Shake-up of parliamentary constituencies will affect towns and villages on Shropshire border

The plans would see Chirk and the Ceiriog Valley, along with areas around Johnstown, Ruabon and Plas Madoc, move into the current Montgomery constituency from the current Clwyd South constituency.

The change would be part of a bid to reduce the number of constituencies in Wales from 40 to 32.

Craig Williams, Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, has welcomed today’s revised proposals by the Boundary Commission for Wales.

The Boundary Commission has been reviewing the number of Parliamentary constituencies within the UK, so that they better reflect the current population levels within cities, towns and rural communities.

The new boundaries would see Montgomeryshire’s number of electors rise from 49,961 to 76,953.

Craig Williams MP said: "I believe this proposal is a very good one given that it ensures the historic county and constituency of Montgomeryshire, which has been represented in Parliament since 1542, remains intact, and also gives us the opportunity to welcome local neighbouring communities that have similar landscapes and needs to our own.

“I have always accepted the importance for Parliamentary constituencies to be relatively even in terms of population size. Maintaining Montgomeryshire as a whole within a larger seat of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr acknowledges the extremely strong cultural and historic ties of the county and Parliamentary seat, whilst also meeting the parameters of the review.

“I am very pleased that the Commission has acknowledged the significant number of submissions it had received in support of maintaining Montgomeryshire as a whole, which was key to its final decision. I am also hugely disappointed by the Liberal Democrat’s proposal of splitting Montgomeryshire in half to be divided between Brecon & Radnorshire and Clwyd South, which would have eradicated our historic county in one fell swoop.”