Why they must change

THERE is one simple reason why constituency boundaries must change, Tories argue: fairness.

There are huge variations in the number of voters in different seats.

At one end is the Isle of Wight, whose Tory MP Bob Seely represents 105,000 voters; at the other extreme, Wirral West, represented by Labour’s Margaret Greenwood, has just 54,000 electors.

But all seats get one MP, meaning votes in some parts of the country count more than others.

There is also the matter of political advantage. Under the existing system the Tories lose out. With existing boundaries, their seats tend to have more voters, meaning they get fewer seats per vote cast.

As a result, the Boundary Commission was asked to redraw the constituency map to equalise the numbers.

If the proposals published yesterday are implemented, no seat will be bigger than 78,507 or smaller than 71,031.

The Government also wants to reduce the number of seats from 650 to 600. This could lead to rows between constituency neighbours over who gets the new seat.