Montgomeryshire () was a constituency in Wales represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Created in 1542, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP), formerly known as the knight of the shire, by the first-past-the-post system of election. It was abolished following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies prior to the 2024 general election and replaced by Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr.
The Montgomeryshire Senedd constituency was created with the same boundaries in 1999 (as an Assembly constituency).
Boundaries and political history
The seat was based on the ancient county of Montgomeryshire, in the principal area of Powys. One of Britain's most rural and isolated constituencies, Montgomeryshire elected Liberal or Liberal-affiliated candidates from 1880, until a Conservative victory in the 1979 general election. In the 1983 general election it was the only seat in England and Wales where a sitting Conservative MP was unseated, while nationally the party's seat majority increased. However, in 2010, the Conservatives won and held the seat in 2015 and 2017, with an increased majority. The seat was officially known as Montgomery before 1997. At the time of its abolition, Montgomeryshire was the only seat in Wales never to have elected a Labour MP.
Until 1918 this seat, in common with many others, contained an enclaved seat, which comprised the boroughs of Montgomery, Llanfyllin, Llanidloes, Newtown and Welshpool. This seat survived the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 which abolished many similar seats. The seat was finally abolished in 1918 and absorbed into the wider Montgomeryshire seat.
Under proposed constituency boundary changes announced in September 2016, ahead of the next general election, the seat was to be partitioned, the northern half including Welshpool to be merged with Clwyd South to form a new seat of South Clwyd and North Montgomeryshire; most of the southern including Newtown was to be merged with the Brecon and Radnor seat to form a seat renamed as Brecon, Radnor and Montgomery,Report by Mark Andrews. and the wards of Llanidloes and Blaen Hafren merged into the Ceredigion constituency which would form part of a new seat called Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire.Report based on criticism of proposals by former Montgomeryshire MP Delwyn Williams. However, the general elections of 2017 and 2019 were fought on existing boundaries.
Abolition The constituency was abolished as part of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies and under the June 2023 final recommendations of the Boundary Commission for Wales for the 2024 United Kingdom general election. The entire constituency became part of the new Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr. The abolition ended 482 years of the constituent.
Members of Parliament 1542–1604 ParliamentMember1542 James Leche1545 Humphrey Lloyd1547 Humphrey Lloyd1553 (Mar) Edward Herbert1553 (Oct) Edward Herbert1554 (Apr) Edward Herbert1554 (Nov) Edward Herbert1555Not known1558 Edward Herbert1559 (Jan) Edward Herbert I1562–1563 Edward Herbert I1571 Edward Herbert I1572 John Price1584 (Oct) Richard Herbert1586 (Oct) Oliver Lloyd1588 (Oct) Edward Herbert I1593 Reginald Williams1597 (Sep) William Herbert1601 (Oct) Edward Herbert
1604–2024 ElectionMemberParty1604–1611William Herbert1614William Herbert1621–1622 William Herbert1624 William Herbert1624–1629William Herbert1640Richard Herbert1640–1642John Pryce1642Seat vacant from 12 September 1642, when Pryce was disabled from sitting1647 Edward Vaughan1648Seat vacant after Vaughan was excluded in Pride's Purge1653Not separately represented in the Barebones Parliament1654–1655(two members)Charles LloydJohn Pryce1656–1658(two members)Charles LloydHugh Pryce1659 Edward Vaughan 1660John Purcell1661 Edward Vaughan1661 by-electionHon. Andrew NewportConservative1679Edward VaughanConservative 1719Hon. Price DevereuxConservative1740Robert Williams1741Sir Watkin Williams-WynnConservative1742Robert Williams1747Edward Kynaston1772Watkin Williams1774William Mostyn Owen1795Francis Lloyd1799Charles Williams-WynnTory1834Conservative1850 by-electionHerbert Williams-WynnConservative1862 by-electionCharles Williams-WynnConservative1880Stuart RendelLiberal1894 by-electionArthur Humphreys-OwenLiberal1906David DaviesLiberal1929Clement DaviesLiberal1931National Liberal1939Independent1942Liberal1962 by-electionEmlyn HoosonLiberal1979Delwyn WilliamsConservative1983Alex CarlileLiberal1988Liberal Democrat1997Lembit ÖpikLiberal Democrat2010Glyn DaviesConservative2019Craig WilliamsConservative2024Constituency abolished
Elections
Elections in the 19th century Elections in the 1830s
Caused by Williams-Wynn's appointment as a Commissioner for the Affairs of India
Elections in the 1840s
Elections in the 1850s
Caused by Williams-Wynn's death.
Elections in the 1860s
Caused by Williams-Wynn's death.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Caused by Rendel's elevation to the peerage.
Elections in the 20th century Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1910s
Davies was endorsed by the Coalition Government, but refused to accept the coupon.
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1980s
In 1983 this was Labour's worst performance in Wales and the only seat where Labour won less than 12.5% and lost their £150 deposit. The threshold for retaining deposits was lowered to 5% in 1985.
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 21st century Elections in the 2000s
1 This is the same David Rowlands who contested Montgomeryshire as an Independent in 1983. Not the similarly named David Rowlands who contested Monmouth at the same election.
Elections in the 2010s
1 The David Rowlands who stood here is different from the David Rowlands who stood in Newport East at this election for UKIP.
Of the 213 rejected ballots: 156 were either unmarked or it was uncertain who the vote was for. 24 voted for more than one candidate. 33 had want of official mark.
See also Montgomeryshire (Senedd constituency) List of parliamentary constituencies in Powys 1962 Montgomeryshire by-election List of parliamentary constituencies in Wales
Notes
References
Further reading Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) A Chronological Register of Both Houses of the British Parliament, from the Union in 1708, to the Third Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1807 D Brunton & D H Pennington, Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803 (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808) titles A-Z F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989) Robert Waller, The Almanac of British Politics (1st edition, London: Croom Helm, 1983)
External links Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards) Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards) 2017 Election House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report A Vision Of Britain Through Time (Constituency elector numbers) Montgomeryshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 1997 – April 2010) at MapIt UK Montgomeryshire UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2010 – May 2024) at MapIt UK