Caerfyrddin (constituency)
Caerfyrddin, also known as Carmarthen, is a [List of Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament constituencies|constituency] of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, first contested at the 2024 general election, following the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies. It is currently represented by Ann Davies of Plaid Cymru.
In the Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023, the name is given as Caerfyrddin . Of the twenty-five Welsh constituencies with names in both English and Welsh, Caerfyrddin is the only one where the Welsh name comes first followed by the English name in brackets. Caerfyrddin is the form used by the UK Parliament.
A similar constituency existed between 1918 and 1997 under the name Carmarthen.
Boundaries
Under the 2023 review, the constituency was defined as being composed of the following wards of the County of Carmarthenshire, as they existed on 1 December 2020:- Abergwili; Ammanford; Betws; Carmarthen Town North; Carmarthen Town South; Carmarthen Town West; Cenarth; Cilycwm; Cynwyl Elfed; Cynwyl Gaeo; Garnant; Glanamman; Laugharne Township; Llanboidy; Llanddarog; Llandeilo; Llandovery; Llandybie; Llanegwad; Llanfihangel Aberbythych; Llanfihangel-ar-Arth; Llangadog; Llangeler; Llangunnor; Llansteffan; Llanybydder; Manordeilo and Salem; Penygroes; Pontamman; Quarter Bach; St. Clears; Saron; Trelech; and Whitland.
- Abergwili; Ammanford; Betws; Carmarthen Town North and South; Carmarthen Town West; Cenarth and Llangeler; Cilycwm; Cwarter Bach; Cynwyl Elfed; Garnant; Glanamman; Laugharne Township; Llanboidy; Llanddarog; Llandeilo; Llandovery; Llandybie; Llanegwad; Llanfihangel Aberbythych; Llanfihangel-ar-Arth; Llangadog; Llangunnor; Llanybydder; Manordeilo and Salem; Penygroes; Saron; St. Clears and Llansteffan; Trelech; and Whitland.
History
The Parliamentary Borough of Carmarthen existed from 1542 to 1832 alongside the Parliamentary County of Carmarthenshire, each returning one member. Under the Great Reform Act of 1832, the Borough was expanded to include both Carmarthen town and Llanelli, and the representation of the county was increased to two members. In 1885, Carmarthenshire was split into the two county constituencies of East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire with one member each.In 1918, the borough constituency was abolished, but the name Carmarthen was transferred to one of the divisions of the county of Carmarthenshire. The new constituency was made up of the whole of the county of Carmarthenshire except for the new Llanelli constituency. Notable towns were Carmarthen itself, Ammanford and Llandeilo.
In 1997, the Boundary Commission for Wales recommended an extra seat for Dyfed. This led to the seat being split two to one between Carmarthen East & Dinefwr and Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire.
The constituency was re-established as Caerfyrddin as part of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final proposals of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
Political history
Because the seat contained mining areas in the valley of the River Gwendraeth, much countryside and a high proportion of Welsh speakers, it was fertile territory for the Labour Party, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru alike. Although the Conservatives never won the seat, they came within 1200 votes of doing so in 1983.Carmarthen is notable as the first constituency to elect a Plaid Cymru MP, Gwynfor Evans, at a 1966 by-election. Evans was later involved in one of the closest General Election results ever in February 1974, when he lost to the Labour candidate by only three votes. The constituency also shot to fame in the following election in October 1974 as the only seat in the country to see its turnout rise on that of February 1974.