Aberavon (electoral ward)

Aberavon
Principal area	Neath Port Talbot
Ceremonial county	West Glamorgan
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Aberavon
Welsh Assembly	Aberavon
Councillors	Ceri Golding (Labour)
	Mark Jones (Labour)
	Anthony Taylor (Social Democratic Party)
List of places UK Wales Neath Port Talbot

The electoral ward of Aberavon electoral ward includes the communities of Baglan and Baglan Bay, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Baglan falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.

Overview

It is based upon the historic town of Aberavon. Aberavon Ward is bounded by the wards of Sandfields West and Sandfields East to the southwest; Baglan to the north; Port Talbot to the east and Margam to the south. The ward boundaries can be defined by the roads surrounding it which are the M4 Motorway to the north east; the A4241 to the north west; Afan Way to the southwest and the River Afan to the south east.

The Aberavon Ward can be roughly divided into two parts. There is the residential area to the southeastern part of the ward beside the River Afan. The north western area consists of areas of industrial estate land called the Baglan Industrial Park which includes a number of out of town retail premises as well as business and manufacturing premises.

Current Representation

In the 2012 local council elections, the electorate turnout for Aberavon was 35.84%. The results were:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Status
Ceri Golding	Labour	751	Labour gain
Mark Jones	Labour	740	Labour gain
Anthony Taylor	Social Democratic Party	702	Social Democratic Party hold
Barbara Trahar	Labour	613
John Sullivan	Social Democratic Party	556
Jeff Dinham	Social Democratic Party	550
Paul Nicholas-Jones	Plaid Cymru	185

History 1889-1974

Aberavon first became an electoral ward in the late nineteenth century with the formation of Glamorgan County Council.

Glamorgan County Council, 1889-1974

In 1889, Richard Jenkins, a local tinplate manufacturer became the first Liberal member for Aberavon, defeating John Morgan Smith.

Aberavon 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Jenkins	401	53.5
	Conservative	John Morgan Smith	348	46.5
Majority			53	7.0

Following Jenkins's elevation to the aldermanic bench, Smith won the seat.

Aberavon by-election 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Morgan Smith	418
	Liberal	Evan Davies	347
Majority			71

Smith held the seat at the elections of 1892, 1895, 1898, 1901, 1904 and 1907.

Aberavon Borough Council

Aberavon was also an electoral ward of the Aberavon Borough Council which was reformed and extended in 1861. In 1921, the old borough was merged with Margam Urban District Council, formed in 1894 to create the Port Talbot Municipal Borough.

21st Century

Aberavon is currently a ward for the purposes of Neath Port Talbot unitary authority elections. Since 1995 it has been represented by Labour and Social Democrat councillors.