Cardiff South East (UK Parliament constituency)

Cardiff South East was a parliamentary constituency in Cardiff, Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Cardiff South East
Former Borough constituency
for the House of Commons
1950–1983
Seatsone
Created fromCardiff Central, Cardiff East and Cardiff South
Replaced byCardiff South & Penarth, Cardiff Central and Cardiff West[1]

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, and abolished for the 1983 general election. Its only MP was Labour's James Callaghan, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979, while still serving as the seat's MP. Its present-day equivalent is Cardiff South and Penarth.

Boundaries

1950–1974: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Adamsdown, Roath, South, and Splott, and the Urban District of Penarth.

1974–1983: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Adamsdown, Grangetown, Roath, Rumney, South, and Splott.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1950 James Callaghan Labour

Election results

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1950: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 26,254 51.8
Conservative J John Hayward 20,359 40.2
Liberal Patrick Furnell 4,080 8.1
Majority 5,895 11.6
Turnout 50,693 83.3
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1951: Cardiff South East[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 28,112 54.35
Conservative Harry West 23,613 45.65
Majority 4,499 8.70
Turnout 51,725 84.93
Labour hold Swing
General election 1955: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 25,722 53.36
Conservative Michael Roberts 22,482 46.64
Majority 3,240 6.72
Turnout 48,204 79.33
Labour hold Swing
General election 1959: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 26,915 50.8 -2.6
Conservative Michael Roberts 26,047 49.2 +2.6
Majority 868 1.6 -5.1
Turnout 52,962 82.0 +2.7
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1964: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 30,129 57.48
Conservative Ted Dexter 22,288 42.52
Majority 7,841 14.96
Turnout 52,417 79.87
Labour hold Swing
General election 1966: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 29,313 56.8 -0.7
Conservative Norman Lloyd-Edwards 18,476 35.8 -6.7
Liberal George W Parsons 3,829 7.4 New
Majority 10,837 21.0 +6.0
Turnout 51,618 78.9 -1.0
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1970: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 26,226 51.9 −4.9
Conservative Norman Lloyd-Edwards 20,771 41.1 +5.3
Plaid Cymru Richard Davies 2,585 5.1 New
National Front George W. Parsons 982 1.9 New
Majority 5,455 10.8 -9.8
Turnout 50,562 73.2 -5.7
Labour hold Swing −5.1
General election February 1974: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 20,641 49.0 −6.1
Conservative Stefan Terlezki 13,495 32.0 −6.9
Independent Liberal Christopher Bailey 3,800 9.0 New
Liberal B. Christon 2,978 7.1 New
Plaid Cymru Keith Bush 1,254 3.0 −2.1
Majority 7,146 17.0 +6.8
Turnout 42,168 74.3 +1.1
Labour hold Swing +6.5
General election October 1974: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 21,074 52.0 +3.0
Conservative Stefan Terlezki 10,356 25.6 −6.4
Liberal Christopher Bailey 8,006 19.8 +12.7
Plaid Cymru Keith Bush 983 2.4 −0.6
Marxist-Leninist (England) B.C.D. Harris 75 0.2 New
Majority 10,718 26.5 +9.5
Turnout 40,494 70.7 −3.6
Labour hold Swing +4.7
General election 1979: Cardiff South East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Callaghan 23,871 59.3 +7.3
Conservative Ivor Samuel Jones 15,170 37.7 +12.1
Plaid Cymru Eric Randolf Roberts 628 1.6 −0.8
Severnside Libertarian Raymond William Aldridge 375 0.9 New
Socialist Unity Pat Arrowsmith 132 0.3 New
Communist Richard Horatio Spencer 112 0.3 New
Majority 8,701 21.6 -4.9
Turnout 40,288 71.6 +0.9
Labour hold Swing −2.4

Note: The official Liberal candidate for Cardiff South East in 1979, Christopher Bailey, deliberately failed to submit his nomination papers in time and advised Liberal voters to vote Conservative. He was subsequently expelled from the Liberal Party.

This election was remembered for when Pat Arrowsmith heckled Callaghan throughout the election declaration. During the customary victory speech, Callaghan continued to be interrupted throughout and Callaghan remarked it was the first time he had ‘conducted a duet’ whilst giving a victory speech. When Arrowsmith refused to desist, Callaghan and the other candidates left the stage. Arrowsmith (who had been arrested in Cardiff the day before the election) made a short statement about Northern Ireland. These scenes were broadcast live on BBC Election 79.

References
  1. "'Cardiff South East', February 1974 – May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. The Times' Guide to the House of Commons. 1951.
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