Councillors criticise ‘inconvenient’ proposals for new Senedd constituencies

Lewis Smith, local democracy reporter

Senior councillors have criticised proposals for the new boundaries planned for Senedd constituencies by 2026.

Last month the Boundary Commission for Wales released an initial proposal to create 16 new constituencies based around Wales’ 32 Westminster seats ahead of the 2026 elections.

Members of Neath Port Talbot’s cabinet gave feedback on the plans this week, which could see the parliamentary constituencies of Neath and Swansea East joining with Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, as well as Aberafan combining with Maesteg, Rhondda and Ogmore in future Senedd elections.

Officers speaking at the meeting described how a cross-party group of councillors from all parties in Neath Port Talbot had formed to give a response to the commission over the changes they described as being “inconvenient” for the electorate.

‘Super constituency’

Members highlighted concerns about merging Neath and Swansea East with Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, suggesting the move would create a “super constituency” which encompassed a massive area of both urban and rural communities with “vastly different demographics that offers no proper sense of community ties, identity or place.”

It added that as well as causing confusion for electors this could also cause difficulties in administration, with a strong belief from members that the most natural combination for Neath and Swansea East would be with the Aberafan Maesteg parliamentary ward.

Road links

Plans for a second constituency, which could see the combination of Aberafan Maesteg with Rhondda and Ogmore were also opposed as members felt there was “little in the way of community connection between the larger community areas of Aberafan and Rhondda” with road links that were not “sufficiently robust”.

A section of the response read: “Overall, the council believes that any boundary alteration proposals should be for change that is desirable, effective and convenient for local communities. On that basis, it is felt that these initial proposals will regretfully be inconvenient for the electorate and increase the complexity and risk of administrative error in the running of elections.

“In addition, members of council have also expressed their concern over the added layers of complexity newly elected representatives will face in advocating for constituents across multiple principal councils, health boards, police forces and rescue services.”

The commission will now look at the representations it receives from local councils to see if the initial proposals can be amended or improved with the review needing to be completed by April 1, 2025.