Powys election: All you need to know about Montgomeryshire

The General Election, which was called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, will see voters go to the polls on July 4.

Here at the County Times we have put together a guide for voters in the Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr constituency for all you need to know before the upcoming vote.

Who is running?

This year will see current Conservative MP, Craig Williams compete for the seat against number of challengers.

The Liberal Democrats who have previously held the seat and came in runner up last time have put up 24-year-old Llanidloes councillor Glyn Preston.

Labour have nominated Stephen Witherden who works as a teacher and trade union representative.

Plaid Cymru have nominated experienced Powys Councillor Elwyn Vaughan who will be standing for the seat for the first time, but who finished second in the Senedd election for Montgomeryshire in 2021.

Reform UK have chosen Oliver Lewis to run for the seat who has previously run for the Senedd in 2021, while the Green candidate will be Powys Councillor Jeremy Brignell-Thorp.

How have previous elections gone?

The Conservatives have held the seat since taking it from the Liberal Democrats and have increased their majority in every election since, with a 58 per cent share of the vote in 2019.

However, opposition parties may see some reasons to be hopeful.

The Liberal Democrats have traditionally been the other big party in Montgomeryshire, with first Alex Carlile - now the cross-bench peer Lord Carlile - then Lembit Opik holding the seat for the Lib Dems between 1983 and 2010.

The Senedd election in 2021 showed a big jump in support for Plaid Cymru who finished second and whose vote went up by 4.3 per cent.

Labour also saw big gains with its vote rising by 8.4 per cent, and the last two general elections have seen Labour narrow the gap to the Liberal Democrats in Montgomeryshire.

Moreover, the Clwyd South constituency was Labour-held from its creation in 1997 until it was taken by former Llanfyllin mayor Simon Baynes for the Conservatives in 2019. 

Part of that seat is merging with Montgomeryshire to create the newly formed Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr seat for the 2024 election, adding thousands of voters to the roll from what has previously been a Labour-voting area.

It makes for a difficult judgement over which party is most likely to challenge Conservative incumbent Craig Williams - a close ally of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - in the race for the seat.

What are the main issues?

Some of the main issues being brought up by voters focus on healthcare – including the lack of a general hospital or accident and emergency in Powys, ambulance wait times and the severe shortage of NHS dentists.

Many have raised concerns about potential large scale wind farm developments and what effect that could have on the tourism industry in the constituency.

Concerns have also been raised about housing which is being thought to be forcing young people from the area.

The issue of poor infrastructure is also a serious worry in the area with many pointing to poor roads and public transport services.

What are the changes to the constituency?

There has been a redrawing of the constituency map after a national review saw eight constituencies in Wales being abolished to reflect changes in demographics.

This has seen Montgomeryshire incorporate the southern section of the soon to be defunct Clywd South Constituency which has traditionally voted Labour before the current MP Simon Baynes took the seat for the conservatives in 2019.