Blaenau Gwent
 |
|
| Geography | |
| Area - Total - % Water |
Ranked 22nd 109 km² ? % |
|---|---|
| Admin HQ | Ebbw Vale |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-BGW |
| ONS code | 00PL |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2007 est.) - Density |
Ranked 20th 69,200 Ranked 4th 635 / km² |
| Ethnicity | 99.1% White. |
| Welsh language - Any skills |
Ranked 21st of 22. 13.3% |
| Politics | |
 Blaenau Gwent Council http://www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk/ |
|
| Control | NOC (Independent-led coalition) |
| MP |
Nick Smith, Welsh Labour |
Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and Tredegar.
Government
The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government district of Gwent. It was a merger of the Monmouthshire urban districts of Abertillery, Ebbw Vale, Nantyglo and Blaina and Tredegar, along with Brynmawr urban district and the parish of Llanelly in Brecknockshire.
It was reconstituted in 1996 as a county borough, excluding Llanelly which instead was transferred to the reconstituted Monmouthshire. The area is now governed by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
Politics
Blaenau Gwent hit the headlines at the 2005 UK General Election when an independent candidate, Peter Law, won the Westminster seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party after an internal party row following the retirement of incumbent MP Llew Smith, and defeated the official Labour candidate, Maggie Jones, by a margin of 9,121 votes. The seat had previously been held by Aneurin Bevan and Michael Foot, and was considered one of Labour's safest. Law died on 25 April 2006 and in the by-election, a former supporter of his, Dai Davies won, running as an independent candidate. Peter Law's widow, Trish Law, won his former Welsh Assembly seat, also running as an independent candidate. In 2007 she retained her seat. Dai Davies held the Westminster seat for the People's Voice from 2006 - 2010 when he lost his seat in a huge majority to Labour's Nick Smith of 10,516 votes.
External links
- Blaenau Gwent at the Open Directory Project
- Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Home
- Information for Children and Young People
- Channel 4's Kirstie and Phil's Best & Worst Places to Live on Blaenau Gwent
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