The Senedd constituencies and electoral regions () are the electoral districts used to elect

members of the Senedd A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituencies, and twenty to represe ...

(MS; ) to the

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

(Welsh Parliament; ), and have been used in some form since the first election of the then ''National Assembly for Wales''

in 1999 ''In 1999'' is a 1912 one-act comedic short play by William C. deMille, originally produced by Jesse L. Lasky, that was popular upon its release. Its gags are based on a future where gender roles are reversed. Production The piece debuted at t ...

. There are currently forty single-member constituencies and five four-member regions. The five electoral regions are:

Mid and West Wales Mid and West Wales or Mid and South West Wales is an ambiguous region of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd. It is also used sometimes ...

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

South Wales Central South Wales Central () is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, ...

, South Wales East, and South Wales West, with the forty constituencies listed below.

Voting Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

last took place in all districts in the

2021 Senedd election The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). It was the sixth Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved general election since the Senedd (formerly the National Assembly for ...

, and is not used for

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. The current boundaries were introduced for the 2007 Assembly election. The constituencies were created through the

Government of Wales Act 1998 A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, which established the National Assembly for Wales. The Assembly's constituencies were initially linked to the boundaries used for

UK Parliament constituencies in Wales Wales is divided into thirty-two constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which elect Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. At the 2024 Un ...

, set by the

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

Boundary Commission for Wales In the United Kingdom, the boundary commissions are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: one each f ...

, except a delay in implementing new boundaries between the 2007 Assembly election and the subsequent 2010 UK election. The

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (c. 1) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made provision for the holding of a referendum on whether to introduce the Alternative Vote system in all future general e ...

, unlinked the two sets of constituencies, meaning any changes to one set, no longer affected the other. Subsequently, the UK Parliament introduced new constituencies for its 2024 UK election, and the

Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru () is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for defining local government boundaries and Senedd constituency boundaries in Wales, also known as . The Commission was established originally as ...

was set up in 2024 to conduct boundary reviews of Senedd constituencies, with the constituencies not been overseen by a statutory body prior to 2024. As part of Senedd reforms, new boundaries will be introduced for the 2026 Senedd election following a boundary review, consisting of sixteen six-member constituencies with Welsh-only names, while the electoral regions are being abolished. Another review will be conducted for the 2030 election.

History

Establishment

Following the

1997 Welsh devolution referendum The 1997 Welsh devolution referendum was a pre-legislative referendum held in Wales on 18 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of a National Assembly for Wales, and therefore a degree of self-government. The referendu ...

, where a narrow majority voted in support of the creation of a

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

Welsh Assembly The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

, constituencies of the devolved legislature were established. Section 2 of the

stipulates that the constituencies for the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

be the same as the constituencies used for elections to the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

. The same act sets out the creation of five regions which would use the same borders as the five

European Parliamentary constituencies Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are Elections in the European Union, elected by the population of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU). The European Elect ...

in Wales which themselves were set out in the European Parliamentary Constituencies (Wales) Order 1994, used for

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

between

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. The electoral regions set out are still used, despite the abolishment of the five European Parliamentary constituencies for an all-Wales constituency, and the withdrawal of the UK from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Although minor border adjustments to the regions have taken place.

Change in boundaries

In 2006, the

Government of Wales Act 2006 The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the then-National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd) and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system ...

was enacted. When enacted the act reinforced the link between Assembly and UK Parliamentary constituencies, and that the number of electoral regions is five. Following the Fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies, new borders for the constituencies and electoral regions were defined by the Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006. The order detailed the abolition of three constituencies (

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...

, and Meironnydd Nant Conwy), with three new constituencies to replace them ( Aberconwy, Arfon, and Dwyfor Meirionnydd). Nine constituencies were subject to "substantial" border adjustments involving the transfer of more than 3,000 inhabitants between constituencies. A further eight constituencies were subject to boundary changes resulting in the redistribution of fewer than 3,000 inhabitants between each constituency, and a further four constituencies were subject to minor boundary adjustments that led to minimal transfers of inhabitants between constituencies. The remaining sixteen constituencies were not subject to any boundary or name modifications. The three new constituencies straddled the border of the electoral regions of

and

, leading to adjustments in the boundaries of both electoral regions, in addition to minor adjustments to the constituency of Montgomeryshire also leading to minor regional boundary adjustments. In

south Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, the boundaries of the electoral regions, South Wales West, and

were altered to accommodate changes to the boundaries of

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

, and

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

constituencies. The changes in the boundaries for constituencies and electoral regions of the Senedd came into force for the

2007 National Assembly for Wales election The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Senedd, National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, as well as the ...

Delinking from UK parliament constituencies

Section 13(1) of the

states that: This details that any further changes to the UK Parliament constituencies in Wales specified in the act (notably the proposed reduction in constituencies to 30) will not be applied to Assembly (Senedd) constituencies. In a session of the House of Commons where the then

secretary of state for Wales The secretary of state for Wales (), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Ki ...

, Cheryl Gillian was questioned on the Labour party's opposition to the decoupling of the two constituencies, she replied: Boundaries of Senedd constituencies and electoral regions were initially not overseen by any statutory review body, following the delinking of Senedd and UK Parliament constituencies in 2011. With the responsibility for proposing alterations to the boundaries of

, and reporting to the

UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

, lay with the

. At the time, both constituencies had the same boundaries. Organisations such as the Electoral Reform Society Cymru indicated a preference for coterminosity (mirroring Senedd and UK Parliament constituencies, especially during the 2016 proposed reforms). However, such coterminosity was merely desired and was not enforced by law, meaning any changes to UK Parliament constituencies in Wales did not need to be mirrored for Senedd constituencies. The

2023 review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency boundaries were approved by the Privy Council on 15 Nov ...

reduced the number of UK Parliament constituencies in Wales from 40 to 32, and were used from the 2024 UK election. While the Senedd is to introduce larger constituencies composed of pairings of the 32 from 2026.

2020 renaming

On 6 May 2020, the

Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 The Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1) () is an Act of the National Assembly for Wales that was given royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or t ...

came into force, renaming the Assembly constituencies and Assembly electoral regions of the

, to the Senedd constituencies and Senedd electoral regions of "

Senedd Cymru The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolved ...

" or "the

Welsh Parliament The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its ro ...

", known in both

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

as the

2024–25 Boundary review

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024, passed by the Senedd in May 2024, gave the responsibility for conducting boundary reviews of Senedd constituencies to the

. The commission would be responsible to conduct reviews for specifically both the 2026 Senedd election and the 2030 Senedd election, as well as regular reviews thereafter. The 2026 review was time-constricted, therefore the 2030 review, the first full boundary review in 18 years, would provide the commission with more flexibility. The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 legislated that the 2026 election should use 16 six-member constituencies, replacing the existing 40 constituencies and five regions, with the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru conducting the review. The law set out that they must be contiguous pairings of the 32 UK Parliament constituencies used in Wales since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, and to only use a single name in both Welsh and English, unless it could be considered unacceptable for a single name. The review commenced in July 2024, with

initial proposals In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means ''of the beginning ...

revealed in September 2024, and revised proposals in December 2024. A major change in the revised proposals was the use of mostly Welsh-language names only to meet the condition in law, therefore all (except four) had only one name, its Welsh name. The decision received support from

Cymdeithas yr Iaith The Welsh Language Society (, also often abbreviated to Cymdeithas yr Iaith or just Cymdeithas in English) is a direct action pressure group in Wales campaigning for the right of Welsh people to use the Welsh language in every aspect of their l ...

, but opposition from

Andrew RT Davies Andrew Robert Tudor Davies CBE (born 1968) is a Welsh politician who has served as Member of the Senedd for the South Wales Central region since 2007. He has previously served as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Senedd Group from 2011 to 2 ...

, former leader of the

Welsh Conservatives The Welsh Conservatives (), also known as the Welsh Conservative Party (), is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At United Kingdom general elections, Westminster elections, it is ...

. In March 2025, the commission published its final determinations, for the 16 constituencies (see ). The original initial proposal boundaries were re-adopted, while all constituencies were made to use Welsh-only names, with a reiteration of both support and opposition from Cymdeithas and Davies respectively, as well as consultation respondents. By law, the Senedd must put these final determinations into effect for the 2026 Senedd election without alteration.

Proposed constituencies (2026)

Wales2026SeneddConstituencies labelled map

The following is a list of the proposed constituencies set to be used for the 2026 Senedd election. For the current set, see below.

Additional Member System (1999–2026)

Senedd constituencies are grouped into electoral regions consisting of between seven and nine constituencies. An

additional member system The additional-member system (AMS) is a two-vote seat-linkage-based mixed electoral system used in the United Kingdom in which most legislator, representatives are elected in single-member districts (SMDs), and a fixed number of other "addition ...

is used to elect four additional Members of the Senedd from each region, in addition to the MSs elected by the constituencies. The Electoral Regions boundaries were based upon the pre-1999

European Parliament constituencies Member of the European Parliament, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are Elections in the European Union, elected by the population of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU). The European Elect ...

. At each

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of the Senedd, each elector has two votes, one constituency vote and one regional party-list vote. Each constituency elects one Member by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

(single-member district plurality, SMDP) system, and the additional Senedd seats are filled from regional

closed party list Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

s, under the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

, with constituency results being taken into account, to produce a degree of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

for each region. Altogether, the sixty Members of the Senedd are elected from the forty constituencies and five electoral regions, creating a Senedd of forty constituency MSs and twenty additional MSs. Every constituent is represented by one constituency member and four regional members. Wales is currently made up of 40 constituencies for elections to the Senedd; the constituencies were the same until the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

but were not linked to those used for elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, with each constituency containing a population of around 60,000. The borders of each constituency are drawn using Local government boundaries, defined in Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 as "the boundaries of counties, county boroughs, electoral divisions, communities and community wards". Wales is organised into five electoral regions for elections to the Senedd. Each region contains between 7 and 9 constituencies within them. Each region elects four additional members of the Senedd and roughly contains 500,000 people.

Constituencies

1999–2007 constituencies

Between the first election in

for the then

, to the 2007 election, there were three former constituencies. These constituencies were replaced at the 2007 election, with new boundaries and names. Three constituency names,

, and Meirionydd Nant Conwy, became historic, and the new boundaries defined three constituencies with new names: Arfon, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, and Aberconwy. Generally, the new boundaries define each constituency taking into account local government ward boundaries, and define constituencies close to equal in terms of the sizes of their electorates.

Electoral regions

Notes

References

External links

List of Members
at the Senedd website {{DEFAULTSORT:National Assembly For Wales Constituencies And Electoral Regions

Senedd electoral regions Senedd constituencies and electoral regions