Senedd 2026: Row over Welsh-only names as new constituencies announced

The new constituencies for the Senedd have been given Welsh-only names, in a move criticised by the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives.

The number of Senedd constituencies has been slashed just as the number of members in the Welsh parliament is set to increase.

Voters in Wales will head to the polls next May, but instead of the usual 40 constituencies, the country will now be split into 16 larger areas.

The constituencies were confirmed on Monday, with all 16 given Welsh-only names, after a consultation process came to an end.

But former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, said many of his constituents who expressed concerns they would be “disenfranchised” by the proposed names had been “ignored”.

“Wales is bilingual and constituency names should be in both languages,” he added.

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru said it assigned names to each constituency which it believed to be “acceptable and recognisable for people across Wales”.

The consultation process received more responses than ever before “by a considerable margin”, according to the commission.

Shereen Williams MBE, chief executive of the commission, said the changes were “very significant”.

Ms Williams acknowledged that the debate surrounding the names had been “robust, but very constructive”.

She thanked those members of the public who had responded to the consultation, which had been “significantly strengthened due to the public’s involvement”.

What else is set to change?

The announcement comes as the number of Senedd members is set to rise by more than 50%, rising from 60 to 96 at the next election.

The way politicians get elected to Cardiff Bay will also change.

Up until now, the Senedd was made up of 40 members elected through first past the post – the system used in Westminster – and a further 20 elected to represent five larger regions using the D’Hondt list method.

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Last year, the number of Welsh constituencies in a general election was cut from 40 to 32 – and those 32 have been paired to form the new Senedd constituencies.

Six members will be elected from a list of candidates for each of the 16 constituencies, marking the biggest change in the way Senedd members are elected since the parliament’s inception more than a quarter of a century ago.