Boundary commissions (United Kingdom)

524: 330:. Previously, Parliament voted on the recommendations and, although it could not make any alterations to them, it could reject them in their entirety. In addition, although this power was never exercised, for many years the legislation gave the Secretary of State the power to modify a commission's recommendations. The new procedures further strengthen the separation of the creation of constituency boundaries from those elected for the resulting electoral areas, with the aim of eliminating any scope for 775: 761: 670:. That Act specifies that there are 73 constituencies for the Scottish Parliament: Na h-Eileanan an Iar, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands and 70 others. The Act also specifies that the constituencies are grouped into eight regions to allow the return of list members elected by proportional representation to the parliament. The Boundary Commission for Scotland conducted a review of these boundaries between 2007 and 2010, and their recommendations were 348: 99: 475:

Customarily, each commission conducted a complete review of all constituencies in its part of the United Kingdom every eight to twelve years. In between these general reviews, the commissions were able to conduct interim reviews of part of their area of responsibility. The interim reviews usually did

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the electorate (number of registered voters) of each constituency must be within 5% of the United Kingdom electoral quota. The electoral quota is the average number of electors per constituency, defined as the total mainland electorate divided by the number of mainland constituencies, where

702:. The Act required the Boundary Commission for Wales to group the constituencies into electoral regions, to allow the return of list members elected by proportional representation to the Assembly. The Boundary Commission for Wales's Fifth General Review resulted in revised 581:, the review was recommenced in 2016 and final recommendations were submitted by the four commissions in September 2018 and laid before Parliament. However the revised proposals were never brought forward by the Government for approval and, further to the passing of the 561:

was launched on 4 March 2011 by the Boundary Commission for England, the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the Boundary Commission for Wales and the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. The Sixth Review would have resulted in 600 constituencies for the

1232: 597:, was launched by the four commissions on 5 January 2021. Under the new rules governing the number of constituencies in each nation, England would have 543 constituencies (+10), Wales 32 (-8), Scotland 57 (-2) and Northern Ireland 18 (unchanged). 1568: 315:. The Government may not modify any of the commissions' recommendations unless specifically requested to do so by the relevant commission. On approval by the Privy Council, the new constituencies come into effect for the next 479:

Under the rules in force before 2011, the number of constituencies in Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) had to "not be substantially greater or less than 613", of which at least 35 had to be in Wales. The

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a six-week secondary consultation period allowing scrutiny of all comments submitted during the initial consultation and including a number of public hearings which offer an opportunity to give views orally;

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in 2007, it is often difficult to do so due to the large electorates in these wards, and therefore a collection of complete wards may not give an electorate that is within the required electoral range.

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The Boundary Commission reported in 2016 proposing to reduce the number of UK Parliament constituencies in Wales to 29, on the basis that all constituencies must have at least 71,031 voters. While the

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As these factors can to an extent be mutually conflicting, each commission has discretion on how it applies them. In so doing, each commission aims for a consistent approach within a review.

682:, these two sets of areas do not fit together neatly. Responsibility for Scottish Parliament boundary reviews passed to the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in May 2017. 746: 846: 721:

have indicated a preference for coterminosity (meaning the mirroring of seat boundaries in Wales along the lines of the 2016 proposed reforms to the Welsh seats in the UK Parliament).

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There are currently 533 constituencies in England, 40 constituencies in Wales, 59 constituencies in Scotland and 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland, providing a total of 650.

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It has been normal practice for local government electoral wards to be used as building blocks for constituencies, although there is no legislative requirement to do so. In some

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there was not previously a limit on the area of a constituency, but in practice, no constituency has ever exceeded the 13,000 square kilometre limit introduced by the 2011 Act;

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The final consultation for England began on 8 November 2022 with the publication of the Revised Proposals and lasted for four weeks, ending on 5 December.

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a constituency with an area of more than 12,000 square kilometres (4,630 sq mi) may have a smaller electorate than the usual limit; and

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the consultation mechanism was significantly different: consultation periods only lasted four weeks, and could be followed by local inquiries;

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the size of the electorates was just one of several rules, rather than being subject to a numerical limit which overrides other factors;

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Boundary changes can have a significant effect on the results of elections, but boundary commissions do not take any account of

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All four Commissions submitted their Final Recommendations Reports to the Speaker of the House of Commons on 27 June 2023. An

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removed the link with Westminster constituencies, and there is currently no statutory review body for Senedd constituencies.

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Having satisfied the electorate and area requirements, each commission can also take into account a number of other factors:

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The boundary commissions, which are required to report every eight years, must apply a set series of rules when devising

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Following the passing of the 2020 Act, which reinstated the number of constituencies to 650, a new review, known as the

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Islands were not to be combined with any other areas. Northern Ireland had to have between 16 and 18 constituencies.

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made substantial changes to the legislation governing constituency boundary reviews; this was further amended by the

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There are a small number of exceptions to the numerical limit on electorate which are specified in the legislation:

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Changes to parliamentary boundaries do not themselves impact on which local councils are responsible for any area.

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at the time of the start of the review, and not the electorate at the end of a review, or the total population.

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constituencies in Northern Ireland may be subject to slightly different limits under certain circumstances.

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are the same as the constituencies that are used for the United Kingdom Parliament. From 1998 to 2016 six

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The scope of the boundary commissions' work is limited to areas for election to the UK House of Commons.

460: 2043: 1603: 1486: 812: 734: 730: 675: 563: 876: 220:"special geographical considerations" including the size, shape and accessibility of a constituency; 2090: 1755: 718: 507:): each commission had limited discretion to specify the number in its part of the United Kingdom; 287:

in their deliberations, or consider what the effect of their recommendations on the outcome of an

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an eight-week initial written consultation period following the publication of Initial Proposals;

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the area of a constituency must be no more than 13,000 square kilometres (5,020 sq mi).

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the five island constituencies are permitted to have a smaller electorate than the usual limit;

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removed the link between UK Parliament and Senedd seat boundaries, organisations such as the

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was not to be partitioned and was to be included in a seat that referred to it by name. The

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The review that gave rise to most of the constituency boundaries currently in force is the

437: 265: 1528: 614: 611:(No. 1230 of 2023), was made on 15 November 2023 and came into force on 29 November 2023. 8: 1694: 679: 674:. Since the legislation requires different numbers of constituencies in Scotland for the 663: 638: 247: 2017: 1374: 1156: 440:

envisaged that the functions of the boundary commissioners would be transferred to the

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reviews were only carried out every eight to twelve years instead of every five years.

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which gives effect to the recommendations must be submitted within four months to the

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Once a commission has completed its review, it submits a report to the appropriate

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not yield drastic changes in boundaries, while the general reviews generally did.

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Each commission comprises four members, three of whom take part in meetings. The

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Firstly, each proposed constituency has to comply with two numerical limits:

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a four-week consultation period following publication of Revised Proposals.

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Relationship with local government, devolved parliaments and assemblies

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Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016

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The law specifies that the electorate used during a review is the

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The procedure for reviews of constituencies and regions for the

421:. The 1949 Act was amended in 1958 and 1979 and replaced by the 2132:

Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government

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Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009

926:. Boundarycommission.org.uk. 14 September 2011. Archived from 566:: a reduction from the 650 constituencies in existence at the 250:, the consultation periods are specified in the legislation: 61: 815:

which proposed adjustments to the border between the (then)

417:. The 1944 Act was amended in 1947 and then replaced by the 413:. They were first established as permanent bodies under the 1724: 1485:. Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. Archived from 85:

is appointed to each boundary commission as deputy chair.

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Local Government Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland

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from 1944 to 1986 were generally incremental in nature.

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inconveniences resulting from changes to constituencies.

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