Post by andrewp on Jan 3, 2021 14:54:37 GMT
Preseli Pembrokeshire is the most westerly constituency in Wales. This is the most South Western corner of the country and its way out West- it’s a 2 and half hour drive from the Severn Bridges to Haverfordwest in the centre of this constituency. Pembrokeshire has been known as Little England beyond Wales and there remains a big contrast between this area and the South Wales valleys to the East.
This seat was formed In the fourth periodic boundary review that came into place for the 1997 election. The historic county of Pembrokeshire has long been too large for a single parliamentary constituency. Prior to 1997, the Northern most part of Pembrokeshire was included in the Ceredigion and Pembroke North seat. Then things were switched around in the fourth review with the Northern Pembrokeshire coast returning to this seat, and in exchange 30,000 electors from South Pembrokeshire in Pembroke itself along with the seaside resorts of Tenby and Saundersfoot moving into the new Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire seat.
What we are left with is North and Central Pembrokeshire and the constituency takes its name from the Preseli Hills ( pronounces pre-sel-ee), a range of Hills in North Pembrokeshire. This is a distinctly rural constituency, with a topography similar to Cornwall. Much of the coastline of this constituency, with its fine coastal path, is within the Pembrokeshire Coast national park, which was designated a national park in 1952
This is an older white constituency, ranking in the top 100 nationwide for percentage of people over 65 at 21.3% and being 98.1% white. Fully 25% of residents of this constituency were born in England. The rural nature of the constituency is reflected by being ranked 11th nationwide for the percentage of people employed in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing,
The largest towns here are Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. Haverfordwest is an old market town, with a 12th century castle, is strategically placed at the centre of the county and has a population of 13000. As the centre for a large rural area it is well served and is politically fairly even. In 2017 its five wards elected two Labour councillors, 2 Independents and one Conservative. Labour are strongest in the Prendergast area in the North East of the town.
Milford Haven has a population of 13000 and is the Core source of Labour support in the constituency. Milford Haven is a working class town built on a grid pattern in the late 18th century originally around a dockyard. It is now the home to a huge oil refinery and is the fourth largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage.
In the more sparsely populated North and West of the constituency lie the tiny Cathedral city of St Davids and the ferry port of Fishguard. The rural areas of this constituency are the strength of the Conservative base here. St Davids is the smallest city in the UK with a population of just 2000, has a fine norman cathedral and is the resting place of the patron saint of Wales. Fishguard has a population of 5000 and is perhaps best known as a terminus for a ferry service to Rosslare in Ireland.
Local elections here are dominated by Independents, with 22 out of 37 wards electing Independents in 2017
When this seat was created in the current form, it had a notional Conservative majority from the 1992 election of 603. This is a part of the world where Independents dominate local elections so producing accurate notional results is tricky. In the event, sitting Labour MP for Pembroke Nick Ainger decided to fight the Southern Pembrokeshire seat in 1997 but Labour’s Jackie Lawrence won the inaugural contest here by nearly 9,000. Future MP Stephen Crabb cut that majority by two thirds in 2001, and then completed his job in 2005 when he became one of the first three Conservative MPs in Wales following that party’s wipe outs in 1997 and 2001. Crabb has now won five times here and went on to serve in David Cameron’s cabinet for 2 years. In 2017 Labour secured a 6% swing here and cut Crabb’s majority from 4,969 to a paper thin 314. Crabb recovered to achieve his largest ever majority of 5,062 in 2019. Swings have tended to be relatively low here. This is still the sort of seat that Labour will probably need to win to form a government and retains its half century status as a key marginal.
This seat was formed In the fourth periodic boundary review that came into place for the 1997 election. The historic county of Pembrokeshire has long been too large for a single parliamentary constituency. Prior to 1997, the Northern most part of Pembrokeshire was included in the Ceredigion and Pembroke North seat. Then things were switched around in the fourth review with the Northern Pembrokeshire coast returning to this seat, and in exchange 30,000 electors from South Pembrokeshire in Pembroke itself along with the seaside resorts of Tenby and Saundersfoot moving into the new Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire seat.
What we are left with is North and Central Pembrokeshire and the constituency takes its name from the Preseli Hills ( pronounces pre-sel-ee), a range of Hills in North Pembrokeshire. This is a distinctly rural constituency, with a topography similar to Cornwall. Much of the coastline of this constituency, with its fine coastal path, is within the Pembrokeshire Coast national park, which was designated a national park in 1952
This is an older white constituency, ranking in the top 100 nationwide for percentage of people over 65 at 21.3% and being 98.1% white. Fully 25% of residents of this constituency were born in England. The rural nature of the constituency is reflected by being ranked 11th nationwide for the percentage of people employed in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing,
The largest towns here are Haverfordwest and Milford Haven. Haverfordwest is an old market town, with a 12th century castle, is strategically placed at the centre of the county and has a population of 13000. As the centre for a large rural area it is well served and is politically fairly even. In 2017 its five wards elected two Labour councillors, 2 Independents and one Conservative. Labour are strongest in the Prendergast area in the North East of the town.
Milford Haven has a population of 13000 and is the Core source of Labour support in the constituency. Milford Haven is a working class town built on a grid pattern in the late 18th century originally around a dockyard. It is now the home to a huge oil refinery and is the fourth largest port in the UK in terms of tonnage.
In the more sparsely populated North and West of the constituency lie the tiny Cathedral city of St Davids and the ferry port of Fishguard. The rural areas of this constituency are the strength of the Conservative base here. St Davids is the smallest city in the UK with a population of just 2000, has a fine norman cathedral and is the resting place of the patron saint of Wales. Fishguard has a population of 5000 and is perhaps best known as a terminus for a ferry service to Rosslare in Ireland.
Local elections here are dominated by Independents, with 22 out of 37 wards electing Independents in 2017
When this seat was created in the current form, it had a notional Conservative majority from the 1992 election of 603. This is a part of the world where Independents dominate local elections so producing accurate notional results is tricky. In the event, sitting Labour MP for Pembroke Nick Ainger decided to fight the Southern Pembrokeshire seat in 1997 but Labour’s Jackie Lawrence won the inaugural contest here by nearly 9,000. Future MP Stephen Crabb cut that majority by two thirds in 2001, and then completed his job in 2005 when he became one of the first three Conservative MPs in Wales following that party’s wipe outs in 1997 and 2001. Crabb has now won five times here and went on to serve in David Cameron’s cabinet for 2 years. In 2017 Labour secured a 6% swing here and cut Crabb’s majority from 4,969 to a paper thin 314. Crabb recovered to achieve his largest ever majority of 5,062 in 2019. Swings have tended to be relatively low here. This is still the sort of seat that Labour will probably need to win to form a government and retains its half century status as a key marginal.
