Cambridgeshire could get another Parliamentary constituency under Boundary Commission proposals
Cambridgeshire could get another Parliamentary constituency, writes Ben Hatton, Local Democracy Reporter.
The Boundary Commission for England published “initial proposals” yesterday (Tuesday) as part of its 2023 review to rebalance the constituencies based on population size.
Proposals for Cambridgeshire would increase the number of seats from seven to eight, with the new constituency called St Neots.
In addition to the town of St Neots, it would cover Cambourne, Longstowe, Girton, Willingham, Elsworth, Swavesey and other areas.
The existing South Cambridgeshire constituency would retain its name, but would not extend as far north in the west of the county and would spread east in the south of the county.
Names of all but one of the existing seven Cambridgeshire constituencies would remain the same, but their boundaries would change as a result.
South East Cambridgeshire would become East Cambridgeshire, as part of a boundary change that would see its southern tip passed to South Cambridgeshire.
All constituencies would remain within the county border.
Across the East of England, the number of constituencies would rise from 58 to 61, but nationwide the number of UK constituencies will stay at 650.
Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “Today’s proposals mark the first time people get to see what the new map of parliamentary constituencies might look like.
“But they are just the commission’s initial thoughts. Help us draw the line to make the number of electors in each parliamentary constituency more equal.
“Each constituency we recommend is required by law to contain between 69,724 and 77,062 electors, meaning there will be significant change to current boundaries.
“We want to hear the views of the public to ensure that we get the new boundaries for parliamentary constituencies right.”
The proposals can be seen and commented on at www.bcereviews.org.uk. The public consultation closes on August 2, 2021. Two further rounds of consultation will be carried out in 2022.
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