List of UK Parliament constituencies in Wales

Wales is divided into thirty-two constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons.

Map of the 32 constituencies, first contested at the 2024 election coloured by party colour of MP elected.
  Labour Party: 27 seats
  Plaid Cymru: 4 seats
  Liberal Democrats: 1 seat

At the 2024 United Kingdom general election in Wales, 27 Labour MPs, 4 Plaid Cymru MPs and 1 Liberal Democrat MP were elected. The Conservative Party lost all of their 13 MPs in Wales.

This is a decrease from forty constituencies, last used in the general election of December 2019 which had resulted in 22 of the Welsh constituencies being represented by Labour MPs, 14 by Conservative MPs, and 4 by Plaid Cymru MPs.[1] The number of constituencies was reduced from 40 to 32,[2] as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, in which the Boundary Commission for Wales set the boundaries of the new constituencies, following a process starting in 2021[3] and concluding on 28 June 2023 when the final recommendations were published by the commission.[2]

Until 2026, the devolved Senedd will continue using 40 constituencies as in the previous UK Parliament, but would later replace them with 16 Senedd constituencies comprising pairings of the 32 UK Parliament constituencies.

Constituencies since 2024

edit
 
Labelled map of 2024 constituencies

  ‡Labour

  †Conservative   ₪Plaid Cymru   ¤Liberal Democrat   *Brexit Party/Reform UK   ¢Green Party

Constituency Electorate Majority Member of Parliament Nearest opposition Map
Aberafan Maesteg 72,467 10,354 Stephen Kinnock Mark Griffiths*  
Alyn and Deeside 75,785 8,794 Mark Tami Vicki Roskams*  
Bangor Aberconwy 69,026 4,896 Claire Hughes Catrin Wager₪  
Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney 71,079 12,183 Nick Smith Niamh Salkeld₪  
Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe 73,114 1,472 David Chadwick¤ Fay Jones  
Bridgend 73,152 8,595 Chris Elmore Caroline Jones*  
Caerfyrddin 74,003 4,535 Ann Davies Martha O'Neil‡  
Caerphilly 74,878 6,419 Chris Evans Lindsay Whittle₪  
Cardiff East 72,873 9,097 Jo Stevens Rodney Berman¤  
Cardiff North 71,335 11,207 Anna McMorrin Joel Williams†  
Cardiff South and Penarth 72,613 11,767 Stephen Doughty Anthony Slaughter¢  
Cardiff West 75,473 7,019 Alex Barros-Curtis Kiera Marshall₪  
Ceredigion Preseli 74,094 14,789 Ben Lake Mark Williams¤  
Clwyd East 76,637 4,622 Becky Gittins James Davies  
Clwyd North 76,150 1,196 Gill German Darren Millar  
Dwyfor Meirionnydd 72,533 15,876 Liz Saville Roberts Joanna Stallard‡  
Gower 75,504 11,567 Tonia Antoniazzi Marc Jenkins†  
Llanelli 71,536 1,504 Nia Griffith Gareth Beer*  
Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare 74,805 7,627 Gerald Jones Gareth Thomas*  
Mid and South Pembrokeshire 79,031 1,878 Henry Tufnell Stephen Crabb  
Monmouthshire 73,500 3,338 Catherine Fookes David TC Davies  
Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr 74,039 3,815 Steve Witherden Oliver Lewis*  
Neath and Swansea East 76,347 6,627 Carolyn Harris Dai Richards*  
Newport East 76,683 9,009 Jessica Morden Tommy Short*  
Newport West and Islwyn 75,781 8,868 Ruth Jones Paul Taylor*  
Pontypridd 75,030 8,402 Alex Davies-Jones Steven Bayliss*  
Rhondda and Ogmore 73,960 7,790 Chris Bryant Darren James*  
Swansea West 73,116 8,515 Torsten Bell Patrick Benham-Crosswell*  
Torfaen 71,551 7,322 Nick Thomas-Symonds Ian Williams*  
Vale of Glamorgan 74,374 4,216 Kanishka Narayan Alun Cairns  
Wrexham 69,544 5,948 Andrew Ranger Sarah Atherton  
Ynys Môn 53,137 637 Llinos Medi Virginia Crosbie  

Constituencies until 2024

edit

  ‡Labour   †Conservative   ₪Plaid Cymru   ¤Liberal Democrat   *Brexit Party/Reform UK   ¢Independent

Constituency Electorate[4] Majority[5] Member of Parliament[5] Nearest opposition[5] Map
Aberavon 50,750 10,490 Stephen Kinnock Charlotte Lang†
 
Aberconwy 44,699 2,034 Robin Millar Emily Owen ‡
 
Alyn and Deeside 62,789 213 Mark Tami Sanjoy Sen†
 
Arfon 42,215 2,781 Hywel Williams Steffie Williams Roberts‡
 
Blaenau Gwent 50,739 8,647 Nick Smith Richard Taylor*
 
Brecon and Radnorshire 55,490 7,131 Fay Jones Jane Dodds¤
 
Bridgend 63,303 1,157 Jamie Wallis Madeleine Moon
 
Caerphilly 63,166 6,833 Wayne David Jane Pratt†
 
Cardiff Central 64,037 17,179 Jo Stevens Meirion Jenkins†
 
Cardiff North 68,438 6,982 Anna McMorrin Mo Ali†
 
Cardiff South and Penarth 78,837 12,737 Stephen Doughty Philippa Broom†
 
Cardiff West 68,508 10,986 Kevin Brennan Carolyn Webster†
 
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 57,419 1,809 Jonathan Edwards¢ David Darkin‡
 
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire 59,158 7,745 Simon Hart Marc Tierney‡
 
Ceredigion 56,250 6,329 Ben Lake Amanda Jenner†
 
Clwyd South 53,919 1,239 Simon Baynes Susan Elan Jones
 
Clwyd West 57,714 6,747 David Jones Jo Thomas‡
 
Cynon Valley 51,134 8,822 Beth Winter Pauline Church†
 
Delyn 54,560 865 Rob Roberts¢ David Hanson
 
Dwyfor Meirionnydd 44,362 4,740 Liz Saville-Roberts Tomos Davies†
 
Gower 61,762 1,837 Tonia Antoniazzi Francesca O'Brien†
 
Islwyn 55,423 5,464 Christopher James Evans Gavin Chambers†
 
Llanelli 60,518 4,670 Nia Griffith Tamara Reay†
 
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney 56,322 10,606 Gerald Jones Sara Jones†
 
Monmouth 67,098 9,982 David Davies Yvonne Murphy‡
 
Montgomeryshire 48,997 12,138 Craig Williams Kishan Devani¤
 
Neath 56,419 5,637 Christina Rees Jon Burns†
 
Newport East 58,554 1,992 Jessica Morden Mark Brown†
 
Newport West 66,657 902 Ruth Jones Matthew Evans†
 
Ogmore 57,581 7,805 Chris Elmore Sadie Vidal†
 
Pontypridd 60,327 5,887 Alex Davies-Jones Sam Trask†
 
Preseli Pembrokeshire 59,606 5,062 Stephen Crabb Philippa Thompson‡
 
Rhondda 50,262 11,440 Chris Bryant Hannah Jarvis
 
Swansea East 58,450 11,440 Carolyn Harris Denise Howard†
 
Swansea West 57,078 8,116 Geraint Davies James Price†
 
Torfaen 62,330 3,742 Nick Thomas-Symonds Graham Smith†
 
Vale of Clwyd 56,649 1,827 James Davies Chris Ruane
 
Vale of Glamorgan 76,508 3,562 Alun Cairns Belinda Loveluck-Edwards‡
 
Wrexham 49,737 2,131 Sarah Atherton Mary Wimbury‡
 
Ynys Môn (Anglesey) 51,925 1,968 Virginia Crosbie Mary Roberts‡
 

2023 boundary changes

edit

Failed sixth periodic review

edit

Under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies (the 2018 review) was based on reducing the total number of MPs from 650 to 600 and a strict electoral parity requirement that the electorate of all constituencies should be within a range of 5% either side of the electoral quota.

The Boundary Commission for Wales submitted their final proposals in respect of the Sixth Review in September 2018. Although the proposals were immediately laid before Parliament they were not brought forward by the Government for approval. Accordingly, they did not come into effect for the 2019 election which took place on 12 December 2019, and which was contested using the constituency boundaries in place since 2010.

On 24 March 2020, the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Chloe Smith, issued a written statement to Parliament setting out the Government's thinking with regard to parliamentary boundaries.[6] Subsequently, the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020[7] was passed into law on 14 December 2020 which formally removed the duty to implement the 2018 review and set out the framework for future boundary reviews.

2023 periodic review

edit
Maps of the 40 constituencies to be used up to 2024 (left), and the 32 constituencies from 2024.

The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020 was passed in December 2020, and the publication of the most recent data of electorate sizes of constituencies on 5 January 2021, lead the Boundary Commission for Wales to begin its review of the parliamentary constituencies in Wales, with the commission required to publish its final recommendations for boundary changes by 1 July 2023. By December 2021, the commission published the responses collected during the consultation period, and then conducted a six-week 'secondary consultation. Unlike the previous periodic review, the total UK constituencies was kept at 650.

When proportionally dividing the total 2021 electoral population of the United Kingdom using a statutory formula between the constituent countries of the UK, it results in England having 543 constituencies, Scotland having 57, Wales having 32 and Northern Ireland with the remaining 18. Each constituency recommended to have no more than 77,062 electors and no less than 69,724.[8] The figure from Wales is calculated to be 8 seats lower from the total constituencies used for the 2019 UK general election when there were 40 constituencies, the largest decrease of any UK country or region. Wales has one 'protected constituency' not subject to UK electoral quotas, Ynys Môn on the Isle of Anglesey, where boundary changes are not applied. The decrease in constituencies in Wales has been described by the commission to represent "the most significant change to Wales's constituencies in a century", and the commission has no control over the number of constituencies in Wales. The final proposal published by the commission no longer required parliamentary approval and the recommendations in the final report were implemented automatically, however the second consultation period allowed public hearing about the proposals. The commission stated that it tried wherever possible to use existing local government boundaries, such as those of existing constituencies and principal areas.

Final recommendations

edit
 
Labelled map of the 32 new constituencies in Wales to be used from the 2024 UK general election.

The final recommendations on the new constituencies in Wales were published on 28 June 2023 by the Boundary Commission for Wales.[2][9] This followed years of proposals and consultations since 2021, with initial proposals published in 2021[3] and revised in 2022.[8]

Categorisation of status is purely based on the names used by the constituencies, if a new constituency largely overlaps with a previous one but was renamed, it is considered a new constituency.

New – Did not exist previously with either the name or boundaries.
Expanded – Keeps name but gains wards.
Redefined – Keeps name but with other altered boundaries.
Revived – Former constituency revived under the same name(s).

List of recommended constituencies[9]
Recommended constituency
(Welsh name)
Electorate
(2023)
Area (km2) Electoral wards from Status Notes
Previous constituency Principal area
Aberafan Maesteg 69,817 397 Bridgend (part) Bridgend New constituency
Ogmore (part) Bridgend
Aberavon (part) Neath Port Talbot
Neath (part) Neath Port Talbot
Alyn and Deeside
Alun a Glannau Dyfrdwy
75,695 205 Alyn and Deeside (all) Flintshire Expanded constituency
Delyn (part) Flintshire
Bangor Aberconwy 70,468 1,435 Aberconwy (all) Conwy New constituency
Clwyd West (part) Conwy
Clwyd West (part) Denbighshire
Arfon (part) Gwynedd
Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney
Blaenau Gwent a Rhymni
71,079 166 Blaenau Gwent (all) Blaenau Gwent New constituency
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (part) Caerphilly
Islwyn (part) Caerphilly
Caerphilly (part) Caerphilly
Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe
Aberhonddu, Maesyfed a Chwm Tawe
72,113 3,090 Brecon and Radnorshire (all) Powys New constituency
Neath (part) Neath Port Talbot
Bridgend
Pen-y-bont
70,770 124 Bridgend (part) Bridgend Redefined constituency
Ogmore (part) Bridgend
Caerfyrddin 72,683 2,034 Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (part) Carmarthenshire Revived constituency Previously existed 1542–1997 under its English name "Carmarthen".
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (part) Carmarthenshire
Caerphilly
Caerffili
72,458 140 Caerphilly (part) Caerphilly Redefined constituency
Islwyn (part) Caerphilly
Cardiff East
Dwyrain Caerdydd
72,463 33 Cardiff Central (part) Cardiff Revived constituency Name restored; previously existed 1918–1950.
Cardiff South and Penarth (part) Cardiff
Cardiff North
Gogledd Caerdydd
71,143 49 Cardiff North (all) Cardiff Expanded constituency
Pontypridd (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Cardiff South and Penarth
De Caerdydd a Phenarth
72,269 60 Cardiff South and Penarth (part) Cardiff Redefined constituency
Cardiff Central (part) Cardiff
Cardiff South and Penarth (part) Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan (part) Vale of Glamorgan
Cardiff West
Gorllewin Caerdydd
73,947 63 Cardiff West (all) Cardiff Expanded constituency
Pontypridd (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Ceredigion Preseli 74,063 2,458 Ceredigion (all) Ceredigion New constituency
Preseli Pembrokeshire (part) Pembrokeshire
Clwyd East
Dwyrain Clwyd
76,395 676 Clwyd West (part) Denbighshire New constituency
Clwyd South (part) Denbighshire
Vale of Clwyd (part) Denbighshire
Delyn (part) Flintshire
Clwyd South (part) Wrexham
Clwyd North
Gogledd Clwyd
76,150 170 Clwyd West (part) Conwy New constituency
Vale of Clwyd (part) Denbighshire
Dwyfor Meirionnydd 72,533 2,613 Clwyd South (part) Denbighshire Expanded constituency
Dwyfor Meirionnydd (all) Gwynedd
Arfon (part) Gwynedd
Gower
Gŵyr
76,801 345 Gower (part) Swansea Redefined constituency
Swansea West (part) Swansea
Llanelli 69,895 397 Llanelli (all) Carmarthenshire Expanded constituency
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr (part) Carmarthenshire
Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare
Merthyr Tudful ac Aberdâr
74,805 245 Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (part) Merthyr Tydfil (all) New constituency
Cynon Valley (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Mid and South Pembrokeshire
Canol a De Sir Benfro
76,820 985 Preseli Pembrokeshire (part) Pembrokeshire New constituency
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (part) Pembrokeshire
Monmouthshire
Sir Fynwy
72,681 884 Monmouth (part) Monmouthshire (all) Revived constituency Name restored; previously existed 1536–1885.
Newport East (part) Monmouthshire (all)
Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr
Maldwyn a Glyndŵr
74,223 2,379 Montgomeryshire (all) Powys New constituency
Clwyd South (part) Wrexham
Neath and Swansea East
Castell-nedd a Dwyrain Abertawe
74,705 219 Aberavon (part) Neath Port Talbot New constituency
Neath (part) Neath Port Talbot
Gower (part) Swansea
Swansea East (part) Swansea
Newport East
Dwyrain Casnewydd
76,159 142 Newport East (part) Newport Redefined constituency
Newport West (part) Newport
Newport West and Islwyn
Gorllewin Casnewydd ac Islwyn
76,234 154 Newport West (part) Newport New constituency
Islwyn (part) Caerphilly
Pontypridd 73,743 141 Cynon Valley (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf Redefined constituency
Ogmore (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Pontypridd (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda and Ogmore
Rhondda ac Ogwr
73,557 199 Ogmore (part) Bridgend New constituency
Ogmore (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Pontypridd (part) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Rhondda (all) Rhondda Cynon Taf
Swansea West
Gorllewin Abertawe
74,612 35 Swansea East (part) Swansea Redefined constituency
Swansea West (part) Swansea
Torfaen 70,591 126 Torfaen (all) Torfaen (all) Expanded constituency
Monmouth (part) Torfaen (all)
Vale of Glamorgan
Bro Morgannwg
70,426 301 Vale of Glamorgan (part) Vale of Glamorgan Redefined constituency
Wrexham
Wrecsam
70,964 292 Clwyd South (part) Wrexham Expanded constituency
Wrexham (all) Wrexham
Ynys Môn 52,415 746 Ynys Môn (all) Isle of Anglesey (all) Protected constituency Constituency not subject to the statutory UK electoral quota.

2024 results

edit

The number of votes cast for each political party who fielded candidates in constituencies in Wales at the 2024 general election were as follows:[10]

Party Votes % Change
from 2019
Seats Change from
2019 (actual)
Change from
2019 (notional)
Labour 487,636 37.0   3.9 27   5   9
Conservative 240,003 18.2   17.9 0   14   12
Reform UK 223,018 16.9   11.5 0   0   0
Plaid Cymru 194,811 14.7   4.8 4   0   2
Liberal Democrats 85,911 6.5   0.5 1   1   1
Green 61,662 4.7   3.7 0   0   0
Others 26,035 2.0   1.3 0   0   0
Total 1,319,076 100.0 32   8

Results history

edit

Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing – General election results from 1918 to 2019 (2024 as above)

Percentage votes

edit
 
Wales votes %

Key:

Seats

edit
 
Wales seats won

Key:

Maps

edit

These are maps of the results of the last four general elections in Wales and changes in 2019 following a by-election and a change of affiliation.

2019 by-elections

edit

Two by-elections were held in 2019:

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Wales 2019 results". Election 2019 Results. BBC. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Wales' new parliamentary constituencies published". Boundary Commission for Wales. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Major changes to cut number of Welsh MPs published". BBC News. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  4. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".
  5. ^ a b c "BBC Elections 2019 results". BBC Elections. 15 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Update: Strengthening Democracy:Written statement – HCWS183". UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020".
  8. ^ a b "Revised Proposals" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. pp. 24–25, 30.
  9. ^ a b 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies – The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies in Wales (PDF). Boundary Commission for Wales. 28 June 2023.
  10. ^ "General election 2024 results". House of Commons Library. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.