The UK goes to the polls next week to elect a new circus Parliament.
As you’ll know, the number of MPs from Wales has been cut from 40 to 32 resulting in the Westminster constituency boundaries being changed.
Bridgend County will now be covered by three constituencies instead of the previous two.
Also, as part of the UK Government’s quest to suppress votes and find problems that don’t need fixing, you’ll need a valid photo ID to vote in person on the day. The full list of acceptable IDs is available here.
Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party.
Summary & Prospects
The seat hasn’t changed as much as the other two. It’s the old Bridgend seat, with Pencoed and the Sarn/Tondu/Bryncethin area added (from the former Ogmore seat) and the Pyle/Cornelly area moved into the new Aberafan Maesteg seat. It’s also the only seat entirely within the Bridgend County Borough boundaries.
It should be a comfortable Labour win.
Adding to the previous five years of Jamie Wallis, the Conservatives have had another nightmare. Their previous candidate – RCT councillor, Sam Trask – withdrew at the last minute over some historic sexist posts on the internet.
The race for second could, therefore, be far more interesting than the expected canter to first place by Chris Elmore. Independents did very well across the seat in the 2022 local elections. So they might be in with a shout of challenging the Tories for second place, but their support in a 2022 local election might not translate to a general election.
The seat has also reportedly been targeted by Reform, who’ve put up former MS, Caroline Jones, as their candidate.
