Proposals to change some Nottinghamshire parliamentary constituencies could radically alter the local political landscape, it has been claimed.
The Boundary Commission for England has put together plans to cut the number of constituencies in England from 533 to 501.
They could see Nottingham’s boundary map re-drawn and put question marks over the futures of a number of local MPs.
And the Labour leader of Nottingham City Council has now accused the Government of effectively trying to move local voting boundaries to give the Conservatives an advantage.
The changes – triggered by Government legislation – had already been called unfair by sections of the Labour party, which claims left-leaning areas of Labour-held seats could be swallowed up by areas where there are big Tory majorities.
This could be the case in areas such as Clifton, which is currently part of Nottingham South, held by Labour’s Lilian Greenwood.
However, under the changes Clifton would become part of a newly-named West Bridgford constituency- which is otherwise similar to Conservative-dominated Rushcliffe, where Ken Clarke has been MP since 1970 and holds a huge 13,800 majority.
The proposals have led the leader of Labour-controlled Nottingham City Council, Jon Collins, to accuse the Government of deliberately moving the goalposts to favour the Conservatives.
“Potentially there will be voices, who are MPs, who will have very little interest in areas,” he said.
“It will mean confused voices in Government and very little representation for some areas who will have weaker voices.”
Cllr Collins added that the Government’s decision to reduce the amount of constituencies “suits the Tories”, and is deliberately similar to the American tactic of ‘Gerrymandering’, – where boundaries are manipulated to favour a certain party.
“It’s not ultimately money saving, but is guaranteed to damage the Labour party the most,” he said.
Other changes would mean Beeston, which currently falls under the Conservative-held Broxtowe constituency, would move into Nottingham South.
The commission’s report states that under Government legislation, it is required to reduce constituencies and make the number of electors in each constituency more equal.
Overall it would mean that the amount of constituencies in Nottinghamshire will be reduced by one.
Other areas affected are Arnold, which would move out of Gedling to become part of the Sherwood Constituency.
The city council is putting put forward a counter-proposal, which will see the three MPs for Nottingham remain but areas outside the city such as Gedling becoming incorporated in the constituencies.
We are committed to ensuring fair and equal representation
Chris Skidmore, Minister for the Constitution, said: “Our democracy and parliamentary system need to represent everyone equally, that’s why the independent Boundary Commission for England is proposing measures to achieve equal sized constituencies that will ensure an equal say for each voter.
“At the same time it’s important to take this opportunity to cut the cost of politics, saving £66 million over the course of a Parliament by reducing the number of MPs.”
He added that the case for these reforms was agreed by the last Parliament and the Conservative Manifesto clearly pledged to get on with implementing the new boundaries, and the proposals by the BCE will be subject to consultation in Autumn 2018.
They will then be subsequently scrutinised and debated by Parliament.
“We are committed to ensuring fair and equal representation for the voting public across the UK is in place by the next general election.”
To find out more information about how this may affect you and have your say, visit the Boundary Commission for England website.
