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Bridgend is a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales. It elects one Assembly Member by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of seven constituencies in the South Wales West electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to seven constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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History
Bridgend can be considered a relatively safe Labour seat. The Current First Minister Carwyn Jones has been the AM since the creation of the assembly. The current Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns contested the seat in 1999 and 2003.
Boundaries
The constituency was created for the first election to the Assembly, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the Bridgend Westminster constituency. It is partly within the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan and partly within the preserved county of South Glamorgan.
The other six constituencies of the region are Aberavon, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Swansea East and Swansea West.
Voting
In general elections for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Assembly Member for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation.
Assembly Members
The member for the constituency since 1999 has been Carwyn Jones, who became First Minister of Wales in 2009.