BOTH the area's elected political representatives at Westminster and Cardiff Bay are pleased that the Monmouth constituency remains largely unchanged following proposals to shake up the parliamentary boundaries.

MP David Davies had feared that the Monmouth constituency would be wiped off the political map following a review of parliamentary boundaries while AM Nick Ramsay, who is unaffected by the proposed changes, said that the new Monmouthshire Constituency will mirror the Monmouthshire authority area much more closely than in the past.

Last week the Boundary Commission unveiled its initial plans to cut the number of Westminster parliamentary seats in Wales by a quarter.

However, Mr Davies said he welcomed the proposals to create a new county constituency for the whole of Monmouthshire. He added: "There were rumours the changes could lead to the abolition or dismemberment of the Monmouth constituency, but in all they are relatively minor amendments which will hardly affect anyone," said Mr Davies, who has been the sitting MP since 2005.

The new Monmouthshire constituency now includes Caldicot, Magor, Undy and Rogiet in the south. Previously the Monmouth constituency included Croesyceiliog and Llanyrafon, which are both located within the Torfaen authority and the new boundaries see these communities being reassigned to the Torfaen constituency.

"I'm very pleased with the proposed name change," added Mr Davies. "The county is Monmouthshire and Monmouth is the county town. Therefore, being referred to as the Member for Monmouth does not effectively describe the position and is confusing to residents in other towns such as Abergavenny, Chepstow and Usk.

 "There will also be a few changes made to the boundaries. Including the Caldicot area into the new Monmouthshire constituency is perfectly logical. To marry up the local authority and parliamentary boundaries will, in my view, enable the MP to provide a better service and help bring clarity.

"I have enjoyed representing Croesyceiliog and Llanyravon but including them into the Torfaen constituency seems eminently sensible.

"Across Wales the changes will mean a reduction in the number of MPs. Those who are left will have more people to represent and will therefore have to work a little harder. I for one am not complaining about that and have written to the Boundary Commission expressing my support for the proposals."

And while the proposed boundary changes only affects those politicians elected to Westminster, the area's Senedd's Monmouth constituency remains unchanged with Mr Ramsay adding: "I fully support the UK Coalition Government's policy of reducing the number of MPs. This will save a considerable amount of public money at a time when resources are stretched and the public expect greater efficiency in politics.

"I also agree with the equalisation of the numbers of electors in each constituency. The new Monmouthshire constituency would have 73,862 electors which is 3.6 percent below the UK electoral quota of 76,641 electors per constituency.

"I would invite residents of Monmouthshire to write to the Boundary Commission to support the proposed changes by the deadline of April 4."

The address is: Boundary Commission for Wales, Caradog House, 1-6 St Andrew's Place, Cardiff CF10 3BE or email [email protected]">[email protected] ."