1983 to 2024 The constituency was one of eight covering the
preserved county of
Gwent. The other seven were
Blaenau Gwent,
Caerphilly,
Islwyn,
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney,
Newport East,
Newport West and
Torfaen. Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, however, straddles the boundary with the preserved county of
Mid Glamorgan. It covered most of the local authority of
Monmouthshire, with the main towns being
Chepstow,
Monmouth and
Abergavenny. For the
2010 general election, there were no changes to the boundaries of the Monmouth constituency stemming from the Fifth Review of the
Boundary Commission for Wales. Likewise there were no boundary changes in
1997.
1918 to 1983 As first used in the 1918 general election, the constituency was a creation of the
Representation of the People Act 1918 as one of six constituencies covering the
county of Monmouth. Prior to the 1918 election the county had been covered, nominally, by the county constituencies of
Northern Monmouthshire,
Southern Monmouthshire, and
Western Monmouthshire, and the
Monmouth Boroughs borough constituency. By 1918, however, administrative county boundaries were out of alignment with constituency boundaries. The new constituency boundaries took account of the new
local government boundaries. The other Monmouthshire constituencies defined by the 1918 legislation were the county constituencies of
Abertillery,
Bedwellty,
Ebbw Vale and
Pontypool, and the
borough constituency of
Newport. This general pattern was maintained until 1983, nine years after the administrative county they were based on had been abolished, but there were some boundary changes during the 1918 to 1983 period. In 1918 the Monmouth constituency was defined as consisting of the
municipal boroughs of
Abergavenny, and
Monmouth, the
urban districts of Caerleon, Chepstow, and Usk, the
rural districts of Abergavenny, Chepstow, Magor, Monmouth, Cwmbran and Pontypool, and part of the rural district of St Mellons. The same boundaries were used for the
general elections of
1922,
1923,
1924,
1929,
1931,
1935 and
1945. New boundaries, created by the
House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, were used for the
1950 general election, and the Monmouth constituency was defined as consisting of the municipal boroughs of Abergavenny and Monmouth, the urban districts of Caerleon, Chepstow, Cwmbran and Usk, and the rural districts of Abergavenny, Chepstow,
Magor and St Mellons, Monmouth, and Pontypool. For the
1951 general election, there was some alteration to the boundaries of rural district of Magor and St Mellons. The constituency was redefined again for the
1955 general election, taking account of new local government boundaries. The result was the same list of boroughs and districts as for the 1951 election. 1951 boundaries were used also in the general elections of
1959,
1964,
1966,
1970,
February 1974,
October 1974 and
1979. In 1974, under the
Local Government Act 1972, the local government county of Monmouth was abolished. For the
1983 general election, new constituency boundaries were drawn, taking account of new local government boundaries. ==Members of Parliament==