Boundary Commission Proposes Reuniting Chiswick

New parliamentary constituency of Brentford and Chiswick planned

Current boundaries in blue, proposed boundaries in red

Initial proposals released by the Boundary Commission are proposing changes in the current local constituency make up which would see the whole of Chiswick represented by one MP for the first time.

The current split between the parts of Chiswick in Ealing and Hounslow Borough would disappear with Ealing’s Southfield ward moved out of the Ealing Central and Acton constituency to the current Brentford and Isleworth constituency which would be renamed Brentford and Chiswick.

The new constituency which is represented by Ruth Cadbury MP would include the seven Hounslow wards that make up the Brentford and Isleworth constituency plus Southfield ward and the Ealing borough ward of Northfield which is currently in the Ealing Southall constituency.

A proposed Feltham and Hounslow constituency includes six wards from the existing Feltham and Heston constituency, and the Hounslow Heath, Hounslow South, and Hounslow Central wards from the existing Brentford and Isleworth constituency.

Representation at borough Council level would continue as is with Southfield ward still part of Ealing borough.

Commenting today Ruth Cadbury said, "These proposals are undemocratic boundary-fixing by a Tory government determined to secure a permanent majority in the House of Commons. They want to cut the number of MPs but are happy to stuff the House of Lords with their unelected friends. What's more, Hounslow will no longer have two MPs whose seats fit neatly with the borough boundaries.

"When these proposals return to Parliament, we will oppose this gerrymandering - cutting the number of elected MPs whilst increasing the number of unelected peers."

Cllr Peter Thompson, Leader of Hounslow Conservative Group said, “We have to have regular boundary reviews for a simple geographical reason: Voters move and populations change. Without them MPs would end up representing constituencies based on data that is over 20 years old. Ruth and Rupa may cry foul, but this is not gerrymandering. I don’t see how you can justify a situation when parliamentary seats can vary in size from 21,000 to 108,000 voters? Are they really against plans to even out the sizes of constituencies? I can’t see too many people complaining about the plans to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 either!"

Three Hammersmith constituency wards – Askew, Wormholt and White City, and Shepherd’s Bush Green – have been included in a constituency with six wards from Ealing borough called Ealing Central and Shepherd’s Bush constituency which will replace Ealing Central and Acton.

Rupa Huq commented, "It does seem that the proposed seat most closely aligned to my current one resembles the old Ealing Acton and Shepherd's Bush constituency from the 90s but this is only an initial version of the proposals. Last time there were quite significant changes between the first and final ones.

"We in the Labour party are opposing these changes as unnecessary and unfair. The Tories claimed they wanted to cut the cost of politics but they have flooded Parliament with peers – 16 in the resignation honours of Cameron alone (a PM who seems to have left the crime scene completely) all with a daily allowance of £300 as well as gongs for Samantha Cameron’s stylist and prizes for Remain campaigners thereby rewarding failure. It doesn’t add up, has been done as a gerrymander to damage Labour and we will fight this all the way."

The rules set out in the legislation on boundary changes state that there will be 600 Parliamentary constituencies covering the UK – a reduction of 50 from the current number. This means that the number of constituencies in England must be reduced from 533 to 501.

Each constituency has to have an electorate that is no smaller than 71,031 and no larger than 78,507

The Boundary Commission are consulting on their initial proposals for a 12-week period, from 13 September 2016 to 5 December 2016. Their website has more information about how to respond as well as details of where and when they will be holding public hearings.

September 14, 2016