Carmarthenshire — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Carmarthenshire elected 2 MPs at the 1880 general election: Walter Rice Howell Powell (Liberal) and Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell (Conservative). This page covers every general election in Carmarthenshire from 1832 to 1880.

This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.

Full Election History, 1832–1880

Election	Elected	Votes	Vote Share	Runner-up	Majority	Turnout
1832	George Rice-Trevor (Conservative); Edward Hamlyn Adams (Whig)	1,638	37.1% (top seat)	James Hamlyn-Williams (Whig)	134 (2.7 pts)	64.3%
1835	George Rice-Trevor (Conservative); James Hamlyn-Williams (Whig)	1,939	36.8% (top seat)	John Jones (Conservative)	88 (1.5 pts)	70.9%
1837	George Rice-Trevor (Conservative); John Jones (Conservative)	2,173	37.0% (top seat)	James Hamlyn-Williams (Whig)	105 (1.6 pts)	65.6%
1841	John Jones (Conservative); George Rice-Trevor (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1847	George Rice-Trevor (Conservative); David Arthur Saunders Davies (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1852	David Jones (Conservative); David Arthur Saunders Davies (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1857	David Jones (Conservative); David Arthur Saunders Davies (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1859	David Jones (Conservative); David Pugh (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1865	David Jones (Conservative); David Pugh (Conservative)	Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record				0.0%
1868	Edward John Sartoris (Liberal); John Jones (Conservative)	2,942	31.6% (top seat)	Henry Lavallin Puxley (Conservative)	114 (1.1 pts)	64.7%
1874	Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell (Conservative); John Jones (Conservative)	3,261	28.8% (top seat)	Walter Rice Howell Powell (Liberal)	462 (3.9 pts)	72.2%
1880	Walter Rice Howell Powell (Liberal); Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell (Conservative)	3,030	41.7% (top seat)	John Jones (Conservative)	318 (3.2 pts)	57.3%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1832 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Rice-Trevor	Conservative	1,853	37.1%	Yes
Edward Hamlyn Adams	Whig	1,638	32.8%	Yes
James Hamlyn-Williams	Whig	1,504	30.1%	No

1835 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Rice-Trevor	Conservative	2,204	36.8%	Yes
James Hamlyn-Williams	Whig	1,939	32.3%	Yes
John Jones	Conservative	1,851	30.9%	No

1837 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Rice-Trevor	Conservative	2,486	37.0%	Yes
John Jones	Conservative	2,173	32.3%	Yes
James Hamlyn-Williams	Whig	2,068	30.7%	No

1841 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
John Jones	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
George Rice-Trevor	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1847 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
George Rice-Trevor	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
David Arthur Saunders Davies	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1852 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
David Jones	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
David Arthur Saunders Davies	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1857 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
David Jones	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
David Arthur Saunders Davies	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1859 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
David Jones	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
David Pugh	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1865 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
David Jones	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes
David Pugh	Conservative	Unopposed		Yes

1868 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Edward John Sartoris	Liberal	3,280	31.6%	Yes
John Jones	Conservative	2,942	28.3%	Yes
Henry Lavallin Puxley	Conservative	2,828	27.2%	No
David Pugh	Conservative	1,340	12.9%	No

1874 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell	Conservative	3,389	28.8%	Yes
John Jones	Conservative	3,261	27.7%	Yes
Walter Rice Howell Powell	Liberal	2,799	23.8%	No
Edward John Sartoris	Liberal	2,331	19.8%	No

1880 (2 seats)

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Elected
Walter Rice Howell Powell	Liberal	4,101	41.7%	Yes
Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell	Conservative	3,030	30.8%	Yes
John Jones	Conservative	2,712	27.6%	No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Carmarthenshire has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Conservative, Whig, Liberal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Carmarthenshire in the 1880 general election?

Walter Rice Howell Powell (Liberal), Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell (Conservative) won Carmarthenshire in 1880.

Which parties have won Carmarthenshire since 1832?

Since 1832, Carmarthenshire has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Whig.

What was the closest result in Carmarthenshire?

The closest result on record for Carmarthenshire was 1868, when Liberal beat Conservative by just 114 votes (1.1 percentage points).

Did Carmarthenshire ever elect more than one MP at a time?

Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Carmarthenshire elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.