Did You Know? Constituency Boundaries in Wiltshire are Changing

You may have seen this article in the Gazette and Herald regarding the radical boundary change proposals that will come into effect before the next General Election.

To see how your area is affected, head to the Boundary Commission website and pop in your postcode. The proposed changes are under consultation, which means you can have your say on this until 2^nd August 2021.

Constituency Boundaries are reviewed from time to time to ensure that Members of Parliament represent roughly the same number of voters (average 73,393). The Boundary Commission is an independent organisation that reports to the cabinet office. The changes should not be politically motivated, but are to keep constituency numbers broadly level, whilst populations change.

The latest review shows that the combined population of Gloucester and Wiltshire has grown sufficiently to gain one additional seat, to a new total of 14 MPs. To ensure a consistent number of voters, some constituencies are shared across county boundaries. Local Authorities remain unchanged, but may cross constituency boundaries. The review does not alter where you pay your Council Tax.

The consultation process encourages both positive and neutral feedback from the public. Grounds for objections are limited to physical barriers (e.g. estuaries), sense or loss of identity in the community (voters in small villages being overwhelmed by a large town) or the proposed constituency name.

Take a look at the proposed changes and if you’d like to have your say, it’s very easy to do so - just click on the relevant area in the map to add your comment.

You can also write to your MP to find out their view of the review.

The intention of this post is to raise voters’ awareness of planned changes to constituencies, and encourage democratic engagement. If agreed by parliament in 2023 the constituency changes would be implemented in time for the next General Election. The South West Green Party would like to encourage voters to take part in the consultation process.

Photo by Sébastien Dévigne on Unsplash