1991 Neath by-election

1991 Neath by-election

4 April 1991
Constituency of Neath
Turnout	64.0% ( 14.8%)
First party Second party Third party   PC Con Candidate Peter Hain Dewi Evans Richard Evans Party Labour Plaid Cymru Conservative Popular vote 17,962 8,132 2,995 Percentage 51.7 23.3 8.6 Swing 11.7% 16.9% 7.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   LD SDP Candidate David Lloyd John Warman Party Liberal Democrats SDP Popular vote 2,000 1,826 Percentage 5.8 5.3 Swing N/A 8.8%
MP before election Donald Coleman Labour Subsequent MP Peter Hain Labour

The 1991 Neath by-election was a by-election held on 4 April 1991 for the British House of Commons constituency of Neath in Wales. It was won by the Labour Party candidate Peter Hain.

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the sitting Labour Member of Parliament (MP), Donald Coleman, died on 14 January 1991. Coleman had already announced his intention to stand down at the next election, so Peter Hain had already been selected to contest the seat.

Result

Peter Hain retained Neath easily for Labour, although there was a 14% swing to Plaid Cymru.

1991 Neath by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Hain	17,962	51.7	−11.7
	Plaid Cymru	Dewi Evans	8,132	23.3	+16.9
	Conservative	Richard Evans	2,995	8.6	−7.5
	Liberal Democrats	David Lloyd	2,000	5.8	N/A
	SDP	John Warman	1,826	5.3	−8.8
	Local Independent Labour	Rhys Jeffreys	1,253	3.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	David Sutch	263	0.8	N/A
	Captain Beany of the Bean Party	Barry Kirk	262	0.7	N/A
Majority			9,830	28.4	−18.8
Turnout			34,753	64.0	−14.8
Registered electors			54,482
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

Previous results

General election 1987: Neath

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donald Coleman	27,612	63.4	+9.8
	Conservative	Martin Howe	7,034	16.1	−1.3
	SDP	John Warman	6,132	14.1	−7.3
	Plaid Cymru	Huw John	2,792	6.4	−0.8
Majority			20,578	47.3	+15.1
Turnout			43,570	78.8	+2.3
Registered electors			55,261
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• Neath (UK Parliament constituency)
• List of United Kingdom by-elections

Sources

Times Guide to the House of Commons 1992