Aberavon: New Boundaries Calculation

This page shows the detail of the calculations performed to estimate the general election result for 2005 had the new boundaries for Aberavon been in force at that time. The basic idea of the calculation is to look at the district council wards which make up the new seat, and estimate how they voted in 2005. This estimate is based on the recent local election results in those wards, with adjustments made to allow for different turnouts and different voting patterns for local and general elections.

Due to changes in ward boundaries, some new wards are divided among several old constituencies (though never between two new constituencies). Such wards are shown divided into several parts, called [1], [2], and so on.

Election results from a recent local election are given. This is usually the local election from 2003, 2004 or 2006. For multiple-member wards, the votes shown are the sum of the votes cast for all candidates of each party. A negative number indicates candidate(s) elected unopposed. Where zero votes are shown, the ward is not needed because the entire old seat is unsplit.

Calculation method: There are two problems with using the raw (actual) local election results to imply general election results ward-by-ward. Firstly, turnout can be different between local and general elections, which means that the total number of local votes cast does not equal the number of votes cast in each old seat at the general election. To correct for this, we adjust the local votes to match the general election turnout. Each ward's result is scaled, whilst keeping constant the percentage support for each party, so that the total turnout adds up to the old seat's general election turnout. All wards in the old seat are assumed to have the same percentage turnout.

Secondly, even though we now have the correct number of votes in the old seat, the party totals will not match the general election result. Some parties do better at the local election than the general election, and others do vice versa. We call these strong and weak parties respectively. The next step is to transfer votes from strong parties to weak parties. This is done by taking votes proportionally away from strong parties and putting them in a transfer pool. For instance if a party got 12,500 local votes, but only 10,000 general election votes, it will lose 20% of its votes from each ward. These votes in each ward will be put in the ward's transfer pool and allocated to the weak parties. Weak parties will get votes transferred to them in proportion to the votes they need over the old seat. For instance, if two weak parties need 4,000 and 1,000 votes respectively, the first party will get 80% of each ward's transfer pool and the second party will get 20% of each ward's transfer pool. The transfer of votes between parties is done on a ward-by-ward basis using these common percentages.

More details of the calculation formulas are available.

The old seat(s) needed are:

Old seat: Aberavon

The main table shows the district council election results for all the wards in the old seat of Aberavon. The first block shows the actual results, the second block shows the turnout-adjusted results, and the third block has the transfer-adjusted results. Details of the transfer calculation are given below this table.

 Actual ResultsTurnout-adjusted Results Transfer-adjusted Results
DistrictWardElectorate
2005
Old SeatNew Seat CON
Votes
LAB
Votes
LIB
Votes
NAT
Votes
OTH
Votes
CON
Votes
LAB
Votes
LIB
Votes
NAT
Votes
OTH
Votes
Total
Votes
CON
Votes
LAB
Votes
LIB
Votes
NAT
Votes
OTH
Votes
Total
Votes
Neath and Port TalbotAberavon4,222AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotBaglan5,535AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotBriton Ferry East2,400AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotBriton Ferry West2,186AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotBryn and Cwmavon5,139AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotCoedffranc Central3,035AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotCoedffranc North1,851AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotCoedffranc West1,702AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotCymmer2,146AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotGlyncorrwg895AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotGwynfi1,109AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotMargam2,232AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotPort Talbot4,283AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotSandfields East4,933AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotSandfields West5,046AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
Neath and Port TalbotTai-bach3,708AberavonAberavon00000000000000000
 Total Aberavon      000000000000

The transfer table below shows the votes cast in the old seat of Aberavon at the general election, as well as the total local turnout-adjusted votes. The number of votes to transfer, shown in the fourth and fifth columns, are the difference between the general and local votes. Strong parties will have votes transferred away, and weak parties will have votes transferred into them. The final column describes how votes will be transferred away from or into that party on a ward-by-ward basis. If a party is too strong, it will lose a percentage of its votes in each ward which go into that ward's transfer pool. If a party is too weak, it will gain votes from each ward's transfer pool in proportion to the number of transfer votes it needs over the whole old seat.

PartyGeneral
Election 2005
Votes
Local Election
Turnout-adjusted
Votes
Votes to
transfer
away
Votes to
transfer
into
Ward Transfers needed
CON3,064003,064Transfer in 10.2% (= 3064 / 30104) of ward's transfer pool votes
LAB18,0770018,077Transfer in 60.0% (= 18077 / 30104) of ward's transfer pool votes
LIB4,140004,140Transfer in 13.8% (= 4140 / 30104) of ward's transfer pool votes
NAT3,545003,545Transfer in 11.8% (= 3545 / 30104) of ward's transfer pool votes
OTH1,278001,278Transfer in 4.2% (= 1278 / 30104) of ward's transfer pool votes
Total30,104030,10430,104 

After transfer adjustment, the totals for each party over all the wards match the general election vote in the old seat.

New seat: Aberavon

The new seat of Aberavon is made up of the following wards, with the transfer-adjusted votes shown.

DistrictWardElectorate
2005
Old SeatNew Seat CON
Votes
LAB
Votes
LIB
Votes
NAT
Votes
OTH
Votes
Total
Votes
Neath and Port TalbotAberavon4,222AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotBaglan5,535AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotBriton Ferry East2,400AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotBriton Ferry West2,186AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotBryn and Cwmavon5,139AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotCoedffranc Central3,035AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotCoedffranc North1,851AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotCoedffranc West1,702AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotCymmer2,146AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotGlyncorrwg895AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotGwynfi1,109AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotMargam2,232AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotPort Talbot4,283AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotSandfields East4,933AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotSandfields West5,046AberavonAberavon000000
Neath and Port TalbotTai-bach3,708AberavonAberavon000000
 Total  Aberavon000000

This seat was actually unchanged by the Boundary Commission, so these calculations are shown for information only. The actual general election result for 2005 should be used for this seat.