Aberconwy
constituency
The Aberconwy constituency is a new creation of the Boundary Commission for Wales and is based on the existing Conwy seat. It is centred on Llandudno, Conwy town and associated suburbs such as Deganwy and Penrhyn Bay along with the Conwy Valley (formerly part of the Meirionydd Nant Conwy constituency). The other main component of the former Conwy seat, Bangor, is removed to the new Arfon constituency.
The name, Aberconwy, was chosen partly to avoid confusion between the former Conwy parliamentary seat (which, confusingly, had been the name first proposed by the commission for the new seat), the existing county, town council and ward name. The seat has the same boundaries as the old Aberconwy Borough Council, abolished in 1996, and thus the name was thought to be a natural one with which to name the new constituency.
According to political commentators, the seat will no doubt prove to be an interesting seat as Bangor, the main Labour voting area of the former Conwy constituency, is no longer present, whereas the more Conservative areas such as Llandudno and Conwy itself are retained, allowing the seat to become a crucial marginal yet again. The constituency will be a diverse one, combining Welsh-speaking rural areas, English-speaking coastal dwellers, many affluent suburbs, pockets of relative poverty, seaside resorts such as Llandudno and more industrial areas such as Llandudno Junction. In many ways the new Aberconwy seat will resemble its neighbour Clwyd West (the other seat covering Conwy County Borough) to a large degree, as both seats will have a similar social profile and, as seems likely, a similar voting pattern.
The constituency consists of 43,976 electors and is made up of the following Conwy County Council electoral divisions: Betws-y-Coed, Bryn, Caerhun, Capelulo, Conwy, Craig-y-Don, Crwst, Deganwy, Eglwysbach, Gogarth, Gower, Llansanffraid, Marl, Mostyn, Pandy, Pant-yr-afon/Penmaenan, Penrhyn, Pensarn, Trefriw, Tudno, Uwch Conwy.