Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Senedd constituency)

Not to be confused with Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (UK Parliament constituency).

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Welsh: Merthyr Tudful a Rhymni) is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the South Wales East electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Merthyr Tudful a Rhymni
Senedd county constituency for the Senedd
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney as one of the 40 Senedd constituencies
Current Senedd county constituency
Created	1999
Party	Welsh Labour
MS	Dawn Bowden
Electoral region	South Wales East

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney Westminster constituency.

The other seven constituencies of the South Wales East electoral region are Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport East, Newport West and Torfaen.

Voting

In general elections for the Senedd, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Member of the Senedd for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation.

Assembly Members and Members of the Senedd

Election		Member	Party	Portrait
	1999	Huw Lewis	Labour Co-op
	2016	Dawn Bowden

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

2021 Senedd election: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney^[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dawn Bowden[a]	13,009	61.5	+14.3	11,181	52.9	+6.0
	Plaid Cymru	Ian Gwynne	3,698	17.5	-0.5	3,787	17.9	+1.4
	Conservative	Donna Gavin	2,665	12.6	+6.2	2,879	13.6	+7.2
	Abolish	Hugh Moelwyn Hughes	656	3.1	New	866	4.1	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Jez Becker	420	2.0	-3.4	426	2.0	-1.3
	UKIP	George Alexandrov Pykov	382	1.8	-18.9	444	2.1	-18.4
	Reform UK	Colin Jones	324	1.5	New	278	1.3	New
	Green					580	2.7	+0.7
	Gwlad					230	1.1	New
	No More Lockdowns					193	0.9	New
	Propel					123	0.6	New
	Communist					87	0.4	±0.0
	TUSC					44	0.2	-0.2
Majority			9,311	44.0	+14.5
Turnout			21,154	34.8[3]	−3.7
	Labour hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

Regional Ballot void votes: 162. Want of an Official Mark (0), Voting for more than ONE party or individual candidate (58), Writing or mark by which the Voter could be identified (0), Unmarked or Void for uncertainty (104)

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Constituency[4]			Regional[5]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dawn Bowden	9,763	47.2	-7.1	9,666	46.9	-9.0
	UKIP	David Rowlands	4,277	20.7	New	4,230	20.5	+16.0
	Plaid Cymru	Brian Thomas	3,721	18.0	+9.2	3,399	16.5	+4.3
	Conservative	Elizabeth Simon	1,331	6.4	+0.1	1,340	6.4	-1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Griffin	1,122	5.4	-7.4	692	3.3	-3.8
	Green	Julie Colbran	469	2.3	New	404	2.0	-0.3
	Abolish					617	3.0	New
	Monster Raving Loony					122	0.6	New
	TUSC					76	0.4	New
	Communist					85	0.4	-0.2
	National Front					68	0.3	New
Majority			5,486	25.5	−11.0
Turnout			20,683	38.5	+3.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-13.9

Welsh Assembly Election 2011: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Constituency[6]			Regional[7]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	10,483	54.3	+17.3	10,779	55.9	+13.8
	Independent	Tony Rogers	3,432	17.8	New
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Kitcher	2,480	12.8	−2.4	1,374	7.1	-6.9
	Plaid Cymru	Noel Turner	1,701	8.8	−3.2	2,363	12.2	-4.6
	Conservative	Chris O'Brien	1,224	6.3	+0.8	1,554	8.1	+0.4
	UKIP					859	4.5	-1.2
	BNP					726	3.8	-0.6
	Socialist Labour					711	3.7	+1.7
	Green					445	2.3	±0.0
	Welsh Christian					324	1.7	+0.4
	Communist					112	0.6	±0.0
	English Democrat					52	0.3	+0.1
Majority			7,051	36.5	+14.7
Turnout			19,320	35.3	−3.6
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Regional ballots rejected at the count: 138^[8]

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional[9]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	7,776	37.0	−23.5	8,849	42.1	-14.1
	Liberal Democrats	Amy Kitcher	3,195	15.2	+8.0	2,946	14.0	+5.7
	Independent	Clive Tovey	2,622	12.5	New
	Plaid Cymru	Glyndwr Jones	2,519	12.0	−4.2	3,529	16.8	+0.7
	Independent	Jeff Edwards	1,915	9.1	New
	Conservative	Giles Howard	1,151	5.5	−2.9	1,612	7.7	-0.5
	Independent	Jock Greer	844	4.0	New
	Independent	Vivienne Elliott-Hadley	809	3.8	New
	Independent	Richard D.M. Williams	162	0.8	New
	UKIP					1,191	5.7	+2.9
	BNP					922	4.4	+3.4
	Independent - Colin Hobbs					537	2.6	New
	Green					475	2.3	-0.1
	Socialist Labour					424	2.0	-1.3
	Welsh Christian Party					275	1.3	New
	Communist					130	0.6	New
	CPA					77	0.4	New
	English Democrat					33	0.2	New
Majority			4,518	21.8	−22.5
Turnout			20,993	38.9	+6.1
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	−15.8

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional[10]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis[a]	11,148	60.5	+16.6	10,317	56.2	+11.9
	Plaid Cymru	Alun G. Cox	2,988	16.2	−10.9	2,965	16.1	-18.4
	Conservative	John L. Prosser	1,539	8.4	+3.4	1,515	8.2	+2.3
	Independent	Neil Greer	1,423	7.7	New
	Liberal Democrats	John A. Ault	1,324	7.2	+0.5	1,529	8.3	-1.5
	Socialist Labour					599	3.3	+0.9
	UKIP					507	2.8	New
	Green					436	2.4	+0.4
	Cymru Annibynnol					252	1.4	New
	BNP					175	1.0	New
	ProLife Alliance					77	0.4	New
Majority			8,160	44.3	+27.5
Turnout			18,422	32.8	−12.1
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+13.8

2003 Electorate: 55,768
Regional ballots rejected: 228

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional [11]
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Huw Lewis	11,024	43.9	N/A	11,076	44.3	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Alun G. Cox	6,810	27.1	N/A	8,546	34.2	N/A
	Independent	Tony Rogers	3,746	14.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Elwyn Jones	1,682	6.7	N/A	2,446	9.8	N/A
	Conservative	Carole M. Hyde	1,246	5.0	N/A	1,470	5.9	N/A
	Socialist Alliance	Michael Jenkins	580	2.3	N/A
	Socialist Labour					588	2.4	N/A
	Green					512	2.0	N/A
	United Socialist					207	0.8	N/A
	Others					114	0.6	N/A
Majority			4,214	16.8	N/A
Turnout			25,088	44.9	N/A
	Labour Co-op win (new seat)

1999 Electorate: 55,676

Notes

1. Incumbent member for this constituency