1918–1950: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Canton, Cathays, Central, and Riverside.
1983–2010: The City of Cardiff wards of Adamsdown, Cathays, Cyncoed, Pentwyn, Plasnewydd, and Roath.
2010–present: The Cardiff electoral divisions of Adamsdown, Cathays, Cyncoed, Pentwyn, Penylan, and Plasnewydd.
As its name suggests, Cardiff Central covers the central area of the City of Cardiff. It extends from the area around the Millennium Stadium in the south to Llanishen Golf Course in the north, taking in the City Centre and the University.[5]
Historyedit
This was a Conservative-held three-way marginal constituency throughout the 1980s but since 1997 Labour and the Liberal Democrats have pushed the Conservative candidate into third place. The Liberal Democrats won the equivalent Welsh Assembly seat in 1999 and 2003 and also dominate the wards which make up the seat in elections to Cardiff Council.
The constituency is socially diverse, with both very affluent and very deprived areas. It has a large student population which seems to have helped Labour to win in 1992 and 1997 but thereafter increasingly switched to the Liberal Democrats due to opposition to government plans for reforming student support. This switched yet again in the 2015 general election where students were disillusioned by the broken promises the Liberal Democrats made regarding tuition fees. This was despite the fact that these student loan promises did not apply to Wales, which has a different funding system and MP Jenny Willott had also voted against the English changes in Parliament.[5][6]
The seat was unchanged in the Fifth Periodical Report of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales, which took effect at the 2010 general election.
Since the seat's re-creation in 1983, it has been held successively by each of the three main political parties; the Liberal Democrats gained it at the 2005 election after 13 years of Labour representation. The constituency has transformed dramatically from being a Conservative seat for some years, to a Labour–Lib Dem marginal to the safest Labour seat in Wales today.
General election 1939–40:
Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
^A borough constituency (for the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer)
Referencesedit
^"Cardiff Central: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
^"Beyond 20/20 WDS – Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^"'Cardiff Central', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales(PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
^ abWaldram, Hannah (9 December 2010). "Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott resigns over tuition fees" – via www.theguardian.com.
^Dewey, Philip (8 May 2015). "Lib Dem Jenny Willott loses to Labour in Cardiff Central". WalesOnline. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
^ abLeigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)
^ abcdefghCraig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 534
^"Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^"Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Cardiff Central". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"BBC NEWS > Cardiff Central". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Cardiff Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
^Cardiff Central Archived 9 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Cardiff County Council – candidates Cardiff Central
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^ abcd"Cardiff Central result". Election results for Cardiff Central. City of Cardiff Council. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
^"Cardiff Central Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015. BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
^ abcdElection results for Cardiff Central, UK Parliamentary Election - Thursday, 8th June, 2017, cardiff.gov.uk, retrieved 18 June 2017
^Salter, Christine (11 May 2017), Cardiff Central, Statement of Persons Nominated, Notice of Poll and Situation of Polling Stations(PDF), cardiff.gov.uk, retrieved 16 May 2017[permanent dead link]
^Salter, Christine (11 May 2017), Cardiff Central, Notice of Election Agents' Names and Offices(PDF), cardiff.gov.uk, retrieved 16 May 2017[permanent dead link]
^"Cardiff Central Parliamentary constituency". Election 2017 Results. BBC. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
^"Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Election 2017: Cardiff Central".[permanent dead link]
^"Eluned Parrott to fight for Cardiff Central". Cardiff Liberal Democrats.
^"Scheduled elections and polls" (PDF). Cardiff Council. Cardiff Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
^ abcElection results for Cardiff Central, UK Parliamentary Election - 2019, Cardiff Council, retrieved 9 January 2020
^Election results for Cardiff Central, UK Parliamentary Election - 2019, BBC, retrieved 21 December 2019
External linksedit
nomis Constituency Profile for Cardiff Central – presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report
A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)