Brecon and Radnorshire ( cy, Brycheiniog a Sir Faesyfed) is a
county constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...
in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. Created in 1918, it elects one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) by the
first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
system of election. The constituency is represented by
Fay Jones of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, who defeated incumbent
Jane Dodds
Jane Dodds MS (born 13 September 1963) is a Welsh politician who has served as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since 2017. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire at the seat's 2019 by-election, but ...
of the
Liberal Democrats at the
2019 general election.
Boundaries
The boundaries of the constituency correspond broadly with the
ancient counties of
Brecknockshire
, image_flag=
, HQ= Brecon
, Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin= Brycheiniog
, Status=
, Start= 1535
, End= ...
and
Radnorshire
, HQ = Presteigne
, Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin =
, Status = historic county, administrative county
, Start ...
. Radnorshire is included in full, and the only significantly populated area from Brecknockshire not in this constituency is
Brynmawr, which is in
Blaenau Gwent. This is the largest constituency in England and Wales by area. No town in the constituency exceeds a population of 10,000, the largest being
Ystradgynlais
Ystradgynlais (, ) is a town on the River Tawe in southwest Powys, Wales. It is the second-largest town in Powys and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes ...
at roughly 9,000. Other towns in the constituency are
Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
,
Knighton,
Crickhowell
Crickhowell (; cy, Crucywel , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire.
Location
The town lies on the River Usk, on the southern edge ...
and
Llandrindod Wells
Llandrindod Wells (, ; cy, Llandrindod, /ɬanˈdɾindɔd/ "Trinity Parish"), sometimes known colloquially as Llandod, is a town and community in Powys, within the historic boundaries of Radnorshire, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powys ...
. The remainder of the constituency is largely made up of small villages and land used for farming sheep: sheep outnumber humans in Powys as a whole by around ten to one.
Under planned constituency changes announced in September 2016 ahead of the next general election, it was proposed to merge this seat with the southern half of
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...
, including
Newtown, to form a new constituency called Brecon, Radnor and Montgomery.
History
The constituency was created in the boundary changes of 1918 by merging
Breconshire
, image_flag=
, HQ= Brecon
, Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin= Brycheiniog
, Status=
, Start= 1535
, End= ...
and
Radnorshire
, HQ = Presteigne
, Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin =
, Status = historic county, administrative county
, Start ...
, both previously constituencies in their own right. While once a
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
stronghold, the constituency was captured from the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
government by the
SDP–Liberal Alliance
The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom.
Formed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party, the SDP–Liberal Alliance was established in 1981, contestin ...
at a dramatic
by-election in 1985. It was regained by the Conservatives in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, taken back by the
Liberal Democrats in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, and then returned to the Conservatives in
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
. It was the Conservatives' fifteenth target seat at the
2005 election, but the party's share of the vote fell, leaving it as the Conservatives' 95th target seat in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, requiring a swing of 5.09%. In the event, the swing to the Conservatives was 0.3%, and the Liberal Democrats retained the seat, with
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...
remaining the MP. In 2015 the seat was reclaimed for the Conservatives by
Chris Davies, whose majority of 5,102 was the largest in the constituency since
Tom Hooson
Tom Ellis Hooson (16 March 1933 – 8 May 1985) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician.
Personal life and background
Hooson was the cousin (and political opponent) of Emlyn Hooson, former Liberal Party (UK), Libera ...
won the seat, also for the Conservatives, in
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
. Roger Williams stood for the Liberal Democrats in 2015 but shed over 6,500 votes from his 2010 result, a loss of 17.8%.
In 2019, Davies pleaded guilty to filing false expenses claims, triggering a
recall petition, the third such
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
in the UK. The petition was successful, forcing Davies to vacate the seat.
A
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
was held on 1 August, which was won by Liberal Democrat candidate
Jane Dodds
Jane Dodds MS (born 13 September 1963) is a Welsh politician who has served as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since 2017. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire at the seat's 2019 by-election, but ...
. Dodds was then defeated by Conservative
Fay Jones at the general election in December 2019.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s
General Election 1939–40:
Another general election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
*Labour:
William Jackson
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1990s
The Labour candidate, Chris Mann, won the selection over future AMs
Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Howell Jones (born 21 March 1967) is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2009 to 2018. He served as Counsel General for Wales from 2007 to 2009. Jones served as the Member of the S ...
and
Jeffrey Cuthbert
Jeffrey Hambley Cuthbert (born 4 June 1948) is a Welsh politician serving as Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner since 2016. Cuthbert served as a Labour Party member of the National Assembly for Wales for Caerphilly from 2003 to 2016. He bega ...
, and future AM and MP
Peter Law
Peter John Law (1 April 1948 – 25 April 2006) was a Welsh politician. For most of his career Law sat as a Labour councillor and subsequently Labour Co-operative Assembly member (AM) for Blaenau Gwent. Latterly he sat as an independent membe ...
.
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 2010s
Following the successful
recall petition of Christopher Davies, a by-election was held on 1 August 2019.
Of the 73 rejected ballots:
*58 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.
[
*14 voted for more than one candidate.][
*1 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.][
Changes in vote share are compared to the 2017 general election, not the 2019 by-election.
Of the 110 rejected ballots:
*87 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for.][
*21 voted for more than one candidate.][
*2 had writing or mark by which the voter could be identified.][
]
See also
* Brecon and Radnorshire (Senedd constituency)
, constituency_type = Senedd county constituency
, parl_name=Senedd, image =
, image2 =
, caption2 = Brecon and Radnorshire shown within the Mid and West Wales electoral region and the region shown with ...
* List of parliamentary constituencies in Powys
Powys is divided into two constituencies of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament (Westminster), which are also used for elections to the Senedd. The current boundaries have been effective since the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election ...
* List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales
Notes
References
External links
nomis Constituency Profile for Brecon and Radnorshire
— presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.
(Election results from 1922 onwards)
(Election results from 1955 onwards)
2017 Election
House of Commons Library 2017 Election report
A Vision Of Britain Through Time
(Constituency elector numbers)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brecon And Radnorshire (Uk Parliament Constituency)
Brecknockshire
Parliamentary constituencies in Mid Wales
Politics of Powys
Radnorshire
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1918
1918 establishments in Wales