Gower (Senedd Cymru constituency)

Gower (Welsh: Gŵyr) is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of seven constituencies in the South Wales West electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to seven constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Gower
Senedd Cymru county constituency
Gower shown as one of the 40 Senedd constituencies
Current Senedd Cymru county constituency
Created	1999
Party	Labour
MS	Rebecca Evans
Electoral region	South Wales West
Preserved county	West Glamorgan

History

The constituency has elected a Labour member since the assembly was created in 1999. However in 2007 and 2016 the party won narrow majorities. The AM from 1999 to 2016 Edwina Hart was Minister for Business, Enterprise, Technology and Science from 2011 to 2016.

Boundaries

The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Gower Westminster constituency. It is entirely within the preserved county of West Glamorgan.

The other six constituencies of the region are Aberavon, Bridgend, Neath, Ogmore, Swansea East and Swansea West.

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.

Members of the Senedd

Election		Member	Party	Portrait
	1999	Edwina Hart	Labour Party
	2016	Rebecca Evans	Labour Party

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

Welsh Assembly Election 2016: Gower

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rebecca Evans	11,982	39.7	−8.4
	Conservative	Lyndon Jones	10,153	33.6	+3.7
	UKIP	Colin Beckett	3,300	10.9	+10.9
	Plaid Cymru	Harri Roberts	2,982	9.9	−2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Sheila Kingston-Jones	1,033	3.4	−6.5
	Green	Abi Cherry-Hamer	737	2.4	+2.4
Majority			1,829	6.1	-12.1
Turnout				49.8	+6.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Welsh Assembly Election 2011: Gower[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edwina Hart	12,866	48.1	+13.9
	Conservative	Caroline Jones	8,002	29.9	+0.1
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Price	3,249	12.1	−6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Peter May	2,656	9.9	−0.7
Majority			4,864	18.2
Turnout			26,773	43.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

Welsh Assembly Election 2007: Gower

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edwina Hart	9,406	34.2	−9.4
	Conservative	Byron Davies	8,214	29.8	+10.2
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Price	5,106	18.5	+3.8
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas J. Tregoning	2,924	10.6	−1.1
	UKIP	Alex R. Lewis	1,895	6.9	−3.4
Majority			1,192	4.3
Turnout			27,545	44.8	+5.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Welsh Assembly Election 2003: Gower

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edwina Hart	10,334	43.6	+8.2
	Conservative	Stephen R. James	4,646	19.6	+5.5
	Plaid Cymru	Sian M. Caiach	3,502	14.8	−9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas J. Tregoning	2,775	11.7	−0.1
	UKIP	Richard D. Lewis	2,444	10.3	N/A
Majority			5,688	24.0	+12.6
Turnout			24,143	39.9	−7.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

Welsh Assembly Election 1999: Gower

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edwina Hart	9,813	35.4	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Dyfan Rhys Jones	6,653	24.0	N/A
	Conservative	Aled D. Jones	3,912	14.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Howard W. Evans	3,260	11.8	N/A
	Independent	Richard D. Lewis	2,307	8.3	N/A
	Independent	Ioan M. Richard	1,755	6.3	N/A
Majority			3,160	11.4	N/A
Turnout			27,700	47.5	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

References

1. "Wales elections > Gower". BBC News. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.