Final proposals for Boundary Commission Review will create new MP position

The Boundary Commission for England has published its revised proposals for constituencies across the country and started a final month-long consultation on its proposed changes.

The commission said that nationwide it received over 45,000 comments to its proposals, which aim to balance out the number of people each MP represents. The changes will see ten new constituencies created nationwide, including one here in Lincolnshire.

Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said he was “delighted” by the feedback so far.

“Today’s publication is the culmination of months of analysis and we have revised nearly half of our initial proposals based on what people have told us,” he said.

“We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to.”

Under the original plans, Grantham and Stamford in Lincolnshire were to be split up, Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire would have seen chunks of electorate potentially moved under a new South Humber ward, Grimsby and Cleethorpes merged, and a new South Lincolnshire constituency encompassing South Holland and the Deepings was proposed.

Below are some of the revisions being made to Lincolnshire constituencies in the latest version:

The proposed new Rutland and Stamford constituency will now include Harborough villages of Billesdon and Tilton, Nevill and Thurnby & Houghton on top of the planned 11 South Kesteven District Council wards wards already included. This will mean the constituency will incorporate parts of three separate counties. The proposed new Grantham constituency will be expanded to include a number of SKDC and North Kesteven District Council wards including the Heckington Rural and Osbournby wards. The proposed Sleaford and North Hykeham constituency will include the remaining NKDC wards. The previously planned “South Lincolnshire” constituency will revert back to South Holland and the Deepings, retaining the Market Deeping area which was lost under previous proposals. Boston and Skegness will be expanded to include Chapel St Leonards and will be re-aligned with the south of Boston Borough Council Louth and Horncastle will be expanded to include the Wragby and Halton Holegate wards, re-aligning it with the boundaries of East Lindsey District Council. Lincoln and Gainsborough remain largely unchanged apart from minor alterations to align their borders with the City of Lincoln Council and West Lindsey District Council boundaries. Suggestions that North Hykeham should be included in the Lincoln boundaries, that Heckington Rural and Osbournby were closer to Sleaford, and that the Grantham constituency would be better called Grantham and Bourne were rejected by the commissioners who said the counter-proposals did not reflect the desired outcomes better than the initial proposals and there was not enough evidence of local support.

The third and final consultation on the new map of revised constituency proposals will be open December 5. The public are invited to view and comment on the new map at https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/.

Final recommendations will be submitted to Parliament by 1 July 2023.