Cardiff South East (UK Parliament constituency)

Cardiff South East
Former Borough constituency for the House of Commons
1950–1983
Seats	one
Created from	Cardiff Central, Cardiff East and Cardiff South
Replaced by	Cardiff South & Penarth, Cardiff Central and Cardiff West

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.

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

Election		Member	Party
	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

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	+0.8
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	26.4	+9.4
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	-4.8
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

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)