Brecon and Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Brecon and Radnorshire (Assembly constituency).
Brecon and Radnorshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Boundary of Brecon and Radnorshire in Wales.
Preserved county Powys
Electorate 53,882 (December 2010)[1]
Major settlements Brecon, Crickhowell, Ystradgynlais, Knighton, Llandrindod Wells
Current constituency
Created 1918 (1918)
Member of Parliament Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat)
Number of members One
Created from Breconshire
Radnorshire
Overlaps
Welsh Assembly Mid and West Wales
European Parliament constituency Wales

Brecon and Radnorshire (Welsh: Brycheiniog a Sir Faesyfed) is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Created in 1918, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election; until 1997 its name was simply Brecon and Radnor.

The Brecon and Radnorshire Welsh Assembly constituency was created with the same boundaries in 1999.

Contents

Boundaries

The boundaries of the constituency correspond broadly with the ancient counties of Brecknockshire and Radnorshire. 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.[2] No town in the constituency exceeds a population of 10,000, the largest being Ystradgynlais at roughly 9,000. Other towns in the constituency are Brecon, Knighton, Crickhowell and Llandrindod Wells. 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.[3]

History

The constituency was created in the boundary changes of 1918 by merging Breconshire and Radnorshire, both previously constituencies in their own right. While once a Labour stronghold, the constituency was captured from the Conservative government by the SDP-Liberal Alliance at a dramatic by-election in 1985. It was regained by the Conservatives in 1992, but has been in Liberal Democrat hands since 1997. It was the Conservative Party's fifteenth target seat at the 2005 election, but their share of the vote fell, leaving it as the Conservatives' 95th target seat in 2010, 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 remaining the MP.

Members of Parliament

Election Member [4] Party
1918 Sidney Robinson Coalition Liberal
1922 William Albert Jenkins National Liberal
1923 Liberal
1924 Walter D'Arcy Hall Conservative
1929 Peter Freeman Labour
1931 Walter D'Arcy Hall Conservative
1935 Ivor Grosvenor Guest National
1939 by-election William Frederick Jackson Labour
1945 Tudor Watkins Labour
1970 Caerwyn Roderick Labour
1979 Tom Hooson Conservative
1985 by-election Richard Livsey Liberal
1992 Jonathan Evans Conservative
1997 Richard Livsey Liberal Democrats
2001 Roger Williams Liberal Democrats

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Brecon and Radnorshire [5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Roger Williams 17,929 46.2 +1.3
Conservative Suzy Davies 14,182 36.5 +1.9
Labour Chris Lloyd 4,096 10.4 -4.5
Plaid Cymru Janet Davies 989 2.5 -1.1
UKIP Clive Easton 876 2.3 +0.4
Green Dorienne Robinson 341 0.9 +0.9
Christian Jeffery Green 222 0.6 +0.6
Monster Raving Loony Chris "Lord Offa of the Dyke" Rogers 210 0.5 +0.5
Majority 3,747 9.6
Turnout 38,845 72.5 +3.0
Liberal Democrat hold Swing -0.3

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Brecon and Radnorshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Roger Williams 17,182 44.8 +8.0
Conservative Andrew Davies 13,277 34.6 -0.2
Labour Leighton Veale 5,755 15.0 -6.4
Plaid Cymru Mabon ap Gwynfor 1,404 3.7 +0.2
UKIP Liz Phillips 723 1.9 +0.7
Majority 3,905 10.2
Turnout 38,341 69.5 -1.0
Liberal Democrat hold Swing +4.1
General Election 2001: Brecon and Radnorshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrat Roger Williams 13,824 36.8 -4.0
Conservative Felix Aubel 13,073 34.8 +5.9
Labour Huw Irranca-Davies 8,024 21.4 -5.3
Plaid Cymru Brynach Parri 1,301 3.5 +2.0
Independent Ian Mitchell 762 2.0 N/A
UKIP Elizabeth Phillips 452 1.2 N/A
Independent Robert Nicholson 80 0.2 N/A
Majority 751 2.0
Turnout 37,516 70.5 -11.8
Liberal Democrat hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Brecon and Radnor[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jonathan Evans 15,977 36.1 +1.4
Liberal Democrat Richard Livsey 15,847 35.8 +1.0
Labour Chris J. Mann 11,634 26.3 −2.9
Plaid Cymru Mrs Sian R. Meredudd 418 0.9 −0.3
Green Hugh W. Richards 393 0.9 N/A
Majority 130 0.3 +0.2
Turnout 44,269 85.9 +1.5
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +0.2

Elections in the 1980s

By-Election 1985: Brecon and Radnor
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Richard Livsey 13,753 35.8 +11.4
Labour Richard Willey 13,194 34.4 +9.4
Conservative Chris Butler 10,631 27.7 -20.5
Plaid Cymru Janet Davies 435 1.1 -0.6
Monster Raving Loony Screaming Lord Sutch 202 0.5 N/A
One Nation Conservative Roger Everest 154 0.4 N/A
Independent Andre Genillard 43 0.1 N/A
Majority 559 1.4 N/A
Turnout 38,412 79.4 -0.7
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. http://www.statswales.wales.gov.uk/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=14666. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
  2. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010702/debtext/10702-22.htm
  3. ^ "Jubilee tour diary: Powys picnic". BBC News. 13 June 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2042455.stm. 
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 5)
  5. ^ Brecon and Radnorshire Cyngor Sir Powys County Council Electoral Registration
  6. ^ Brecon and Radnorshire BBC Election - Brecon and Radnorshire
  7. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge92/ge92index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-06. 
Constituencies in Wales (40)
Labour (26)
Conservative (8)
Liberal Democrats (3)
Plaid Cymru (3)