Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr: How the tide turned against the typically Conservative seat

Montgomeryshire is an area that has traditionally opted for a Conservative member of parliament but for the first time, will now be represented by the Labour party.

It is an unprecedented win for the party, now representing the area of northern Powys, but why the change from blue to red?

Recent boundary changes saw the new constituency of Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr absorb a large part of Clwyd South but before that, the old constituency of Montgomeryshire was the only seat in Wales that had never had a Labour MP.

President of the Welsh Conservative Party and former MP, Glyn Davies, said he believed the new boundaries impacted the result.

"I thought we were going to hold the seat," he said.

"But if we were going to lose the seat, it seemed obvious to me it was going to be Labour.

"A lot of people thought it was going be the Liberal Democrats, but it was always going to be Labour. Simply because of the way in which the boundaries changed, an awful lot of north Wales which is dominated by Labour came into Montgomeryshire."

In 2019, Craig Williams won the seat for the Conservatives by a 12,138 majority having received 20,020 votes. Liberal Democrat Kishan Devani was second with 7,882 votes and Labour’s Kait Duerden third with 5,585 votes.

This year's General Election result painted a very different picture. The new constituency of Montgomeryshire & Glyndŵr saw Labour's Steve Witherden obtain 12,709 votes, followed by Reform UK's Oliver Lewis at 8,894 votes.

Conservative MP Craig Williams placed third with 7,775 votes.

Mr Williams recently admitted to committing a "huge error of judgment" when he was suspended from the party after betting on the election date.

Speaking to ITV Wales, local woman Jolie Williams said she believed the betting scandal had turned many voters away from their typically Conservative vote.

She said: "People have voted Labour not necessarily because they have any faith in Labour at all, it's just the embarrassment and shame that he [Craig Williams] could do such a thing.

"It was a back-up plan, not a confident one, but if he hadn't done what he'd done, I'm sure we'd still be Conservative now."

Rob Smith, a skipper for charity the Heulwen Trust disagreed.

He said: "The majority of people took it quite lightly. We all make mistakes. And I know he does bitterly regret it. But I wouldn't have thought that would have affected people voting locally."

A desire for change was at the heart of many locals' reasoning for switching their votes.

Mr Smith was a longstanding Conservative voter but it changed this year.

He voted for Reform UK in the hopes things would improve under the guidance of Nigel Farage.

"I think recent events over the last two or three years with Boris has caused some uncertainty, not that I agree with that, and I suppose people now are looking for a change," he said.

He added: "I hope for progress and stability perhaps which we haven't had for so long. There have been so many changes politically that it would be nice for things to settle down under a new leader and we'll see a way forward."

Not everyone shared Mr Smith's optimism.

Local business owner Dean Hammond said he fears businesses will suffer under a Labour Government.

He said: "I'm very concerned that we're going to be giving out a lot more money, there'll be a lot more taxes, and nobody's going to care about business."

Jolie Williams also added: "It's quite a scary time as it's all we've ever known... It's a nervous time for businesses, individual people, households, everyone. I just hope they stick to their manifesto."

"I'd like to see lower business rates and council tax. There's no on-street parking here. Energy bills for a business are a lot. People are struggling, businesses aren't the same. It's a hard time for everyone; Business and customer".

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