Boundary review: Corbyn and Osborne's seats face axe

Date:

9/12/2016

Time:

17:16:51

Source:

BBC News

Content:

Several prominent MPs are facing reselection battles ahead of the next general election under new constituency boundary proposals in England and Wales. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-chancellor George Osborne are among those whose seats would be abolished. Most constituencies are affected by the bid to cut the number of MPs in the Commons and create equal-sized seats. Labour - expected to be hit hardest - said the proposals were "undemocratic". But the government said they would "ensure an equal say for each voter". The newly-published draft Boundary Commission proposals for England and Wales follow those for Northern Ireland, which were published on 6 September, with plans for Scotland expected on 20 October. Despite his criticism of the proposals, Mr Corbyn said he was confident of remaining as an MP if they come into force. The Labour leader represents the Islington North constituency in London, and much of it is expected to form part of a new Finsbury Park and Stoke Newington seat. Mr Osborne, meanwhile, sees his Tatton seat in Cheshire abolished, leaving him among three Conservative MPs left with just two constituencies. Among the other proposals: The number of MPs will be cut from 533 to 501 in England, from 40 to 29 in Wales, from 59 to 53 in Scotland and from 18 to 17 in Northern Ireland. After a previous reform attempt was scuppered by the Lib Dems in coalition, the Conservatives promised to "address the unfairness of the current Parliamentary boundaries" in their 2015 general election manifesto. A public consultation is under way into the reforms, with final proposals due in October 2018. If agreed by Parliament the new boundaries would be in place by the 2020 general election. Labour MPs who have clashed with Mr Corbyn will be wary of facing reselections by the party membership, where the leaders support is concentrated. Under existing Labour Party rules, if a new constituency contains 40% or more of a previous constituency, that seats MP is entitled to seek selection. But the reduction in the number of seats leaves both Labour and Tory colleagues competing for constituencies in some areas. Conservative chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin said the party would follow a policy of "no colleague left behind" to minimise the disruption to sitting MPs. "This constructive approach is in strong contrast to the Labour Party which is riddled with infighting and threats of deselection," he said. He welcomed the proposals, saying without them MPs could have ended up representing constituencies based on data that is over 20 years old. But opposition parties criticised the decision to base the review on electoral data from December 2015, saying this was out of date because it did not include nearly two million additional voters who registered ahead of Junes EU referendum. The Boundary Commission for England said government legislation required it to use the December 2015 data. With four exceptions, every seat in the UK will have no fewer than 71,031 and no more than 78,507 electors. Labour is forecast to be worst affected by the changes, as a larger proportion of its seats contain fewer than the prescribed minimum number of voters. Jon Ashworth, the partys shadow minister, said: "Constitutional changes should be done fairly and consensually, to ensure that everyone is given a voice. "There is nothing fair about redrawing boundaries with millions left out, and reducing the number of elected MPs while the unelected House of Lords continues to grow." "These changes are not about fairness to voters, they are about what is best for the Tory Party and they must not go ahead. The commission must rethink and ensure that no elector loses out." The Liberal Democrats said they were "confident" of retaining their eight seats under the new boundaries, but criticised the review. "Tory claims that this process will lead to equal votes of equal value are plain wrong," said a party spokesman. "This process will still leave a plethora of safe seats across the country, and millions of votes which dont count." Conservative Constitution Minister Chris Skidmore said the government was "committed to ensuring fair and equal representation for the voting public across the UK is in place by the next general election". He said the process would save taxpayers £66m over five years by cutting the number of MPs, adding: "As it stands, some constituencies have twice as many electors as other constituencies and that cannot be right."

Orignial Link :

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-37344525

crawlTime:

9/12/2016 5:36:18 PM