Constituency view

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney

Wales

Lab hold

Current MP

Current representation

Nick Smith

Labour

Male

Majority12,183

Turnout42.7%

Electorate70,153

Valid votes29,922

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour16,027 - 53.6%

Plaid Cymru3,844 - 12.8%

Conservative3,776 - 12.6%

Other3,288 - 11.0%

Green1,719 - 5.7%

Lib Dem1,268 - 4.2%

Benefits bill · 2025/26

£356,976,499

Estimated yearly spend on the six main working-age and disability benefits paid to residents of this constituency.

£3,734 total benefits bill per resident · 65% above average

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney: £3,734
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 21 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£356,976,499	76/575
Change over 2 years	+15.8%
Median local wage (2025)	£31,461	+5.9%

Universal Credit£180,844,387
£1,891 per resident · 16,033 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 7,889 · 1 in 7 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£103,984,063
£1,088 per resident · 13,714 claimants (+10.5% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 4,805 · 35% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 7,616
Housing Benefit£20,394,063
£213 per resident · 3,033 claimants
Disability Living Allowance£20,247,508
£212 per resident · 3,311 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£19,427,969
£203 per resident · 3,019 claimants
Carer's Allowance£12,078,510
£126 per resident · 2,789 claimants

Ranks are out of England and Wales constituencies, highest first. Source: TaxPayers' Alliance, benefitsdata.uk (estimated from DWP Stat-Xplore claimant counts). England and Wales only. See this seat on benefitsdata.uk ↗

Demographics

Source: ONS Census 2021 (England, Wales, NI) and Scotland's Census 2022, aggregated to 2024 constituency boundaries by the House of Commons Library.

Ethnic composition

2021

White 97.9%White British 96.1%Asian 0.9%Black, African or Caribbean 0.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.8%Other 0.2%

England & Wales (2021)

White 83.0%White British 74.4%Asian 8.6%Black, African or Caribbean 3.7%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.7%Other 2.0%

2011

White 98.6%White British 97.5%Asian 0.7%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.5%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (2011)

White 86.0%White British 80.5%Asian 7.5%Black, African or Caribbean 3.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 2.2%Other 1.0%

2001

White 99.3%White British 98.2%Asian 0.4%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.2%Other 0.0%

England & Wales (2001)

White 91.3%White British 87.5%Asian 4.8%Black, African or Caribbean 2.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 1.3%Other 0.4%

1991

White 99.4%White British N/AAsian 0.4%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.1%

England & Wales (1991)

White 94.1%White British N/AAsian 3.6%Black, African or Caribbean 1.8%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.0%Other 0.6%

Year-over-year comparison uses broad ethnic groups.

2011 values are reaggregated from 2011 Output Areas onto 2024 boundaries.

2001 values are reaggregated from 2001 LSOAs onto 2024 boundaries.

1991 values are reaggregated from 1997 parliamentary constituencies onto 2024 boundaries.

Country of birth

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (2021)

UK 97.1%Other EU 1.6%Other countries 1.3%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (2011)

UK 97.9%Other EU 0.9%Other countries 1.1%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (2001)

UK 98.9%Other EU 0.3%Other countries 0.8%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (1991)

UK 98.9%Other EU 0.5%Other countries 0.6%

England & Wales (1991)

UK 92.7%Other EU 2.5%Other countries 4.8%

1991 country of birth data uses the 1991 census's Commonwealth-based classification. Ireland and EU countries are not separately broken out. Regional figures are approximations.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney	National	Difference	Rank
% White	97.9%	83.0%	+14.9pp	30/650
% White British	96.1%	74.4%	+21.7pp	13/632
% Asian	0.9%	8.6%	-7.7pp	598/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	0.2%	3.7%	-3.5pp	627/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	0.8%	2.7%	-1.9pp	602/650
% Other ethnic group	0.2%	2.0%	-1.7pp	633/650
% UK-born	97.1%	84.0%	+13.2pp	6/650
% Non-UK-born	2.9%	16.0%	-13.2pp	645/650
% Other EU-born	1.6%	6.0%	-4.4pp	625/650
% Other countries-born	1.3%	10.1%	-8.8pp	648/650
% Christian	35.4%	46.7%	-11.3pp	532/575
% Muslim	0.4%	6.3%	-5.9pp	517/575
% Hindu	0.1%	1.6%	-1.5pp	545/575
% Sikh	0.2%	0.9%	-0.7pp	309/575
% Jewish	0.0%	0.5%	-0.4pp	509/575
% Buddhist	0.2%	0.4%	-0.3pp	545/575
% Other religion	0.5%	0.6%	-0.1pp	322/575
% No religion	57.5%	37.0%	+20.5pp	4/575
% Religion not stated	5.8%	6.0%	-0.2pp	326/575
% Has any religion	36.7%	57.0%	-20.3pp	571/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney

Neighbouring constituencies on 2024 boundaries, ordered by the length of the shared border.

Source: ONS Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies (July 2024) Boundaries UK BSC. Seats with a short coastline or none, such as islands, are completed with the closest constituencies by distance.