Brecon and Radnorshire Jonathan Evans 12,419 11,424 17,516 622 0 Brecon and Radnor 15,977 11,634 15,847 418 393 Conservative A slightly altered name - this seat used to be just Brecon and Radnor - but no actual boundary changes in this marginal seat in mid-Wales. It has had an interesting electoral history. There is a Labour presence, concentrated on the southern edge of the constituency in the ex-mining valley territory around Ystradgynlais. However, in recent years Labour has done no better than finish a strong third, behind a very tight series of battles between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. These started with the by-election caused by the death of the sitting Tory MP Tom Hooson in 1985. This gave an opportunity for the Liberal Alliance, as it then was, to win, in the shape of Richard Livsey. He held on in 1987, just, but not in 1992 when the Conservatives recaptured Brecon and Radnor by just 130 votes. All three parties have a chance of winning here in 1997. This is the largest seat in area in Wales, mainly relying on agriculture, with hill farms set between the small towns like Hay on Wye and Llandrindod Wells, Builth Wells and Brecon itself. Contests here are intense and personal, and it is very difficult to predict what will happen on the basis of mere national swings.

	2,440	8.27	9.03	92
	5,326	18.05	11.17	162
	1,631	5.53	11.25	49
	765	2.59	14.70	18
	207	0.70	10.45	7
	5,464	18.52	2.81	658
	2,109	7.15	8.01	89
	8,926	30.25	15.25	198
	396	1.34	7.13	19
	1,147	3.89	10.17	38