Machynlleth and Llanidloes could be set for a shake-up at local government level if an idea to return to a smaller Montgomeryshire County Council is successful.

The Brexit Party prospective parliamentary candidate Oliver Lewis has promised a ‘Mexit’ referendum that could see Montgomeryshire leave Powys County Council and re-establish itself as a local authority.

The return to Montgomeryshire for the first time since 1974 has been branded a “gimmick” by opponents.

Mr Lewis, despite local government arrangements being a devolved issue in Wales, promised that if his party came into government in Westminster it “will hold a referendum for the residents of Montgomeryshire to vote on leaving Powys”.

He added that “Powys is unfathomably big” and that “it simply cannot make sense to have issues decided by people so far away”.

Plaid Cymru PPC Cllr Elwyn Vaughan, who is also a county councillor for the Glantwymyn ward in Montgomeryshire, said that while there is a “strong case to be made for the reconfiguration of Powys”, going back to Montgomeryshire is “not the answer”.

“Powys is large and unwieldy,” Cllr Vaughan added.

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