Caerfyrddin, also known as Carmarthen, is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, first contested at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. It previously existed between 1918 and 1997 under the English version of the name, Carmarthen. Prior to this a "Carmarthen Boroughs" existed from 1832 to 1918, as well as two county constituencies, of East Carmarthenshire and West Carmarthenshire. Between 1997 and 2024 the county was divided between Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency and Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire.

History

Because the seat contained mining areas in the valley of the River Gwendraeth (until the 1980s), 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.

Boundaries

In 1918, the borough constituency was abolished (as well as East and West Carmarthenshire), 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 (the urban area around Llanelli). 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 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final proposals of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

Members of Parliament

1918–1997: county constituency

MPs since 2024

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr and Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire prior to 2024.

Elections

Elections in the 20th century

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 21st century

Elections in the 2020s

Notes and references