Constituency profile

Cardiff South and Penarth

Wales · Borough constituency

Stephen Doughty MP
Sitting MP

Stephen Doughty

Labour (Co-op)

First elected November 2012

Current PollCheck projection

Region & type
Wales
Borough constituency
Last 5 GE winners
LLLLL
Labour 5/5
EU referendum 2016
42.8% Leave
UK average 51.9%; -9.1pp below mean
Current outlook
Labour +9.5pp
vs Plaid Cymru 19.4%
WelshRemain-leaningGraduate-heavy

About the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency

Cardiff South and Penarth is a borough constituency in Wales. The sitting MP is Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op)), first elected in November 2012. At the 2024 general election, Labour won with 44.5% to 14.4% for the Greens, a majority of 11,767 votes on a 53.6% turnout. PollCheck's current projection, at the seven-poll average, has Labour on 28.9% and Plaid Cymru on 19.4%, a margin of 9.5 points.

Who lives in Cardiff South and Penarth? Constituency demographics

From the 2021 Census and 2016 EU referendum estimates. Constituency-level data on 2024 boundaries.

Leave vote 2016
42.8%
UK average ~52%
Degree or above
40.8%
UK average ~34%
No qualifications
14.0%
UK average ~18%
Owner-occupied
51.6%
UK average ~63%
Renting (social + private)
48.0%
UK average ~36%
Median age
31.5
UK median ~40
Age 65+
15.6%
UK average ~19%
Age 18-34
47.7%
UK average ~28%

How did Cardiff South and Penarth vote in 2024 and how would it vote now?

2024 vote shares from the HoC Library. Current projection is at the 7-poll average.

2024 general election

Lab hold · majority 11,767 votes (30.1pp) · turnout 53.6%

Current projection

If a general election were held today, at current poll average

Map of Cardiff South and Penarth

Switch between GE2024 ward winners (modelled estimates, ~4pp average error) and a demographic view from the 2021 Census. Hover any area for detail. How the map is built ›

Senedd 2026 layer

How Cardiff South and Penarth voted at the Senedd election (7 May 2026)

Cardiff South and Penarth sits almost entirely within the Senedd constituency of Caerdydd Penarth. Senedd elections use a closed-list proportional system; each Senedd seat returns six members.

Senedd constituencyShare of Cardiff South and PenarthWinnerRunner-upSeats (6 per constituency)
Caerdydd Penarth98%Plaid Cymru 41.0%Reform UK 17.6%3 Plaid Cymru, 1 Reform UK, 1 Green, 1 Labour
Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf1%Plaid Cymru 37.0%Reform UK 19.6%3 Plaid Cymru, 1 Reform UK, 1 Labour, 1 Green

Senedd 2026 results from official declarations. Overlap percentages are area-based using the post-2024 Westminster boundary against the new 16-seat Senedd boundary.

Council layer (not Westminster)

Cardiff South and Penarth within Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan

Cardiff South and Penarth crosses council boundaries: Cardiff (62%), Vale of Glamorgan (38%). None of the constituent councils were due to vote in 2026, so the figures below are the most recent ward results available. About this layer ›

Council overlap

CouncilShare of seat
Cardiff
40 LSOAs
62%
Vale of Glamorgan
24 LSOAs
38%

Recent council by-elections

Council ward by-elections held inside this seat, most recent first. The result column shows which party won; the share column shows the top three parties’ vote shares on the day.

DateWardResultTop 3 vote shares
9 Jul 2026Splott
Cardiff
Lab HOLDLab 40% Grn 36% Ref 15%
14 Aug 2025Grangetown
Cardiff
Grn GAIN from LabGrn 24% Lab 23% PC 19%
6 Dec 2024Splott
Cardiff
Lab HOLD
30 Apr 2024Grangetown
Cardiff
Lab HOLD

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward - May 2026 results where the council voted, otherwise the most recent available result. How this table is sourced ›

Ward GE2024 winner Latest council winner Shift since GE2024 Turnout
ButetownLabour 46.3%vs Green 15.6%2022 Labour 56.5%vs Others 23.6%--
CathaysLabour 47.4%vs Green 15.9%2022 Labour 54.0%vs Others 22.5%--
CornerswellLabour 42.7%vs Conservative 16.4%2022 Labour 58.7%vs Conservative 24.0%--
Dinas PowysLabour 33.7%vs Conservative 24.3%2022 Plaid Cymru 43.9%vs Conservative 38.8%--
GrangetownLabour 47.5%vs Green 15.2%2022 Labour 55.9%vs Others 30.6%--
LlandoughLabour 30.9%vs Conservative 29.8%2022 Conservative 72.9%vs Labour 27.1%--
PlymouthLabour 36.5%vs Conservative 24.7%2022 Conservative 40.8%vs Independent 21.9%--
SplottLabour 49.5%vs Green 15.2%2022 Labour 71.8%vs Others 15.1%--
St Augustine'sLabour 44.8%vs Conservative 16.6%2022 Labour 47.0%vs Conservative 26.1%--
StanwellLabour 45.4%vs Conservative 14.3%2022 Labour 74.9%vs Conservative 25.1%--
SullyLabour 36.9%vs Conservative 20.0%2022 Independent 39.5%vs Conservative 39.4%--

Projection trajectory

PollCheck's projection for Cardiff South and Penarth at each of the last 60 GB polls. Hover the chart for the underlying poll details.

Who has won Cardiff South and Penarth at past general elections?

2024 and notional 2019 rows are on current boundaries; 2010-2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time. More on boundaries ›

Year Result MP Lab Con LD Right (Ref/UKIP) Green Other Majority Turnout
2010Lab holdAlun Michael38.9%28.3%22.3%2.6% UKIP1.2%2.5%4,70960.2%
2015Lab holdStephen Doughty42.8%26.8%5.0%13.8% UKIP3.7%0.6%7,45361.4%+1.2
2017Lab holdStephen Doughty59.5%30.2%2.8%1.9% UKIP1.0%0.3%14,86466.3%+4.9
2019notionalLabour winnerStephen Doughty 2019 MP, pre-review boundary53.7%30.1%7.0%-2.3%6.9%11,85169.7%+3.4
2024Lab holdStephen Doughty44.5%13.9%7.4%11.5% Ref14.5%-11,76753.6%-16.1

Earlier years are on pre-2024 boundaries; comparable results on the new boundary will be added when sourced.

Constituencies most like Cardiff South and Penarth

Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Cardiff South and Penarth. Politics shown for context.

What would change this seat?

Move the sliders to set national vote shares. The per-seat projection updates live. Reset returns to the current 7-poll average.

Related

Sources

Every figure on this page is computed from the sources below. Read the full methodology ›

Show full source list
  • 2024 general election results · UK Parliament Election Results portal and House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10009.
  • Notional 2019 results on 2024 boundaries · UK Parliament Election Results portal. Recalculated by Parliament; carries assumptions about how 2019 voters would have distributed across the redrawn boundaries.
  • Historic general election results (2010-2017) · House of Commons Library historic results files (on the boundaries in force at the time).
  • Ward-level GE2024 estimates · Britain Elects / New Statesman - article by Ben Walker, underlying spreadsheet. Modelled from constituency totals; average ~4pp per-ward MoE.
  • May 2026 council ward results · Democracy Club via PollCheck's locals 2026 dataset.
  • Earlier council ward results (2014-2024) · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (Jason Leman, drawing on Andrew Teale's LEAP dataset and Democracy Club).
  • Demographics · ONS Census 2021 (England and Wales), aggregated to constituency level using the ONS LSOA21 -> PCON24 best-fit lookup.
  • EU referendum 2016 estimates · Constituency-level Leave vote estimates (Hanretty 2017 method).
  • MP details and Cabinet roles · UK Parliament Members API. MP photos are fetched live from the same source.
  • Boundary geometry and lookups · ONS Open Geography Portal (PCON24 boundaries, LSOA21 boundaries, LSOA21-WD24-LAD24 best-fit lookup).
  • Current projection and trajectory · PollCheck's demographic swingometer applied to the rolling 7-poll average from aggregated GB polls. Not a true MRP - vote-share movements are applied through per-constituency sensitivity multipliers derived from demographic regressions.

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