THE DEBATE over redrawing Parliamentary constituencies continues. In this article, the Chair of Beverley & Holderness Labour Party, Steve Gallant, offers his initial views. Meanwhile, the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) urges people to get involved in the consultation.
Local Labour Party to engage with consultation.
Beverley & Holderness Labour Party has announced its intention to make representations to the BCE.
Chair Steve Gallant says that the current proposals contain lots of anomalies, need rethinking, and the character of the constituency should be preserved. But the BCE proposals are not “a done deal” and he urges people to have their say.
“I don’t often agree with Sir Greg Knight (the Tory MP for East Yorkshire) but, when he called the Boundary Commission’s proposals A Dog’s Dinner I think he was spot on!
“It’s ironic that local Tories are so outraged by the proposals when it is the result of the Government’s own direction to the Commission to equalize the size of constituencies and to make this the overriding principle. This has meant ignoring local authority boundaries and other considerations regarding likeness of populations which have always been taken into account previously.
“The constituencies are also drawn based on numbers on the electoral register rather than the actual adult population, which means areas with high student populations or low registration will be under represented.
“This direction by the Government has led to these proposals including lots of anomalies, not least here in South West Holderness. The good news is, this is not a done deal. This is just the first draft and changes can be made if people speak up. So don’t just grumble. Have your say!
“You can send your own comments to the Commission by August 2nd and you can suggest alternative boundaries. And sign petitions which I’m sure will be launched soon.
“If the three Hull constituencies are too small, it would surely make more sense to add Cottingham to Hull North and move some Hull North wards into Hull East. Cottingham has a much greater affinity to Hull and the University area than Hedon has with East Hull. As it stands Cottingham is going to be in a constituency with Goole, which makes no sense.
“There clearly needs to be a major re-think of these proposals. Beverley & Holderness Labour Party will be making representations to try and preserve the character of this constituency”.
Steve Gallant ( (Chair of Beverley & Holderness Labour Party) June 10th 2021
In other related news, Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has urged people to get involved with the consultation.
“By taking part you can help draw the lines that will make Parliamentary constituencies more equal”, he said. “We want you to tell us how we can best reflect your local community as we reshape the map of Parliamentary constituency boundaries in England.”
Mr Bowden points out: “Your feedback is important. During the last review, we changed over half of our proposals to reflect the local knowledge submitted by the public during the consultation process. It is now over to you to tell us whether your area is best represented in the boundaries and constituency names we have proposed; and if not, how these can be improved.”
Help us draw the lines… Tim Bowden
If you or your organisation, group, political party, etc., has a Boundary Review viewpoint, then email us with these. We will feature regular updates on all three stages of the consultation.
To look at the proposals and have your say in the consultation (by Mon 2 August 2021), visit the links below.
www.bcereviews.org.uk
The local map for the proposed Yorkshire and Humberside area: Y&H BCE Consultation Portal
Follow the local debate on this:
