James Evans is concerned that proposed new Senedd constituencies risk “damaging the heritage” of Brecon and Radnorshire.

The Brecon and Radnorshire MS has spoken out against the revised proposals, which were published today by the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru.

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act instructs the Commission to make recommendations for 16 constituencies to replace the current 40 constituencies and 5 regions.

The new constituencies will take effect automatically at the 2026 Senedd election, and 6 Members of the Senedd (MSs) will be elected from each one, using the D’Hondt method currently used for the Senedd’s regional lists.

Under the proposals, Brecon and Radnorshire would be no more. This would be replaced by a much larger constituency called De Powys Tawe Nedd (Welsh) or South Powys Tawe Neath (English).

This would be created from combining the two UK Parliamentary constituencies of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, and Neath and Swansea East.

This proposed Senedd constituency includes a small section of the Swansea coastline.

Mr Evans said he was “extremely annoyed” to see Brecon and Radnorshire “wiped off the map” in favour of South Powys Tawe Neath, in the latest proposals.

“This name change risks damaging our heritage, tearing our communities apart,” said Mr Evans.

“As many of you will know, I have been very vocal in my opposition on plans to reform the Senedd ever since they were announced by the Welsh Labour Government, aided and abetted by Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems,” he said.

“It’s quite telling that they can find £120 million for more 36 more politicians, yet cannot find the money to reinstate a Winter Fuel Allowance to keep Welsh pensioners warm this winter.

“Senedd reform is a waste of public money, money that should be used to fix our broken public services. Labour, Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrats and Reform are all welcoming the expansion of the Senedd. It is only the Welsh Conservatives that have been consistently opposed to Senedd expansion.”

“I am encouraging everyone to take part in the consultation on this latest proposed change and make your thoughts well and truly clear on how damaging these plans are,” added Mr Evans.

The Commission received 61 representations regarding the initial proposal to pair the UK Parliamentary constituencies of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe and Neath and Swansea East. Of these, 19 were in support and 41 were in opposition.

Among the representations were suggestions to pair Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe with either the Caerfyrddin, Gower, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, Ceredigion or Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare constituencies.

The Commision said the ideas were acknowledged, but said the alternative pairing would have had “knock-on effects” for other well-supported proposed pairings across Wales.

The Commission is also of the view that there are good road links between the two constituencies.

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru has now opened a final four-week consultation to seek the views of people across Wales.

This is to gauge whether there is public support for these revised proposals or whether people feel that their parliamentary constituency should instead be paired with a different constituency.

The Commission is also asking for the public’s views on the much-changed proposed constituency names.

The Revised Consultation Period closes on January 13, 2025 and the Commission will publish its Final Decisions Report at the end of March 2025.

You can have your say by clicking here.