Review of boundaries for MPs gets underway
THE independent Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has begun a new review of parliamentary constituencies – which could see the East Midlands gaining an extra seat.
The move follows a decision by Parliament to retain the number of constituencies in the UK at 650, and to ensure there are roughly the same number of electors in each constituency.
The BCE makes independent recommendations about where the boundaries of English constituencies should be.
The total UK electorate has been announced by the Office for National Statistics as 47,558,398, which means the number of electors in each recommended mainland English constituency must be no fewer than 69,724 and no more than 77,062.
England will have 543 constituencies, 10 more than there are currently. The commission has also decided how those constituencies will be distributed among the English regions.
The East Midlands, with an electorate on March 2 last year of 3,481,126, will go from 46 to 47 constituencies.
Leicestershire’s constituencies were last changed in 2010.
The BCE now begins work on its initial proposals for new boundaries, which are expected to be published in early summer, before an eightweek consultation.
The commission must submit its final report to the Speaker of the House of Commons by July 2023.
Tim Bowden, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “This marks the start of our work to review the constituency boundaries in England.
“Parliament has set strict rules on greater equality of electorate size between the new constituencies - these rules and the increase in total number of constituencies in England mean that there is likely to be a large degree of change across the country.”