ENGLAND will gain constituencies while Scotland and Wales lose them as the electoral map sees a major shake-up.
The Boundary Commission for England has officially put out its proposals to make constituencies more balanced in terms of voter numbers – which would see England pick up a further 10 MPs. Meanwhile Wales will lose eight seats, and Scotland will lose two.
Overall England will have 543, Scotland will have 57 and Wales will have 32, with the overall total staying at 650.
By law, the commission is required to draw up seats with 69,724 to 77,062 electors – a condition which it said meant that widespread change was “inevitable”.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland will publish its proposals separately.
READ MORE: SNP lash out at 'disgraceful' bill that will see Scotland lose Westminster seats
Among those affected in England are Sir Keir Starmer's Holborn and St Pancras constituency in north London, which the commission is proposing to rename Kentish Town and Bloomsbury to reflect the changes.
The commission noted the current electorate is 5% above the limit, and proposed transferring three existing wards to the planned seat of Camden Town and St John’s Wood, while taking in an “orphan” ward from the neighbouring borough Islington.
The commission nevertheless said the seat would still cover the same north-south geographical range as Holborn and St Pancras, retaining nine of its existing wards.
In contrast, the commission said its proposals for Boris Johnson’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in west London were “very similar” to the existing boundaries, adding one extra ward.
Rishi Sunak’s Richmond seat in North Yorkshire is also subject to limited change under the proposals, losing two wards to Thirsk and Malton.
Meanwhile, the Tory MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire, Michael Fabricant, has complained bitterly at the proposals for his constituency, saying they showed “no knowledge” of the area.
“It divides Lichfield Trent Valley station in two and cuts off the eastern edge of Lichfield itself. Frankly, it’s a nonsense,” he said.
READ MORE: Disgraceful cut in Scottish MPs should be the final straw for No voters
“It bears all the hallmarks of boundaries drawn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Whitehall mapmakers in days of empire without any knowledge or care of the regions and people concerned.”
The commission stressed that the proposals, which open for an initial eight-week public consultation period, were provisional.
It is not due to make its final recommendations to Parliament until July 2023.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel