Monmouth was traditional Conservative territory at Westminster until 1991, when Huw Edwards took it for Labour at a by-election. The Tories won it back in 1992, but lost it to Mr Edwards again when the 1997 landslide gave him a majority of 4,178.
An English-speaking border constituency that's largely rural and includes the towns of Monmouth, Abergavenny and Usk, Monmouth is easily the most wealthy and most anglicised constituency in Wales. At the southern end many in the towns of Chepstow and Caldicott commute across the Severn to work in Bristol and the surrounding area. The Wye and Usk valleys, hailed by Wordsworth for their beauty, have also seen an influx of good-life refugees from the English Midlands and the south east.
Labour support is heavily dependent on the inclusion in the constituency of some - but not most - of the Cwmbran new town development. Despite its lush countryside and striking Castles (Chepstow, Raglan) and Abbies (Tintern, Llanthony) tourism is undeveloped in the area and most major employers are situated outside the constituency boundaries in Newport or the West of England.
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