Brecon and Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Brecon and Radnorshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. Created in 1918, it elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(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

Brecknockshire

Brecknockshire , also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county.-Geography:...

and Radnorshire

Radnorshire

Radnorshire is one of thirteen historic and former administrative counties of Wales. It is represented by the Radnorshire area of Powys, which according to the 2001 census, had a population of 24,805...

. Radnorshire is included in full, and the only significantly populated area from Brecknockshire not in this constituency is Brynmawr

Brynmawr

Brynmawr is a market town in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at 1,250 to 1,500 feet above sea level and nestled at the head of the South Wales Valleys...

, which is in Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and...

. 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

Ystradgynlais is a town on the River Tawe in south west Powys; it is the second largest town in Powys, Wales. The town grew around the iron-making, coal-mining and watch-making industries....

at roughly 9,000. Other towns in the constituency are Brecon

Brecon

Brecon is a long-established market town and community in southern Powys, Mid Wales, with a population of 7,901. It was the county town of the historic county of Brecknockshire; although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of Powys, it remains an important local centre...

, Knighton, Crickhowell

Crickhowell

Crickhowell is a small town in Powys, Mid Wales.-Location:The name Crickhowell is taken from that of the nearby Iron Age hill fort of Crug Hywel above the town, the Welsh language name being anglicised by map-makers and local English-speaking people...

and Llandrindod Wells

Llandrindod Wells

Llandrindod Wells , colloquially known locally as "Llandod", is a town and community in Powys, within the historic boundaries of Radnorshire, mid Wales, United Kingdom. It was developed as a spa town in the 19th century, with a boom in the late 20th century as a centre of local government. Before...

. 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.

History

The constituency was created in the boundary changes of 1918 by merging Breconshire

Breconshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Breconshire or Brecknockshire was a constituency in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the English Parliament, and later to the Parliament of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom, between 1542 and 1918...

and Radnorshire

Radnorshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Radnorshire was created in 1542 as a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918...

, both previously constituencies in their own right. While once a Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

stronghold, the constituency was captured from the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

government by the SDP-Liberal Alliance

SDP-Liberal Alliance

The SDP–Liberal Alliance was an electoral pact formed by the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in the United Kingdom which was in existence from 1981 to 1988, when the bulk of the two parties merged to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, later referred to as simply the Liberal...

at a dramatic by-election in 1985

Brecon and Radnor by-election, 1985

The Brecon and Radnor by-election, 1985 was a parliamentary by-election held on 4 July 1985 for the British House of Commons constituency of Brecon and Radnor .- Previous MP :The seat had become vacant on 9 May 1985, when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament ,...

. 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

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, 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

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

retained the seat, with Roger Williams

Roger Williams (UK politician)

Roger Hugh Williams is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire since the 2001 general election.-Early life:...

remaining the MP.

Members of Parliament

	Member	Party
1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...	Sidney Robinson Sidney Robinson (politician) Sidney Robinson was a Liberal Party politician in Wales who served as Member of Parliament from 1906 to 1922.He was elected to the House of Commons at his first attempt, at the 1906 general election, for the Breconshire constituency...	Coalition Liberal
1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...	William Albert Jenkins William Albert Jenkins William Albert Jenkins was a Welsh coal exporter and ship owner and Liberal politician.-Family:Jenkins was born in Swansea the son of Daniel and Elizabeth Jenkins. In 1906 he married Beatrice Tyler of Pirbright in Surrey. His wife died in 1967...	National Liberal National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) The National Liberal Party was a liberal political party in the United Kingdom from 1922 to 1923. It was led by David Lloyd George and was, at the time, separate to the original Liberal Party.-History:...
1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923 -Seats summary:-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987-External links:***...		Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 - Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...	Walter D'Arcy Hall Walter D'Arcy Hall Lieutenant-Colonel Walter D'Arcy Hall, MC & Bar was a soldier, Unionist Member of Parliament and hunter of game .-Biography:...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929 -Seats summary:-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987-External links:***...	Peter Freeman Peter Freeman (politician) Peter Freeman was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.-Biography:He was elected as Member of Parliament for Brecon and Radnorshire at the 1929 general election, defeating the Conservative MP Walter D'Arcy Hall by only 187 votes...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...	Walter D'Arcy Hall Walter D'Arcy Hall Lieutenant-Colonel Walter D'Arcy Hall, MC & Bar was a soldier, Unionist Member of Parliament and hunter of game .-Biography:...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...	Ivor Grosvenor Guest Ivor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne Ivor Grosvenor Guest, 2nd Viscount Wimborne , was a British politician.-Biography:Wimborne was the son of Ivor Guest, 1st Viscount Wimborne, and his wife the Hon. Alice Katherine Sibell, daughter of Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Ebury...	National
1939 by-election	William Frederick Jackson William Jackson, 1st Baron Jackson William Frederick Jackson, 1st Baron Jackson was a British fruit farmer from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire who was noted for his scientific cultivation of a range of fruits...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...	Tudor Watkins Tudor Watkins, Baron Watkins Tudor Elwyn Watkins, Baron Watkins was a Welsh Labour Party politician.- Background :Watkins was born at Abercrave on 9 May 1903...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...	Caerwyn Roderick Caerwyn Roderick Caerwyn Eifion Roderick was a British Labour Party politician.Roderick was Member of Parliament for Brecon and Radnor from 1970 to 1979, when he lost to the Conservative candidate Tom Hooson....	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...	Tom Hooson	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1985 by-election Brecon and Radnor by-election, 1985 The Brecon and Radnor by-election, 1985 was a parliamentary by-election held on 4 July 1985 for the British House of Commons constituency of Brecon and Radnor .- Previous MP :The seat had become vacant on 9 May 1985, when the constituency's Conservative Member of Parliament ,...	Richard Livsey Richard Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth CBE was the son of Arthur Norman Livsey and Lilian Maisie . His father was a seacaptain who died in Iraq when Richard was just three years old. He was therefore brought up in a single parent household by his mother, Lilian, who was a local...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...	Jonathan Evans	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...	Richard Livsey Richard Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth Richard Arthur Lloyd Livsey, Baron Livsey of Talgarth CBE was the son of Arthur Norman Livsey and Lilian Maisie . His father was a seacaptain who died in Iraq when Richard was just three years old. He was therefore brought up in a single parent household by his mother, Lilian, who was a local...	Liberal Democrats
2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...	Roger Williams Roger Williams (UK politician) Roger Hugh Williams is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire since the 2001 general election.-Early life:...	Liberal Democrats

Boundaries

History

Members of Parliament

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

See also