Hammersmith and Chiswick Constituency Looks More Likely |
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Radical proposals retained to next stage of consultation process
A radical overhaul of new constituency boundaries looks more likely to proceed after the Boundary Commission confirmed plans for the creation of a new Hammersmith and Chiswick constituency. The Commission has made no changes to earlier proposals for the changes to the boundaries of seats in the local area. Under the proposal which was put out for consultation last year, the part of Chiswick which is in Hounslow Borough, would be moved from the Brentford and Isleworth seat to a newly created Hammersmith and Chiswick constituency. The local authority wards Chiswick Gunnersbury (formerly Turnham Green ward), Chiswick Homefields and Chiswick Riverside would be part of a constituency that would include Ravenscourt Park, Brook Green, White City, Shepherd’s Bush Green and Hammersmith Broadway. Although the Brentford & Isleworth constituency would remain, its boundaries would be radically redrawn. To compensate for the loss of the three Chiswick wards, areas of Heston will be shifted from the Feltham and Heston constituency and parts of Whitton will be removed from the Twickenham seat and would be incorporated into the seat currently held by Ruth Cadbury. Labour party sources have indicated that Ruth Cadbury is likely to remain as the party’s candidate for Brentford & Isleworth in the next election with, the current MP for Hammersmith, Andy Slaughter expected to take over as the MP for most of Chiswick as the candidate for the Hammersmith and Chiswick seats. Most of the new Hammersmith and Chiswick constituency would be in areas currently in the Hammersmith seat’s boundaries Mr Slaughter formerly represented part of Chiswick in Westminster when he was MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush. Part of the old Hammersmith constituency south of the A4 would be moved into the Fulham and Chelsea seat currently held by Greg Hands. The Ealing Central and Acton constituency is unchanged and still incorporates Southfield ward which is mainly made up of the part of the W4 postcode area in Ealing Borough.
A final consultation is now being held into the proposals with a view to them being adopted in the 2023 Boundary Review for submission to Parliament by 1 July 2023. If confirmed, these would be the seats contested at any general election contested in 2024. This month-long consultation, is the last opportunity for residents to send in their views. The commission says it has taken into consideration over 45,000 comments sent in by the public across the country during the previous two stages of public consultation and has changed nearly half of its initial proposals based on this feedback. This third and final consultation on the new map of revised constituency proposals is open now until 5 December. The public are invited to view and comment on the new map at bcereviews.org.uk. The commission is undertaking an independent review of all constituencies in England as requested by Parliament. The number of electors within each constituency currently varies widely due to population changes since the last boundary review. The 2023 Boundary Review will rebalance the number of electors each MP represents, resulting in significant change to the existing constituency map. As part of the review, the number of constituencies in England will increase from 533 to 543 with the number in London rising from 73 to 75.
Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said, “Last year we published our initial proposals for new constituency boundaries – our first go at what the map should look like. 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. “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.”
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November 10, 2022 |