Consultation on Wales’ new constituency boundaries receives record number of responses

A consultation on how Wales’ new boundaries should look after Westminster cut the number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 32 has received a record number of responses.

The Boundary Commission for Wales’ eight-week consultation closed at midnight, having received over 1,100 submissions. It was more than doubling the number received during the equivalent consultation of the 2018 Review.

The Commission said that “certain hotspot areas” became apparent during the consultation, with many respondents providing “valuable feedback” on proposals for their local area.

A number of respondents stated their opposition to the reduction in the number of Welsh constituencies, they said. However, this matter was decided by Parliament, and the Commission is unable to affect this decision.

Commenting on the closure of the consultation, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for Wales, Shereen Williams, said: “I’m very grateful to the people of Wales for playing such an active part in this Review.

“When we published our initial proposals, we asked the public to get involved, knowing that their local knowledge will be invaluable to the Commission in further developing parliamentary constituencies that reflects the views of the electorate.

“I’m delighted that people across the country have responded with such enthusiasm, and the Commission will now take time to consider the responses we’ve received before we open our secondary consultation period and hold public hearings in the new year.”

What’s next?

They said it was the first in several opportunities for public engagement in the process ahead of Final Recommendations being published in 2023.

All representations received by the Commission during the 8-week consultation period will be published in the coming weeks.

Then, the secondary consultation period will open in January where the public will have the opportunity to make counterarguments or speak in support of representations made during the initial consultation period.

The secondary consultation period will last 6 weeks and will also include five public hearings held across Wales.

Further details on the public hearings will be published in due course.