Election 97

Ceredigion

Current MP Cynog Dafis
Conservative 97 5,983
Labour 97 9,767
LibDem 97 6,616
Nationalist 97 16,728
Other 97 0
Elected party
Ceredigion

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Ceredigion and Pembroke North
Conservative 92 10,178
Labour 92 7,889
LibDem 92 11,251
Nationalist 92 13,144
Other 92 0
Elected party Nationalist

The Welsh Nationalists tend to find their supporters among people who prefer to speak the Welsh language, and the four seats they won in the 1992 general election are all in areas where a majority can speak Welsh, and a goodly number do so as their first tongue. These are all on the west coast of the country. Three of these seats were already held by Plaid Cymru, but one was a gain in 1992. This was the seat then known as Ceredigion and Pembroke North, which has now lost the small part of Pembrokeshire around Fishguard to become plain 'Ceredigion' - the Welsh name for the old Cardiganshire.

The man who lost his seat here last time was a Liberal Democrat, Geraint Howells, who had been MP for nearly 20 years, but who may have been perceived to have lost some of his dynamism. The winner was the Plaid's candidate Cynog Dafis, who now has good reason to believe he can repeat his success. Politics here is quite personal, conducted in Welsh, particularly among the farmers of the remote hills and valleys of the inland part of the seat. There is also a tourist industry on the coast, and quite a cosmopolitan air in the largest coastal town, the university centre of Aberystwyth. In living memory all four main parties have been competitive in the Cardigan/Ceredigion seat, but now Plaid Cymru seem to have pulled ahead - at least until Cynog Dafis is felt locally to have run out of steam.


Super Profiles

1,663 5.50 9.03 61
7,749 25.63 11.17 230
2,494 8.25 11.25 73
810 2.68 14.70 18
1,190 3.94 10.45 38
7,562 25.01 2.81 889
2,845 9.41 8.01 117
5,014 16.59 15.25 109
209 0.69 7.13 10
0 0.00 10.17 0