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1997 Result:
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1992 Notional
Result:
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PC
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21,439
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59.03%
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Con
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6,963
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19.17%
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Lab
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5,641
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15.53%
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LibDem
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2,101
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5.79%
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Others
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173
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.48%
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Notional Majority
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14,476
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39.86%
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Description:
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Since first gaining Caernarfon from Labour in Feburary 1974 Dafydd Wigley has increased his majority at every General Election. Now it is a safe seat for Plaid Cymru - in 1992 they gained 59 percent of the vote and a majority of over 14,000. Dafydd Wigley has successfully absorbed the old Welsh Liberal radicalism and Nonconformist traditions into the cause of Welsh nationalism. But Wigley's success should not be surprising - more than 70 percent of the population speak Welsh here, and it is the first language in many parts of the seat (1991 census). Caernarfon has been called "The Heartland of Welsh-speaking Wales". The constituency covers a large rural area, desolate and mountainous in parts but increasingly popular with holiday makers. It has a long coastline and includes the Lleyn peninsula running down one side of Caernarfon Bay and back to form the northern side of Cardigan Bay through the resorts of Pwllheli and Porthmadog. Here the boundary goes inland to include Wales' highest mountain, Snowdon, and the Llanberis Pass. The town of Caernarfon is dominated by its medieval castle which was built as a symbol of English power by Edward 1 in 1283 after the defeat of the Welsh Prince Llewellyn. This was the site for the investiture of the current Prince of Wales in 1969. Tourism and farming are the mainstays of the local economy. The largest Pumped Storage Electricity Generating station in Europe is located at Dinorwig near Llanberis.
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