Boundary Commission for England launches final public consultation on reshaping constituency map

The Boundary Commission for England is entering its third and final round of public consultation on proposals for revised constituencies across the country in the latest step towards submitting its final report to Parliament next year.

The revision will mark the first major change to constituency boundaries in England since 2007.

The Commission has considered more than 45,000 comments during the previous two stages of public consultation and has reportedly changed nearly half of its initial proposals based on the feedback.

Upon the end of the third public consultation on 5 December, the Commission must analyse the responses and then formulate a final report and recommendations.

The deadline to submit its final report to Parliament is 1 July 2023.

According to the UK's electorate figures published on 5 January 2021 by the Office for National Statistics, each constituency that the Commission recommends must contain no less than 69,724 Parliamentary electors and no more than 77,062 (except in England for two 'protected' constituencies for the Isle of Wight).

England will be allocated 543 constituencies, representing an increase of ten constituencies.

Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: "We are delighted with the huge number of comments from members of the public on our initial proposals, many which included valuable evidence about local communities."

Mr Bowden added: "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. We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to.  

"However, we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we submit our final recommendations to Parliament next year. This is our final consultation and I encourage you to participate in the 2023 Boundary Review."

The majority of England's 533 constituencies (529) were last revised in 2007, following the adoption of the recommendations of the Commission's Fifth General Review. A further four constituency boundaries were amended in 2009.

The revised map can be viewed here.

Adam Carey