Monmouthshire was given representation in the
Parliament of England by the
Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. This was later a key point in the long-standing argument about whether the county was or was not part of Wales. Until the
Great Reform Act of 1832, the historic Monmouthshire
county constituency covered almost the whole of the
county of Monmouth, but not the county town of
Monmouth, which was a separate
borough constituency. In 1832 this was expanded into the
Monmouth Boroughs, taking in more towns to give it more electors. The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 split the county constituency into three,
North,
South, and
West Monmouthshire, and then the
Representation of the People Act 1918 abolished these, with most of the county joining a new seat called
Monmouth. This included the towns of
Chepstow,
Monmouth, and
Abergavenny. The Monmouthshire constituency was re-established as part of the 2023 review for the 2024 general election under the
June 2023 final proposals of the
Boundary Commission for Wales. The boundaries were defined as being coterminous with the
unitary authority of the
County of Monmouthshire, so it does not now include those parts of the county in the area of the
Newport City Council. ==Members of Parliament==