- Blaenau Gwent
Blaenau Gwent is a
county borough and parliamentary constituency in SouthWales . It borders the principal areas ofMonmouthshire andTorfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west andPowys to the north. Its main towns areAbertillery ,Brynmawr ,Ebbw Vale andTredegar .Government
The borough was formed in
1974 as a local government district of Gwent. It was a merger of the Monmouthshireurban district s ofAbertillery ,Ebbw Vale ,Nantyglo andBlaina andTredegar , along withBrynmawr urban district and theparish ofLlanelly inBrecknockshire .It was reconstituted in
1996 as acounty borough , excludingLlanelly which instead was transferred to the reconstitutedMonmouthshire . The area is now governed byBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council .chools
Top performing
secondary school s in Blaenau Gwent, (5GCSE 's, grades A-C), according to the latest reports fromEstyn :63% Glyncoed
Comprehensive School ,Ebbw Vale 62%
Brynmawr Comprehensive School ,Brynmawr 46%
Ebbw Vale Comprehensive School , Ebbw Vale38%
Nantyglo Comprehensive School , Brynmawr37%
Abertillery Comprehensive School ,Abertillery 35%
Tredegar Comprehensive School ,Tredegar Politics
Blaenau Gwent hit the headlines at the 2005 UK General Election when an independent candidate,
Peter Law , won the Westminster seat. He had resigned from the Labour Party in protest at the imposition of an all-women candidates' shortlist following the retirement of incumbent MPLlew Smith , and defeated the official Labour candidate, Maggie Jones, by a margin of 9,121 votes. The seat had previously been held byAneurin Bevan andMichael Foot , and was considered one of Labour's safest. Law diedApril 25 ,2006 and in the by-election, a former supporter of his, Dai Davies won, running as an independent candidate. Peter Law's widow,Trish Law , won his former Welsh Assembly seat, also running as an independent candidate. In 2007 both retained their seats.External links
* [http://www.blaenau-gwent.gov.uk/ Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Home]
* [http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/best-and-worst/blaenau-gwent-8th-worst-place-to-live-in-the-uk-08-06-04_p_1.html Channel 4's Kirstie and Phil's Best & Worst Places to Live on Blaenau Gwent]
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