The Boundary Commission for Wales has published its revised proposals for new Westminister parliamentary constituencies for Bridgend county.
The proposals are part of moves to cut the number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 32.
The initial proposals caused a bit of an uproar when it suggested splitting Bridgend town in two, with the western suburbs forming part of a new Aberafan Porthcawl constituency.
While the Bridgend and Ogmore constituencies split the northern half of Bridgend county (Ogmore) from the southern half (Bridgend), initial...
Bridgend town set to be split in two under new Westminster constituency boundary plans
That plan has now been dropped.
The new Aberafan Porthcawl constituency would include Porthcawl itself, Cornelly and Pyle. That means the new Pyle, Kenfig Hill & Cefn Cribwr council ward will be split between two constituencies.
The revised proposal for the Bridgend constituency includes the rest of the county except for Pencoed. It’s a bit more coherent than the last time.
As for Pencoed, somewhat bizarrely it’s proposed that the town and Heol-y-Cyw (the current Pencoed & Penprysg ward) transfers to the new Rhondda constituency. This is despite there being no direct connection by either main road or rail between Pencoed and the Rhondda valleys.
The Brynna, Llanharan and Llanharry areas in Rhondda Cynon Taf – currently part of the Ogmore constituency – are set to move into the newly enlarged Pontypridd constituency.
Politically, it remains good news for Labour. On these boundaries, they ought to win all three seats comfortably.
A four-week consultation has opened with views due in by Tuesday 15th November 2022 – all the details are available here.
