The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Plans to change constituencies
New draft proposals to reshape the Peterborough constituency for future general elections have been revealed.
The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is once again proposing that Peterborough, which has Labour’s Fiona Onasanya as its MP, incorporates the ward of Fletton and Woodston.
Currently, the ward is part of the North West Cambridgeshire constituency which has Conservative Shailesh Vara as its MP.
Mr Vara said: “If the proposed boundary changes go through I will be very sad to lose the Fletton and Woodston ward along with Earith ward (in Huntingdonshire).
“However, the Boundary Commission is working to make sure that each MP represents a similar number of constituents in Parliament which is good for our democracy.
“Currently, there is huge variation in the number of people an MP can represent with some having around 50,000-60,000 constituents and others in excess of 90,000, with North West Cambridgeshire being one of the largest constituencies in the country.
“I am afraid one of the consequences of any future changes would be for constituencies like mine to lose some people to neighbouring seats.”
There are doubts whether the final boundary changes, which will reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600, will be approved by Parliament, with not enough MPs said to be in support of the proposals.
Fletton and Woodston has three Peterborough city councillors. Two are Conservative - Cllr Andy Coles and Cllr Lucia Serluca - and one is Labour - Cllr Alan Dowson.
The proposals are subject to a final consultation before being submitted to Parliament next year. The latest BCE report states that former MP for Peterborough Stewart Jackson said moving Fletton and Woodston into the Peterborough constituency was the “least worst option” as it is a “city centre, urban ward.”