MP Boundary changes: what is it and why it matters?
Bristol’s constituency boundaries are changing. Lockleaze was formerly part of Bristol North West constituency and our MP is Darren Jones - he represents us in Parliament (whether we voted for him or not). It is now proposed that Lockleaze will be part of Bristol North East constituency, at the next election. Bristol will get an extra MP and the other constituency boundaries will change too.
You can find details of the constituency review and give your feedback on the changes and the name on the Boundary commission website deadline for this first round of consultation is 2 August 2021. The boundary commission review write:
What do you need to know?
The number of constituencies in the South West will increase from 55 to 58
By law, every constituency we [the boundary commission] propose must contain between 69,724 and 77,062 Parliamentary electors (as at 2 March 2020)
As far as possible, we try to have regard to local ties, geographic factors, local government boundaries (as they were known at 1 December 2020), existing constituencies, and minimising disruption caused by proposed change
We use local government wards as the building blocks for proposed constituencies, but will consider splitting a ward where there is a strong case for doing so that helps us better respect the factors above
Background
There are 650 seats for MPs in the House of Commons, each MP represents an area of the country, called a constituency. Over time constituencies change - people move away from some places particularly if a major employer or industry winds down, people move to other areas (current trends are for people to move to cities). This result of this is some MPs represent a lot of people and some a few, making it a bit lumpy and potentially unfair representation. Every now and then there are boundary changes to constituencies which try and even out the numbers.
Why it matters?
In the past, boundary changes were a political opportunity for the party in government to move boundaries in such a way to break-up their opposition’s territory and make themselves more electable (e.g. South Gloucestershire - a mix of city and rural - cities often Labour, rural often Tory, creating this hybrid increases the chance of a Tory MP and breaks up the influence of a city). To try and stop this sort of shenanigans an independent body called the Boundary Commissioner for England was set up, and their job is to work out what is the fairest way to split the constituencies with the rules set down for them in an Act of Parliament. Despite an independent approach to redrawing boundaries, distributing parliamentary seats about the country and changing boundaries will make a difference, this BBC article sets out some of the implications and you can follow information from different political parties to see what they make of it.
Current boundary for Bristol North West (including Lockleaze)
Proposed new boundary for Bristol North East (including Lockleaze)