Post by loderingo on May 3, 2020 18:04:21 GMT
The Torfaen (pronunciation Tor-vine - Tor like Glastonbury, vine like grapes) constituency was created in 1983 and was named after the borough of the same name, however, it is the successor to the Pontypool constituency that was created in 1918. Torfaen means breaker of stones and was an old name for the Afon Lwyd river that runs through the borough. The constituency is not currently coterminous with the Borough as 4 wards in the east of Cwmbran are in the Monmouth seat.
In the north of the seat Blaenavon is home to the Big Pit mining museum and has a world heritage site for its industrial landscape. In the middle of the seat, is Pontypool another town that grew up around iron and coal. Just to the east of Pontypool is the village of New Inn, which is a rarity as a safe Conservative council seat in the valleys. In the south of the seat is Wales' only new town - Cwmbran - which was founded in 1949 and is now the largest town in the constituency. It has a large biscuit factory that makes wagon wheels.
One of Wales' hidden gems passes through part of this constituency - the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. The upper part of the canal was built above the valley floor winding around the contours of the hillsides, rather than using locks. This probably saved it for being replaced by the railway as happened to other coalfield canals. There has been some restoration and it is now possible to travel from Newport to Brecon again.
This seat and its predecessor have always been Labour. A previous MP for Pontypool was Leo Abse who campaigned for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The MP from 1987 to 2015 was Paul Murphy who served as Northern Irish and Welsh secretaries during the last Labour government. In 2015 Nick Thomas-Symonds took over and has had a rapid rise to be Shadow Home Secretary. He is from the constituency and grew up in Abersychan, which was also the home town of Roy Jenkins.
This seat voted 61% leave, only behind Blaenau Gwent in Wales. In 2019, Labour's majority was reduced to the lowest it has been since the 1920s at 3,742 and the Labour share was lower than the Conservative and Brexit shares combined (Lab 42%, Con 32%, Brexit 15%, LD 5%, Plaid 4%, Green 2%)
In the coming boundary review, Torfaen will likely take back the 4 wards from Monmouth. In the abandoned review it would also have taken the Newport ward of Caerleon, making it slightly more marginal. It is certainly a seat to keep an eye on and it will be interesting to see whether Thomas-Symonds' higher profile can help Labour rebuild their majority to safer levels.
For more about Thomas-Symonds and this seat see here: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/04/nick-thomas-symonds-labour-keir-starmer-shadow-home-secretary-wales
In the north of the seat Blaenavon is home to the Big Pit mining museum and has a world heritage site for its industrial landscape. In the middle of the seat, is Pontypool another town that grew up around iron and coal. Just to the east of Pontypool is the village of New Inn, which is a rarity as a safe Conservative council seat in the valleys. In the south of the seat is Wales' only new town - Cwmbran - which was founded in 1949 and is now the largest town in the constituency. It has a large biscuit factory that makes wagon wheels.
One of Wales' hidden gems passes through part of this constituency - the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. The upper part of the canal was built above the valley floor winding around the contours of the hillsides, rather than using locks. This probably saved it for being replaced by the railway as happened to other coalfield canals. There has been some restoration and it is now possible to travel from Newport to Brecon again.
This seat and its predecessor have always been Labour. A previous MP for Pontypool was Leo Abse who campaigned for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The MP from 1987 to 2015 was Paul Murphy who served as Northern Irish and Welsh secretaries during the last Labour government. In 2015 Nick Thomas-Symonds took over and has had a rapid rise to be Shadow Home Secretary. He is from the constituency and grew up in Abersychan, which was also the home town of Roy Jenkins.
This seat voted 61% leave, only behind Blaenau Gwent in Wales. In 2019, Labour's majority was reduced to the lowest it has been since the 1920s at 3,742 and the Labour share was lower than the Conservative and Brexit shares combined (Lab 42%, Con 32%, Brexit 15%, LD 5%, Plaid 4%, Green 2%)
In the coming boundary review, Torfaen will likely take back the 4 wards from Monmouth. In the abandoned review it would also have taken the Newport ward of Caerleon, making it slightly more marginal. It is certainly a seat to keep an eye on and it will be interesting to see whether Thomas-Symonds' higher profile can help Labour rebuild their majority to safer levels.
For more about Thomas-Symonds and this seat see here: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/04/nick-thomas-symonds-labour-keir-starmer-shadow-home-secretary-wales
