England gains 10 MPs in boundary review – while eight constituencies in Wales are set to face axe
England gains 10 new MPs under initial proposals for a shake-up of Westminster constituency boundaries published today.
The Boundary Commission for England have revealed their plans to change boundaries which will mean that MPs across the UK will represent a roughly similar number of voters.
The Boundary Commission for Wales will reveal their own plans in September, which will include a cut in the number of MPs in Wales from 40 to 32.
When the process is finished, England is set to have 543 MPs (up 10), Wales 32 (down eight) and Scotland 57 (down two). Northern Ireland will stay as it is.
Commenting on the Boundary Commission for England’s publication of its initial proposals, a spokesperson for the Boundary Commission for Wales said, “We’d like to congratulate the Boundary Commission for England on publishing its initial proposals today.
“The Boundary Commission for Wales will be publishing its initial proposals in mid-September and we’re really looking forward to the 8-week consultation period that will follow.”
‘One-size-fits-all’
The plans revealed for England today show that Parts of the North of England and the Midlands will lose parliamentary seats while areas in the South East will gain them.
Seats have been redrawn so they have, by law, between 69,724 and 77,062 registered voters each. But the Isle of Wight has bee given special dispensation to stay as one constituency – as will Anglesey when the axe falls in Wales.
Some of the most controversial suggestions in England including scrapping the City of Chester seat which has existed since the 16th century. Another change will see Labour leader Keir Starmer’s constituency take a chunk out of that of former leader Jeremy Corbyn next door.
Labour have criticised the plans that are expected to benefit the Conservatives’ whose rural constituencies tended to be larger than Labour’s urban fortresses.
“The Conservative government’s one-size-fits-all approach to the exact size of constituencies has made the Boundary Commission’s work much harder, and will inevitably lead to the break-up of historic community ties across the UK,” Cat Smith, Labour’s shadow cabinet office minister.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
How will that happen – this is about MPs – did you actually bother to read the article?
Coincidentally the “reform” just happens to benefit England. Strangely there are people on here who find this latest gerrymandering to be “overdue”. Who needs
A colonial power when we have people like this?
It does not have anything near the same powers as the Scottish parliament, it is a power grab by Westminster. This is not democracy
Are you the same Gareth Wyn Jones as farmer fame?
No.
Gareth (Turner)
I’m still waiting for the “Slammed” article of the day to cross that one off
Yes and no. Don’t forget, the Westminster Government gas usurped devolved powers – on top of those that were never devolved. So we’ll soon have even less influence on how those are exercised.
If the House of Commons were elected by proportional representation, it would much harder for any party to use boundary changes as a power-grab mechanism. For us in Wales, it’s frustrating that the House of Commons is controlled by whichever party is strongest in England, and this problem is exacerbated by first-past-the-post. Most English people don’t vote Conservative, so a proportionately elected House of Commons would come closer to being representative of Welsh public opinion. (This cuts both ways though: sometimes Labour get a House of Commons majority on a minority of the English vote.) I’m not an emotion-driven nationalist… Read more »
There are many rabid right wing places in a country called England that would suit you well
Places like Wrexham, Bridgend, Aberconwy too then?
Pride and unionism is a contradiction in terms. Don’t forget to tug your forelock on the way out.
If I had a penny for all the times I’ve seen Unionists ranting on independence websites (seriously though, how vulnerable and uncertain in your own position do you need to be to feel the need to do that lmfbo), I’d be a rich man.
I’ve never seen a single one of them give a positive reason for maintaining the union though lol. I wonder why?
Ifan rules out a subscriber wall, as The National have, so we have one or two fleas. He had to take comments away for a while, when things got nasty. I expect them to get nasty again before long, and so the long day wears on……..
That will happen if the BritNat trolls start paying a call. Surprised they’re not here already. They’re all over Wales Reddit, busy getting hot under the collar.
Encouraging news. Treat it as a sign that this is a first step towards cutting the number to ZERO. Still too slow but 8 every 5 years means we’d have indy in 25 years time which will be past my departure time but at least others can enjoy it.
We live in interesting times – a UK Government doing everything in its power to actually break-up the UK. If it’s not intentional they must be damn fools !