Brecon and Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 52°05′38″N 3°22′55″W / 52.094°N 3.382°W

Brecon and Radnorshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Brecon and Radnorshire in Wales.
Preserved county	Powys
Population	69,197 (2011 census)[1]
Electorate	53,882 (December 2010)[2]
Major settlements	Brecon, Crickhowell, Ystradgynlais, Knighton, Llandrindod Wells
Current constituency
Created	1918
Member of parliament	Christopher Davies (Conservative)
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.

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Under constituency changes announced in September 2016 ahead of the next general election it is proposed to merge this seat with the southern half of Montgomeryshire including Newtown to form a new seat called Brecon, Radnor and Montgomery.^[5]

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. In 2015 the seat was reclaimed for the Conservatives by Chris Davies whose majority of 5102 was the largest in the constituency since Tom Hooson won the seat, also for the Conservatives, in 1983. Roger Williams stood for the Liberal Democrats once again but shed over 6500 votes from his 2010 result, a loss of 17.8%.

Members of Parliament

Year		Member[6][7]	Whip
	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 Guest	National
	1939	William Jackson	Labour
	1945	Tudor Watkins	Labour
	1970	Caerwyn Roderick	Labour
	1979	Tom Hooson	Conservative
	1985	Richard Livsey	Liberal
	1992	Jonathan Evans	Conservative
	1997	Richard Livsey	Liberal Democrats
	2001	Roger Williams	Liberal Democrats
	2015	Christopher Paul Davies	Conservative

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Brecon and Radnorshire ^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Christopher Paul Davies[10]	16,453	41.1	+4.5
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Hugh Williams [11]	11,351	28.3	−17.8
	Labour	Matthew Dorrance [11]	5,904	14.7	+4.2
	UKIP	Darran Thomas [12]	3,338	8.3	+6.1
	Plaid Cymru	Freddy Greaves [11]	1,767	4.4	+1.9
	Green	Chris Carmichael	1,261	3.1	+2.3
Majority			5,102	12.7
Turnout			40,074	73.8	+1.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal Democrat		Swing	+11.1

General Election 2010: Brecon and Radnorshire^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Roger Hugh 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 Marion Davies	989	2.5	−1.1
	UKIP	Clive Easton	876	2.3	+0.4
	Green	Dorienne Robinson	341	0.9	N/A
	Christian	Jeffery Green	222	0.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Chris "Lord Offa of the Dyke" Rogers	210	0.5	N/A
Majority			3,747	9.6	-0.6
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 Hugh 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	Mrs. Elizabeth Fletcher Phillips	723	1.9	+0.7
Majority			3,905	10.2	+8.2
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 Hugh Williams	13,824	36.8	−4.0
	Conservative	Felix Franc Elfed Aubel	13,073	34.8	+5.9
	Labour	Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies	8,024	21.4	−5.3
	Plaid Cymru	Brynach Parri	1,301	3.5	+2.0
	Independent	Ian Randall Mitchell	762	2.0	N/A
	UKIP	Mrs. Elizabeth Fletcher Phillips	452	1.2	N/A
	Independent	Robert Douglas Nicholson	80	0.2	N/A
Majority			751	2.0	-9.9
Turnout			37,516	70.5	−11.8
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	-5.0

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Brecon and Radnorshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey	17,516	40.8	+5.0
	Conservative	Jonathan Peter Evans	12,419	29.0	−7.1
	Labour	Christopher John Mann	11,424	26.6	+0.3
	Referendum	Mrs. Elizabeth Fletcher Phillips	900	2.1	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Steven Cornelius	622	1.5	+0.6
Majority			5,097	11.9
Turnout			42,881	82.2	-3.7
	Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.1

The Labour candidate Chris Mann, won the selection over future AMs Carwyn Jones,^[15] Jeffrey Cuthbert ^[15] and future AM and MP Peter Law^[16]

General Election 1992: Brecon and Radnor^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Jonathan Peter Evans	15,977	36.1	+1.4
	Liberal Democrat	Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey	15,847	35.8	+1.0
	Labour	Christopher John Mann	11,634	26.3	−2.9
	Plaid Cymru	Mrs Sian Rosmari Meredudd	418	0.9	−0.3
	Green	Hugh Wynn 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

General Election 1987: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey	14,509	34.8	−1.0
	Conservative	Jonathan Peter Evans	14,453	34.7	+7.0
	Labour	Frederick Richard Willey	12,180	29.2	−5.2
	Plaid Cymru	John Hamilton Davies	535	1.3	+0.2
Majority			56	0.1	−1.3
Turnout			41,677	84.3	+4.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.0

By-Election 1985: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey	13,753	35.8	+11.4
	Labour	Frederick Richard Willey	13,194	34.4	+9.4
	Conservative	Christopher John Butler	10,631	27.7	−20.5
	Plaid Cymru	Janet Marion Davies	435	1.1	−0.6
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	202	0.5	N/A
	One Nation Conservative	Roger Joseph Everest	154	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Andre C.L. Genillard	43	0.1	N/A
Majority			559	1.4	N/A
Turnout			38,412	79.4	−0.7
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+16.0

General Election 1983: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Tom Ellis Hooson	18,255	48.20	+0.97
	Labour	Rev. David Richard Morris	9,471	25.00	-15.92
	Liberal	Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey	9,226	24.36	+14.66
	Plaid Cymru	Mrs Sian Rosmari Meredudd	640	1.69	-0.46
	Independent	Richard George William Pitt Booth	278	0.73	N/A
Majority			8,784	23.20	+16.89
Turnout			37,870	80.1	-4.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.45

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Tom Ellis Hooson	22,660	47.23	+11.92
	Labour	Caerwyn Eifion Roderick	19,633	40.92	-1.20
	Liberal	N Lewis	4,654	9.70	-7.67
	Plaid Cymru	J Power	1,031	2.15	-3.05
Majority			3,027	6.31
Turnout				84.21	+2.78
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+6.56

General Election October 1974: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Caerwyn Eifion Roderick	18,622	42.12	+1.65
	Conservative	LH Davies	15,610	35.31	-0.09
	Liberal	NK Thomas	7,682	17.37	-2.09
	Plaid Cymru	DN Gittins	2,300	5.20	+0.53
Majority			3,012	6.81	+1.74
Turnout				81.43	-1.98
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.87

General Election February 1974: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Caerwyn Eifion Roderick	18,180	40.47	-2.95
	Conservative	LH Davies	15,903	35.40	+3.20
	Liberal	N Thomas	8,741	19.46	+0.53
	Plaid Cymru	DN Gittins	2,099	4.67	-0.77
Majority			2,277	5.07	-6.16
Turnout				83.41	+1.53
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.08

General Election 1970: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Caerwyn Eifion Roderick	18,736	43.42	-14.07
	Conservative	Gareth JJ Neale	13,892	32.20	-4.26
	Liberal	Geraint Wyn Howells	8,169	18.93	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	W George Jenkins	2,349	5.44	-0.61
Majority			4,844	11.23	-9.80
Turnout				81.88	+1.35
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.91

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	22,902	57.49	-0.2
	Conservative	Frank T Stevens	14,523	36.46	-0.6
	Plaid Cymru	Trefor Richard Morgan	2,410	6.05	+0.9
Majority			8,379	21.03	+0.4
Turnout				80.53	-2.3
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.2

General Election 1964: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	23,967	57.69	+0.4
	Conservative	Frank T Stevens	15,415	37.10	-5.6
	Plaid Cymru	Trefor Richard Morgan	2,165	5.21	N/A
Majority			8,552	20.58	+6.0
Turnout				82.83	-3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.0

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	25,411	57.30	+4.2
	Conservative	John H Davies	18,939	42.70	+6.3
Majority			6,472	14.59	-2.1
Turnout				86.36	-0.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-1.1

General Election 1955: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	23,953	53.10	+0.9
	Conservative	Henry Graham Partridge	16,412	36.38	-11.4
	Liberal	William Stanley Russell Thomas	4,745	10.52	N/A
Majority			7,541	16.72	+12.3
Turnout				86.80	-2.5
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.2

General Election 1951: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	24,572	52.21	+3.3
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	22,489	47.79	+5.1
Majority			2,083	4.43	-1.7
Turnout				89.25	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.9

General Election 1950: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	22,519	48.84	+2.0
	Conservative	James David Gibson-Watt	19,690	42.70	+10.3
	Liberal	Rolle Malcolm Ritson Paton	3,903	8.46	-11.3
Majority			2,829	6.14	-7.3
Turnout				88.76	+8.8
	Labour hold		Swing	-4.2

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Tudor Elwyn Watkins	19,725	46.8
	Conservative	Hon. Oscar Montague Guest	14,089	33.4
	Liberal	D. Lewis	8,335	19.8
Majority			5,636	13.4
Turnout				80.0
	Labour hold		Swing

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 Frederick Jackson

Elections in the 1930s

Brecon and Radnorshire by-election, 1939

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William Frederick Jackson	20,679	53.4
	Conservative	Richard Hanning Philipps	18,043	46.6
Majority			2,636	6.8
Turnout				79.9
	Labour gain from National		Swing

General Election 1935: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National	Ivor Grosvenor Guest	22,079	52.6
	Labour	Leslie Haden-Guest	19,910	47.4
Majority			2,169	5.2
Turnout				84.3
	National hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Walter D'Arcy Hall	25,620	59.8
	Labour	Peter Freeman	17,223	40.2
Majority			8,397	19.6
Turnout			42,843	87.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Peter Freeman	14,551	33.7	+3.2
	Unionist	Walter D'Arcy Hall	14,324	33.3	-5.1
	Liberal	Elias Wynne Cemlyn-Jones	14,182	33.0	+1.9
Majority			187	0.4	n/a
Turnout				87.7	+4.1
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+4.2

General Election 1924: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Walter D'Arcy Hall	12,834	38.4
	Liberal	William Albert Jenkins	10,374	31.1
	Labour	Edward Thomas John	10,167	30.5
Majority			2,460	7.3
Turnout				83.6
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Albert Jenkins	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

W.A. Jenkins

General Election 1922: Brecon and Radnor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National Liberal	William Albert Jenkins	20,405	67.4
	Labour	Edward Thomas John	9,850	32.6
Majority			10,555	34.8
Turnout				77.9
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Sidney Robinson*	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal win

*endorsed by the Coalition Government

See also

• Brecon and Radnorshire (Assembly constituency)
• List of Parliamentary constituencies in Powys

Notes and references

1. "Brecon and Radnorshire: Usual Resident Population, 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
2. "Beyond 20/20 WDS - Table view". 2011 Electorate Figures. StatsWales. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
3. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 2 Jul 2001 (pt 22)". parliament.uk.
4. "Jubilee tour diary: Powys picnic". BBC News. 13 June 2002.
5. "A radical shake-up of the constituency". Shropshire Star. 13 September 2016. p. 10.Report by Mark Andrews, dealing with constituencies in or bordering Shropshire.
6. "Brecon and Radnorshire 1997-". Hansard 1803-2005. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
7. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 5)
8. "Powys election results". 2015 General Election results. Powys County Council. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
9. total electorate 54,441 email from Powys County Council 15Jul15
10. "News". Brecon and Radnorshire.
11. "UK ELECTION RESULTS". electionresults.blogspot.co.uk.
12. "UKIP candidate row in Brecon and Radnorshire". BBC News.
13. Brecon and Radnorshire Cyngor Sir Powys County Council Electoral Registration
14. Brecon and Radnorshire BBC Election - Brecon and Radnorshire
15. http://www.assembly.wales/Record%20of%20Proceedings%20Documents/The%20Record-02052006-42396/bus-CHAMBER-N0000000000000000000000000043732-English.pdf|website=National Assembly for Wales, page 14
16. http://www.assembly.wales/Record%20of%20Proceedings%20Documents/The%20Record-02052006-42396/bus-CHAMBER-N0000000000000000000000000043732-English.pdf|website=National Assembly for Wales, page 20
17. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Retrieved 2010-12-06.

External links

• nomis Constituency Profile for Brecon and Radnorshire — presenting data from the ONS annual population survey and other official statistics.