The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru has today published revised proposals for Wales’ new Senedd constituencies.

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.

These 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.

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.

Chief Executive of the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru, Shereen Williams MBE OStJ said: “These Revised Proposals represent a significant step on the journey to creating Wales’s new constituencies.

“The Commission would like to thank the thousands of people who responded to the Initial Consultation, and invites everyone with a view on these proposals to let the Commission know their thoughts before January 13 2025.

“The rules in place for this review mean that certain proposals can’t be changed, but following the feedback we received from the public, we have made significant adjustments to the proposed names, as well as changing the configuration of constituencies in the Cardiff area.

“The Commission remains open to making further changes, depending on the representations we receive during this consultation, so we urge everyone to share their views before 13 January 2025.”

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.

The full list of 16 constituencies proposed by the Commission are:

1. Bangor Conwy Môn

2. Clwyd

3. Fflint Wrecsam

4. Gwynedd Maldwyn

5. Ceredigion Penfro

6. Sir Gâr

7. Gorllewin Abertawe Gŵyr (Swansea West Gower)

8. De Powys Tawe Nedd (South Powys Tawe Neath)

9. Afan Ogwr Rhondda

10. Merthyr Cynon Taf

11. Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni

12. Mynwy Torfaen

13. Casnewydd Islwyn

14. De-ddwyrain Caerdydd Penarth (Cardiff South-east Penarth)

15. Gogledd-orllewin Caerdydd (Cardiff North-west)

16. Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg