | Swing | N/A | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Thomas Richards | Unopposed | |||
| Labour hold | |||||
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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
- Labour: Thomas Richards
- Unionist: