Final recommendations for 600-seat Commons seat boundaries

[muriel_volestrangler]

are out - you can see a map for England here: https://www.bce2018.org.uk/

My town has been moved back to the Romsey etc. constituency it was in before 2010. Overall, I think that makes the old seat slightly safer for the Tories (the town is slightly more Lib Dem than Tory, while the rural area that Winchester gains is more Tory) while not being enough to make the Romsey constituency a viable Lib Dem gain.

[T_i_B]

1. I have moved house recently....

Last edited Sat Oct 6, 2018, 04:34 AM - Edit history (1)

...previously I was in North East Derbyshire, which appears unchanged. I now live in Penistone and Stocksbridge, a highly marginal seat currently held by Labour straddling the Sheffield / Barnsley border which is being broken up under these proposals.

Under these proposals I will be in Sheffield North and Ecclesfield, which would be a safe Labour seat. Much of the old constituency is becoming Barnsley West and Stocksbridge. Bizarrely, Penistone is being lumped in with West Yorkshire's Colne Valley,

I guess that Penistone must be the last bit of Yorkshire that the Boundary Commission get round to when they look at Yorkshire!

[LeftishBrit]

3. If you don't mind me saying so...

your current constituency has a rather unfortunate-looking name!

[T_i_B]

4. It's pronounced "pen-is-tun"

Last edited Tue Sep 11, 2018, 02:54 AM - Edit history (1)

People round here will get VERY annoyed if you pronounce it "penis-tone".

As an aside, the seat it is joining with was one of those that Labour took of the Tories at the last election. Putting Penistone in with Colne Valley will make it more difficult for Labour to retain the seat, which is perhaps best known as the setting of Last Of The Summer Wine.

[LeftishBrit]

5. The Tories are definitely using the boundary review for gerrymandering purposes.

[T_i_B]

6. Absolutely

Although perhaps not quite as blatant as their last abortive attempt. See also the proposal to lump Alfreton in with Bolsover, which would spell trouble for Dennis Skinner.

Worth noting at this point that that if the Tory election campaign last year hadn't been so dreadful they would have retained Colne Valley and also won Penistone and Stocksbridge. Gerrymandering is no substitute for politicians doing their job properly.

[LeftishBrit]

2. It looks as though Oxford would go back to being one constituency (rather than East and West)..

as it was pre-1983.

It would make my seat less Tory-influenced (possibly a Labour/LibDem marginal, but I haven't worked it out yet), but would probably make sure that there was no other non-Tory seat within light years around.

In any case, while boundary changes may be necessary, I don't see why we have to reduce the number of MPs. The population has gone up, not down; and MPs have more constituency duties than they did in the past. If they want to save money, perhaps they could reduce the number of days when Parliament sits, and have MPs work some of the time at home on the computer and Skype.

[T_i_B]

7. The proposed Abingdon and Oxford North seat looks really bizarre

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Maybe not as bizarre as East Oxfordshire, which stretches from the edge of Reading

to the edge of Buckingham - about 30 miles long, which is pretty extraordinary in the centre of England.