Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire
Labour hold

As one moves towards "Little England beyond Wales", as Pembrokeshire is known, the Nationalist threat is not nearly so strong as in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, and nor do the Conservatives do not seem yet to have recovered sufficiently to pose a major threat to Labour's Nick Ainger. Nor do they do well in the section around Carmarthen town itself, which is included in this seat, along with Dylan Thomas's village of Laugharne, Welsh speaking but largely dominated by tourism. Overall the seat is a mixture of light industry, agriculture and tourist, English tone and Welsh tone, and conflicting political traditions of which at present Labour's is the strongest.

Becoming the first Labour MP here for 26 years in 1992, tall, bald and bearded, Nick Ainger cuts a dash as another English import into Wales. Born in Sheffield in 1947 and educated at Netherthorpe Grammar School, Staveley, Derbyshire, he moved to Milford Haven in the 1970s as a marine rigger. His careful nursing of constituency interests such as oil tanker safety, local military installations and threats to fishing and farming, has since 1997 been accompanied by his job as PPS to Welsh Secretaries, originally to the benighted Ron Davies, and currently to Paul Murphy.

Welsh Labour Party

Plaid Cymru

Welsh Liberal Democrats

Carmarthenshire County Council

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 13.11% 14.99% 87.43 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 24.73% 2.13% 1,162.95 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 5.71% 2.49% 229.70 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 0.15% 4.43% 3.34 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 1.29% 7.27% 17.75 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 0.09% 2.56% 3.52 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.00% 2.04% 0.00 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 1.22% 3.94% 30.92 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 20.14% 13.04% 154.43 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 5.62% 12.70% 44.22 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 11.14% 8.14% 136.78 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 7.85% 4.02% 195.24 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 0.72% 3.19% 22.57 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 5.82% 11.31% 51.44 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 0.00% 3.06% 0.00 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 2.11% 2.52% 83.79 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.31% 0.06% 502.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 11.20% 9.41% 118.96 £5-10K 20.15% 16.63% 121.18 £10-15K 19.06% 16.58% 114.93 £15-20K 14.53% 13.58% 106.95 £20-25K 10.29% 10.39% 99.02 £25-30K 7.13% 7.77% 91.68 £30-35K 4.93% 5.79% 85.05 £35-40K 3.43% 4.33% 79.12 £40-45K 2.41% 3.27% 73.82 £45-50K 1.71% 2.48% 69.08 £50-55K 1.23% 1.90% 64.84 £55-60K 0.90% 1.47% 61.02 £60-65K 0.66% 1.15% 57.57 £65-70K 0.49% 0.91% 54.44 £70-75K 0.37% 0.72% 51.60 £75-80K 0.28% 0.57% 49.00 £80-85K 0.22% 0.46% 46.63 £85-90K 0.17% 0.37% 44.44 £90-95K 0.13% 0.31% 42.43 £95-100K 0.10% 0.25% 40.57 £100K + 0.43% 1.34% 31.70