Newport West was formed as a Parliamentary Constituency in 1983, by dividing the old Newport constituency into two and adding rural areas to the west of the city.

The National Assembly constituency follows the same boundaries. Both seats are held by Labour. Newport City Council has fifty members - 31 Labour, 11 Conservatives, 6 Liberal Democrats, 1 Plaid Cymru and 1 Independent.

Newport, which won city status in 2002, dates back to early Celtic times. Landmarks include a Norman castle and church which later became St Woolos Cathedral, a Roman fort at Caerleon, Tredegar House – the former seat of the powerful Morgan family - and the Transporter Bridge. There is also the University of Wales, Newport which has its main campus at Caerleon.

Newport became a major seaport and industrial town in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, mainly due to the coal and steel industries. A major urban regeneration programme is now taking place in the city centre. With the decline of heavy industry an increasing number of jobs have been created in the hi-tech and financial sectors.

New industrial parks to the west of the city, near the M4, now accommodate a range of companies in the electronics, research and development and service sectors. The Celtic Manor Resort to the east of  the city will host the Ryder Cup of 2010.

According to the 2001 census almost 80,000 people live in the constituency. The vast majority are Welsh born owner occupiers and there’s a growing non-white ethnic community (4.7%).

Unemployment in Newport as a whole was 2.8% of the resident working age population in June 2006, compared with 2.6% in the UK as a whole.