MPs to lose their parliamentary seats in constituencies shake-up

Labour will bear the brunt of the reduction in the number of constituencies from 650 to 600.

Labour has vowed to fight the “unfair, undemocratic and unacceptable” changes proposed by the Boundary Commissions for England and Wales, arguing that the 2015 electoral rolls used to calculate the size of new constituencies were out of date, because they miss out a surge of two million extra voters who signed up to take part in the European Union referendum.

The changes will be implemented for the general election due in 2020 – but their full impact will not be known until experts have been able to analyse the commissions’ revised proposals in early 2018 and their final proposals in October 2018.

The Boundary Commission said it had tried to preserve community links, but did not take political considerations into account.

The Boundary Commission released proposals for England and Wales on Tuesday, following Northern Ireland last week. Conservative Priti Patel will also have to look elsewhere after her constituency of Witham in Essex was proposed to be axed.

The party has signalled it will fight the “unfair, undemocratic and unacceptable” changes, stressing they are based on an “out of date” version of the electoral register based on populations recorded in the electoral roll for 2015 and missing two million voters who signed up to vote in the European Union referendum.

There was one moment of lightness when an MP, leaving the meeting, told reporters as he left: “All women shortlist in Islington, that’s what we want”, a reference to Corbyn’s seeming battle to keep a seat.

Under Labour party rules, an MP whose seat is being abolished has an automatic right to contest any new constituency which will contain at least 40 per cent of the old one.

“Indeed, assembly members will become the dominant representative”.

And Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Hywel Williams said he was unhappy Wales was set to lose a disproportionate number of MPs under the plans.

“Wales is being denied the same responsibilities that have been transferred to Scotland and Northern Ireland”.

Speaking as he arrived for a private dinner with the TUC general council in Brighton, he said he was “very confident” about the future, adding there was a long way to go before any suggested changes came into effect. “Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are too big”.

“Scotland’s representation at Westminster was cut in 2005 only in response to a major shift of power to Scotland”.

Labour is the biggest loser from the review – which aims to equalise the size of constituencies as well as cut the number. “I would emphasise that these are initial proposals and I very much hope that members of the public will participate in the process of consultation which now begins”.

For example, Penarth is being split from Cardiff South and put in the Vale of Glamorgan, but that means the Vale of Glamorgan has to be split in two. “What’s more, the review is being undertaken on the basis of a register that’s almost a year out of date, excluding over 2 million people who signed up between December and June”.

“That makes many of them effectively cut out of the new political map”.

A feature of the proposals is the creation of a number of huge constituencies, particularly in mid Wales. According to the England Boundary Commission, their initial proposals under the previous review changed by 61% by the time they produced their revised proposals.