Constituency view

Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare

Wales

Lab hold

Current MP

Current representation

Gerald Jones

Labour

Male

Majority7,447

Turnout47.3%

Electorate74,460

Valid votes35,215

2024 Results

Party breakdown

Labour15,791 - 44.8%

Reform8,344 - 23.7%

Plaid Cymru4,768 - 13.5%

Conservative2,687 - 7.6%

Lib Dem1,276 - 3.6%

Green1,231 - 3.5%

Other1,118 - 3.2%

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Benefits bill · 2025/26

£344,906,374

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

£3,431 total benefits bill per resident · 52% above average

Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare: £3,431
England and Wales average: £2,259

Ranked 37 of 575 constituencies (1 = highest)

Total benefits bill	£344,906,374	89/575
Change over 2 years	+16.9%
Median local wage (2025)	£30,725	+9.6%

Universal Credit£176,175,184
£1,752 per resident · 15,047 households claiming
Assessed LCWRA: 7,305 · 1 in 8 working-age adults
Personal Independence Payment£100,803,165
£1,003 per resident · 13,214 claimants (+10.2% since Jul 2024)
Psychiatric conditions: 4,857 · 37% of claimants
Enhanced mobility (Motability-eligible): 7,427
Disability Living Allowance£22,147,512
£220 per resident · 3,591 claimants
Employment Support Allowance£17,559,282
£175 per resident · 2,774 claimants
Housing Benefit£15,368,035
£153 per resident · 2,221 claimants
Carer's Allowance£12,853,197
£128 per resident · 2,965 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 97.4%White British 94.5%Asian 1.3%Black, African or Caribbean 0.2%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.9%Other 0.3%

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 97.6%White British 95.5%Asian 1.2%Black, African or Caribbean 0.3%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.7%Other 0.2%

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 98.9%White British 97.7%Asian 0.7%Black, African or Caribbean 0.1%Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups 0.3%Other 0.1%

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 data not available for this constituency.

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.

Country of birth

Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (2021)

UK 95.5%Other EU 2.7%Other countries 1.8%

England & Wales (2021)

UK 84.0%Other EU 6.0%Other countries 10.1%

Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (2011)

UK 96.2%Other EU 2.0%Other countries 1.9%

England & Wales (2011)

UK 86.6%Other EU 3.6%Other countries 9.8%

Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (2001)

UK 98.4%Other EU 0.4%Other countries 1.2%

England & Wales (2001)

UK 91.1%Other EU 1.4%Other countries 7.5%

1991 data not available for this topic.

Comparison

How this seat compares

Metric	Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare	National	Difference	Rank
% White	97.4%	83.0%	+14.3pp	68/650
% White British	94.5%	74.4%	+20.1pp	55/632
% Asian	1.3%	8.6%	-7.3pp	522/650
% Black, African or Caribbean	0.2%	3.7%	-3.5pp	630/650
% Mixed or Multiple ethnic groups	0.9%	2.7%	-1.8pp	590/650
% Other ethnic group	0.3%	2.0%	-1.7pp	593/650
% UK-born	95.5%	84.0%	+11.5pp	67/650
% Non-UK-born	4.5%	16.0%	-11.5pp	584/650
% Other EU-born	2.7%	6.0%	-3.3pp	511/650
% Other countries-born	1.8%	10.1%	-8.3pp	624/650
% Christian	41.5%	46.7%	-5.2pp	469/575
% Muslim	0.5%	6.3%	-5.9pp	495/575
% Hindu	0.2%	1.6%	-1.5pp	496/575
% Sikh	0.1%	0.9%	-0.8pp	381/575
% Jewish	0.0%	0.5%	-0.4pp	562/575
% Buddhist	0.2%	0.4%	-0.2pp	493/575
% Other religion	0.4%	0.6%	-0.2pp	460/575
% No religion	51.8%	37.0%	+14.8pp	12/575
% Religion not stated	5.3%	6.0%	-0.7pp	456/575
% Has any religion	42.9%	57.0%	-14.1pp	561/575

Nearby seats

Constituencies around Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare

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.