Constituency report : Cardiff South and Penarth
22 November 2019
“It’s our future”: Under 18s have their say
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Ffion Wynne and Miriam Barker
Young people at Cardiff and Vale College say that under 18s should be able to vote in next month’s election.
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Students Zoe, Jamie and Will, who are between 16 and 17, said that issues which affect young people are being lost in the Brexit debate.
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All three students live in the constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth, which has always had a Labour MP.
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“The issues facing the country at the moment are only going to get bigger, and they’re only going to happen in our lifetime,” said Jamie.
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The group raised concerns around climate change, the NHS and tuition fees - matters that they feel are being neglected by the parties.
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The students agreed that lowering the voting age would make them feel more in control of their future.
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However, they also felt that in order for young people to make an informed decision, politics should be included in the school curriculum.
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“Politics can be quite a taboo or private subject,” said Will, whose political awareness comes from his parents, but he said a lot of his friends did not have the same discussions.
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Zoe and Jamie were in agreement, suggesting that politics lessons in schools would avoid young people being misled on social media or by word of mouth.
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They blamed a lack of political education in schools for gaps in their knowledge surrounding the Welsh Assembly, devolution and local politics.
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Only Jamie could name Stephen Doughty as the former MP for their constituency.
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They felt that Welsh politics was not visible enough across the media and was also neglected in education.
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“Some people don’t realise how lucky we are to live in a country that allows the right to vote,” said Will. He thinks that is another reason why politics should be taught from a young age.
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All three argued that their futures were being dictated by others, especially regarding climate change and tuition fees – issues which they think affect them more than the older generation.
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Zoe suggested that alongside lowering the voting age, there should be a cap on the upper limit. She thinks people over 60 should lose their vote.
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Will and Jamie disagreed with her, but they said the issue was simple. “If you have a National Insurance number, you should be eligible to vote,” they said.
Cardiff South and Penarth: Past election results
Jack Grey
Cardiff South and Penarth is the largest constituency in Wales, created in 1983 with a total of 76,499 eligible voters. Since the creation of the constituency the seat has been held by only 3 MPs, all of them Labour.
The constituency includes inner-city neighbourhoods such as Grangetown and Butetown, the redeveloped waterfront around Cardiff Bay and the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan.
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Labour is the most successful political party in modern Welsh politics having won the largest share of the vote at every UK General Election since 1922.
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The last MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, and the current candidate, is Stephen Doughty. Mr Doughty has been held this position since a 2012 by-election triggered by the resignation of Alun Michael, who had held the position for 25 years.
Prior to Alun Michael, the only other MP to represent Cardiff South and Penarth was former prime minister James Callaghan. Mr Callaghan was leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. He resigned following a defeat to Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party.
In the 2012 by-election Mr Doughty won the seat with 47.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,334 over the Conservatives. The Lib Dems were third followed by Plaid Cymru.
The next election in 2015 saw a similar result with Mr Doughty winning with a majority of 7,453 votes over the Conservatives. UKIP received the third largest portion of the vote, with Plaid in fourth and the Lib Dems dropping to fifth.
The 2017 snap election saw Labour win the seat with a majority of 14,864 seats and 59.5% share of votes cast. On both majority and vote share this was the largest win for Labour in the constituency since it’s creation in 1983. Plaid won the third highest amount of votes, with the Lib Dems in fourth.
UKIP received 942 votes in 2017, less than they have in any general election since 2005, an 85% drop in votes since 2015 where they achieved 6,423.
One unknown factor heading into our current election is the emergence of The Brexit Party, with the party having never stood at a general election before. There has been much speculation as to whether Nigel Farage’s party will take more voters away from either Labour or the Conservatives.
Nigel Farage's previous party, UKIP, saw their support diminish to less than 2% of the vote share in the last election. With the majority of Cardiff voting to remain in the EU referendum of 2016, the emergence of The Brexit Party is unlikely to challenge the leading two parties for the seat.
The full list of candidates standing for Cardiff South and Penarth is as follows:
Plaid Cymru - Nasir Adam
Green - Ken Barker
Conservative - Phillippa Broom
Labour Co-op - Stephen Doughty
Brexit Party - Tim Price
Liberal Democrats - Dan Schmeising
(List ordered in alphabetical order using candidate’s surname),