The Neath constituency is a mixture of both industrial and rural communities, running in a north–south strip along the dips, ridges and folded landscape of South Wales. It includes most of the Neath and Dulais valleys, and some of the Upper Swansea Valley as well. The town of Neath is at its southern end and is a medium-sized town which started life as a Roman Nidum.
The constituency boasts historical places of both industrial and natural forms. Neath and the surrounding areas were industrialised very early in Britain's history. Copper smelting was already happening here in the late sixteenth century.[citation needed]
When Neath Abbey (now a magnificent ruin) was founded in 1129, it was the richest of all Welsh monasteries, and in writings of the sixteenth century was described as the 'fairest Abbey of all Wales'. At its height it owned extensive lands and property, from Glamorgan to Somerset; had almost 5,000 sheep, as well as horses and cattle; it owned a ship and a landing-place, and worked mills, fisheries and coal-mines. But it suffered greatly during the many skirmishes between the Welsh and English (or Normans), and by the 1530s had only eight monks left. The ruins date mostly from the late thirteenth century. It has been in turn, a prosperous Abbey, a Jacobean Mansion (painted by Turner), an iron foundry (which explains the Abbey's position in the middle of an industrial area) and now an historical monument.
The constituency was heavily mined and the small communities that grew up around these mines were devastated by the collapse of the mining industry in the 1980s. On the edges of many of these communities there are now "Industrial Villages" springing up, helping to replace the jobs lost by the demise of the mining industry, and so helping to keep young people in these communities.[3][unreliable source?]
A legacy to Neath's political history is the memorial stone in Victoria Gardens to the 5 Neath citizens killed during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–38.[citation needed]
The constituency remains a Welsh-speaking area, with approximately 26% of the population reported as Welsh speakers. [citation needed]
^"Beyond 20/20 WDS – Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies - The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales(PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "N" (part 1)
^ abcdefghiCraig, F. W. S. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (1 ed.). Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 0-900178-019. Page 560
^ abcdefgCraig, F. W. S. (1971). British parliamentary election results 1950-1970 (1 ed.). Chichester: Political Reference Publications. ISBN 9780900178023. Page 580
^"Politics Resources". Election February 1974. Politics Resources. 28 February 1974. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^"Politics Resources". Election October 1974. Politics Resources. 10 October 1974. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^"Politics Resources". Election 1979. Politics Resources. 3 May 1979. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^"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.
^Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987-92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 1 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.
^"Welsh Counties". Election 1997. David Boothroyd. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
^"'Neath', May 1997 -". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Project. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^"BBC NEWS>VOTE 2001>Results and Constituencies>Neath". Vote 2001. BBC News. 1 May 1997. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^"Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"BBC NEWS > Neath". Vote 2001. BBC News. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^"2001 Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^"Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
^"Neath parliamentary constituency - Election 2005" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
^"2005 Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^Neath Archived 2011-08-28 at Wikiwix, Neath Port Talbot CBC – candidates Neath
^ abcd"Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^"Aberavon and Neath Results" (PDF). UK Parliamentary Elections May 2015 results. Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
^ abcde"2017 Results". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
^"Neath parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ abc"Election-Results/General-Election-2019". Neath Port Talbot Council. Neath Port Talbot Council. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
External linksedit
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)
Further readingedit
Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers)