Boundary Commission for England
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Strictly embargoed until 00:01, Friday 4 March 2011 - Drawing up of new parliamentary constituencies in England begins
The independent Boundary Commission for England has begun work on redrawing the map of parliamentary constituencies following a new Act of Parliament. The new rules mean that there will be fewer MPs and that their constituencies must be of more equal size. England will have 502 MPs rather than the current 533 and the number of electors in each constituency must be no smaller than 72,810 and no larger than 80,473.
Early indications are that the changes will have to be
significant in order to reduce the number of constituencies by 31
and to ensure that they are of equal size. The majority of
existing constituencies are likely to be affected.
Simon James, the Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England
said: "Parliament has set the Commission clear rules
about how many electors each constituency can have. The first
stage of the review is for the Commission to come up with its
provisional recommendations - we will be seeking views on these
once they are published in the autumn.
Everyone will have a
chance to see and comment on the proposals."
The Commission will also be visiting areas across all of
England to hear views on the redrawn boundaries.
The review must be completed by autumn 2013 and changes will
come into effect at the next General Election. More information is
available at www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk
Notes to editors 1. The Boundary Commission for England
is an independent and impartial advisory body, constituted under
the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. It is responsible for
conducting reviews of English parliamentary boundaries and making
recommendations to Parliament.
2. The reviews for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are
the responsibility of similar Commissions in those nations.
3. Full details about the 2011 Act and how the Commission
intends to conduct the review are published in a newsletter
(available from 4 March 2011): http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/news/news.htm
4. The Commission has also published the 2011 Electorate figure ( available from 4 March 2010) (http://www.boundarycommissionforengland.org.uk/electoral-figures/electoral-figures.htm). The total electorate for England of 38,332,557(excluding Isle of Wight) means the average size of each constituency should be just over 76,641. The rules in the 2011 Act state that every constituency must be within 5% of this number, meaning constituencies must have no fewer than 72,810 and no more than 80,473 electors (with two exceptions - the Act specifically provides for two constituencies for the Isle of Wight which is why its electorate has not been included in total for England's population).
5. Table below shows the electorate for each region in England,
the existing number of Parliamentary constituencies in each and
the number of constituencies the Commission proposes to allocate
to each during this review.
To view the table and other documents that accompanies this
release, please follow the link below;
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=418333&NewsAreaID=2&ClientID=22
6. For general enquires contact: 020 7276 1102 or email
information@bcommengland.x.gsi.gov.uk
7. For media enquires contact Colette Batterbee.
Contacts:
NDS Enquiries
Phone: For enquiries please contact the issuing dept
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Colette Batterbee
Phone: 020 7276 1581
Mobile: 0799
0813487 (office hours only)
colette.batterbee@bcommengland.x.gsi.gov.uk
