Boundary Commission - review of constituencies for 2023

[whole diary]

[grahame]

How much difference does your MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) make? 
How much difference does the way his/her area is drawn up make?
How do the changes proposed look for your area?

Boundary Commission - proposed constituency changes for 2023 - out for consultation - ((here))
BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) overview - ((here))
Some of my own thoughts for my own area ((here))

[Electric train]

There is a thin line between preserving / enhancing democracy and gerrymandering, lets hope the government objective is the former

[CyclingSid]

A quick look from home suggests that there are similarities with the 2018 review, that was killed off.
https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/node/6488
In that traditional county boundaries are being increasingly ignored.
Be able to get a better understanding with the files at work.

I tend to also think of gerrymandering, but the various boundary commissions are independent aren't they?

[ray951]

Isn't this just a sticking plaster on a broken outdated system?

If you wanted to introduce fairness you would change the method of allocating the seats.

After all what is fair about:
2019 Johnson 56% of the seats from 43% of the vote.
2019 SNP 7.4% of the seats from 3.9% of the vote
2019 Greens  0.2% of the seats from 2.7% of the vote.
2005 Blair 55% of the seats from 35% of the vote.

[Bob_Blakey]

As far as my local area is concerned it looks bonkers; a large chunk of the eastern part of the Exeter City Council fiefdom was moved from Exeter to East Devon at the last review accompanied by much wailing and gnashing of teeth, mainly because it served to change Exeter from a marginal to the last remaining 'socialist' encampment in SW England. The new proposal moves another slice of the eastern Exeter urban area to East Devon which constituency is cut in half so that, if this proceeds, I would be voting (or not) for an MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Exmouth! (The other half of East Devon becomes a modified Honiton constituency). At the time of the consultation I wrote to the BC expressing the view that, on the basis of population growth, the Exeter constituency should be slightly expanded around the margins and divided into two. They obviously did not agree.

[Electric train]

Isn't this just a sticking plaster on a broken outdated system?

If you wanted to introduce fairness you would change the method of allocating the seats.

After all what is fair about:
2019 Johnson 56% of the seats from 43% of the vote.
2019 SNP 7.4% of the seats from 3.9% of the vote
2019 Greens  0.2% of the seats from 2.7% of the vote.
2005 Blair 55% of the seats from 35% of the vote.

The whole UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Parliamentary system needs the next evolution.  The Westminster village, certainly the English part needs to wake up to the devolved Governments and establish a purely English parliament / assembly.  The House of Lords needs to move towards an elected upper house which should have responsibility for the UK wide matters, Defence, Foreign policy and trade, overall Tax maters.

But the pomposity of Westminster clique are unlikely to change things very much  

[Bmblbzzz]

Some of the new boundaries run very close to the edges of towns. Gloucester, Cirencester and Cheltenham are examples.

[Red Squirrel]

Looking at the wards within the proposed Bristol Central constituency, there is currently one Lib Dem councillor, two from Labour, and eleven Greens... maybe Caroline Lucas will be getting some company?

[GBM]

The Commission wanted a joint North Devon and North Cornwall ward with one M.P.
All the local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)'s objected, as did many voters.
The Commission have now relented and agreed the existing arrangements should stay

[JayMac]

Some of the new boundaries run very close to the edges of towns. Gloucester, Cirencester and Cheltenham are examples.

Same with Taunton. Large villages/new developments to the west of the town that are naturally aligned to Taunton, will, in future, be represented by the MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Tiverton & Minehead.

Staplegrove, Norton Fitzwarren, Cotford St Luke, Bishop's Lydeard, Kingston St Mary - all dormitories of Taunton that will not be represented by Taunton's MP.

[froome]

Of most interest to this forum, I would have thought, is that Melksham will now feature in a constituency name (for the first time ever I believe), and as the first named in a new Melksham and Devizes constituency. As Melksham is central to the constituency, and Devizes right on the edge, and that it also includes Bradford on Avon and Corsham, maybe just calling it Melksham would be more sensible.

On the wider issue, the Boundary Commission has a thankless task, as whatever constituencies they come up with will cause grief in many localities. They are having to work within strict guidelines regarding population size, so inevitably many compromises will have to be made.

And on the widest issue, personally I support having a proportional voting system which, whatever method was used (and there are many) would inevitably have to be based on much larger constituencies.

[grahame]

... As Melksham is central to the constituency, and Devizes right on the edge, and that it also includes Bradford on Avon and Corsham, maybe just calling it Melksham would be more sensible ...

Melksham is also the larger town.  So there is sense in the idea.  However, I suspect that noses would be very much out of joint on that right edge.  It would be akin to a seat that included both Slough and Windsor being called just "Slough".

[ray951]

... As Melksham is central to the constituency, and Devizes right on the edge, and that it also includes Bradford on Avon and Corsham, maybe just calling it Melksham would be more sensible ...

Melksham is also the larger town.  So there is sense in the idea.  However, I suspect that noses would be very much out of joint on that right edge.  It would be akin to a seat that included both Slough and Windsor being called just "Slough".

Similar re-naming has happened in Didcot.

Didcot is currently the largest town in what is currently called the 'Wantage' constituency and under these proposals the ‘new’ constituency is now called 'Didcot and Wantage'.

Although based on the previous logic it should surely just be called 'Didcot' although that would presumably upset some of those who live in and around Wantage.

[Red Squirrel]

My house is in Bristol's gritty inner urban Ashley ward, but cross the road and you're in lovely leafy Redland. It's a funny old game.

[Bmblbzzz]

My house is in Bristol's gritty inner urban Ashley ward, but cross the road and you're in lovely leafy Redland. It's a funny old game.

That reminds me of a second-year student discussion way back in the 80s, when the grit was grittier. My friend Alyson said she'd found a flat just off Ashley Road "but luckily it doesn't say St Paul's on my map, so my mum won't be worried".