Electoral boundary reviews
An electoral boundary review assesses the boundaries of council areas and parliamentary constituencies and often leads to changes to those areas. The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is carrying out a review of parliamentary constituencies. The review:
- Will cut the number of parliamentary constituencies from 650 to 600, of which 501 will be in England
- Is based on the number of people registered to vote at a parliamentary election as of 1 December 2015. An "electoral quota" of 74,769 has been set and every proposed constituency must have an electorate of no less than 95% and no more than 105% of that figure
The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) review process
- The BCE published its initial proposals on 13 September 2016, which was followed by a 12 week consultation period, which ended on 5 December 2016
- BCE then published all representations received, including the records of public hearings which took place in autumn 2016, and there was a further, statutory, four week period during which written comments on those representations could be submitted
- On 17 October 2017, the BCE published its revised proposals, and a further eight week period for written representations will end on 11 December 2017. At this stage of the process there will be no public hearings and no opportunity for comment on representations made
- A final report will be published in September 2018, and the recommendations will be subject to approval by parliament.
The revised proposals from the review
- The revised proposals published on 17 October reiterate the initial proposals of the BCE that there shall be no change in the Witney Constituency, which would then continue to cover exactly the same area as the District of West Oxfordshire
- However, the BCE is suggesting changes to other constituencies in Oxfordshire, as detailed in the document available as a download from this page
Any changes to parliamentary constituencies will be effective for the first general election after they are approved.
The BCE's Guide to the Review is available from this page, as are its initial and revised proposals reports for the South East Region. The revised proposals document includes information on how to comment; and a link to the BCE consultation website is at the top of this page.
For more information please:
- visit the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) website
Please note that this is a brief summary of what is in the BCE guide to the review. Please read the BCE guide to the review before deciding whether to comment during the review.
