[2] The constituency was a new creation of the Boundary Commission for Wales and was based on the existing Conwy seat.

The other main component of the former Conwy seat, Bangor, was removed to the Arfon constituency.

The name Aberconwy was chosen partly to avoid confusion between the former Conwy parliamentary seat (which, confusingly, had been the name first proposed by the commission for the new seat), the existing county borough, town council and ward name.

The seat was coterminous with the old Aberconwy district, abolished in 1996, and thus the name was thought to be a natural one with which to name the new constituency.

The constituency is diverse, combining Welsh-speaking rural areas, English-speaking coastal dwellers, many affluent suburbs, pockets of relative poverty, seaside resorts such as Llandudno and more industrial areas such as Llandudno Junction.