# Cardiff South East (UK Parliament constituency)

Cardiff South East was a parliamentary constituency in Cardiff, Wales. It returned one member of parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election and abolished before the 1983 general election. Its only MP was Labour's James Callaghan, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979, while still serving as the seat's MP. Its equivalent today is Cardiff South and Penarth.

## Boundaries

1950–1974: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Adamsdown, Roath, South, and Splott, and the Urban District of Penarth.
1974–1983: The County Borough of Cardiff wards of Adamsdown, Grangetown, Roath, Rumney, South, and Splott.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1950 | James Callaghan | Labour |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 26,254 | 51.8 | |
| | Conservative | J John Hayward | 20,359 | 40.2 | |
| | Liberal | Patrick Furnell | 4,080 | 8.1 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,895 | 11.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,693 | 83.3 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
General election 1951: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 28,112 | 54.35 | +2.56 |
| | Conservative | Harry West | 23,613 | 45.65 | +5.49 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,499 | 8.70 | −2.93 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,725 | 84.93 | +1.60 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −1.46 | |
General election 1955: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 25,722 | 53.36 | −0.99 |
| | Conservative | Michael Roberts | 22,482 | 46.64 | +0.99 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,240 | 6.72 | −1.98 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,204 | 79.33 | −4.60 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −0.99 | |
General election 1959: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 26,915 | 50.8 | −2.6 |
| | Conservative | Michael Roberts | 26,047 | 49.2 | +2.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 868 | 1.6 | −5.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,962 | 82.0 | +2.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −2.6 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 30,129 | 57.48 | +6.66 |
| | Conservative | Ted Dexter | 22,288 | 42.52 | −6.66 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,841 | 14.96 | +13.32 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,417 | 79.87 | −2.13 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +6.76 | |
General election 1966: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 29,313 | 56.8 | −0.7 |
| | Conservative | Norman Lloyd-Edwards | 18,476 | 35.8 | −6.7 |
| | Liberal | George W Parsons | 3,829 | 7.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,837 | 21.0 | +6.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,618 | 78.9 | −1.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +3.0 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 26,226 | 51.9 | −4.9 |
| | Conservative | Norman Lloyd-Edwards | 20,771 | 41.1 | +5.3 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Richard Davies | 2,585 | 5.1 | New |
| | National Front | George W. Parsons | 982 | 1.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,455 | 10.8 | −9.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,562 | 73.2 | −5.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −5.1 | |
General election February 1974: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 20,641 | 49.0 | −6.1 |
| | Conservative | Stefan Terlezki | 13,495 | 32.0 | −6.9 |
| | Independent Liberal | Christopher Bailey | 3,800 | 9.0 | New |
| | Liberal | B. Christon | 2,978 | 7.1 | New |
| | Plaid Cymru | Keith Bush | 1,254 | 3.0 | −2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,146 | 17.0 | +0.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,168 | 74.3 | +1.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +0.5 | |
General election October 1974: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 21,074 | 52.0 | +3.0 |
| | Conservative | Stefan Terlezki | 10,356 | 25.6 | −6.4 |
| | Liberal | Christopher Bailey | 8,006 | 19.8 | +12.7 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Keith Bush | 983 | 2.4 | −0.6 |
| | Marxist-Leninist (England) | B.C.D. Harris | 75 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 10,718 | 26.4 | +9.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,494 | 70.7 | −3.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.7 | |
General election 1979: Cardiff South East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Callaghan | 23,871 | 59.3 | +7.3 |
| | Conservative | Ivor Samuel Jones | 15,170 | 37.7 | +12.1 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Eric Randolf Roberts | 628 | 1.6 | −0.8 |
| | Severnside Libertarian | Raymond William Aldridge | 375 | 0.9 | New |
| | Socialist Unity | Pat Arrowsmith | 132 | 0.3 | New |
| | Communist | Richard Horatio Spencer | 112 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,701 | 21.6 | −4.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,288 | 71.6 | +0.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −2.4 | |
Note: The official Liberal candidate for Cardiff South East in 1979, Christopher Bailey, deliberately failed to submit his nomination papers in time and advised Liberal voters to vote Conservative. He was subsequently expelled from the Liberal Party.
This election was remembered for when Pat Arrowsmith heckled Callaghan throughout the election declaration. During the customary victory speech, Callaghan continued to be interrupted throughout and Callaghan remarked it was the first time he had 'conducted a duet' whilst giving a victory speech. When Arrowsmith refused to desist, Callaghan and the other candidates left the stage. Arrowsmith (who had been arrested in Cardiff the day before the election) made a short statement about Northern Ireland. These scenes were broadcast live on BBC Election 79.