Review of Parliamentary constituency boundaries - changes to Buckingham proposed
The 2013 Review of Parliamentary constituency boundaries will introduce substantial changes. It will reduce the number of constituencies in England from 533 to 502 and make sure that each constituency has a similar number of registered electors.
Under the proposals, published by the Boundary Commission for England, England is to lose 31 seats.
"These changes are much more radical than anyone had expected," one MP said of the proposals to shrink the House of Commons from 650 to 600 seats told the Guardian. But Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire got through "with a tweak here and there" acording to the BBC.
Buckingham constituency Lib Dems will be publishing our response shortly.
Under the plans two Borough of Milton Keynes wards in Bletchley - Bletchley and Fenny Stratford, and Eaton Manor wards - will be included in the Buckingham constituency, currently represented by the Speaker, John Bercow.
To compensate, the Haddenham ward of the District of Aylesbury Vale and the Icknield and The Risboroughs wards of the District of Wycombe will be aded to the proposed Aylesbury constituency from the existing Buckingham constituency.
The Boundary Commission for England said of the move of the MK wards to Buckingham:
"We consider these two wards to be the most appropriate for inclusion in a cross-county constituency due to the communication links between the county and the borough."
Of the removal of the Haddenham, Icknield and The Risboroughs to the proposed Aylesbury constituency, it said : "[this] allows us to improve the shape of the existing Aylesbury constituency."
How to have your say
The Boundary Commission are consulting on the initial proposals for a 12-week period, from 13 September 2011 to 5 December 2011. It adds: "We encourage everyone to use this opportunity to contribute to the design of the new constituencies - the more public views we hear, the more informed our decisions will be when analysing all the views we receive."
http://consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/have-your-say/
Public hearings:
Location: Milton Keynes Council, Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, Central Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ
Date: 24 Oct 2011 to 25 Oct 2011
Time: Day 1: 11:00 - 20:00 Day 2: 09:00 - 17:00