Boundary change proposals altered

Sep 13 2012

Boundary changes proposed for Westminster elections have been altered in the final stages of public consultation.

New proposals are being made around the Dundee, east Fife and Moray areas, with members of the public having eight weeks to give their views.

The tweak means part of east Dundee would be incorporated with parts of Angus and Perthshire council areas. Moray would take in Nairn rather than Strathspey and the division of eastern Fife would be moved further east.

The alterations, as part of a move to cut the number of MPs, were made despite a clear indication by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that his Liberal Democrats will not support the UK Government plan.

In Scotland, the number of constituencies would be cut from 59 to 52, pitting senior politicians against each other. Under the proposals, Scotland Office Minister David Mundell - the only Conservative MP north of the border - would see much of his Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency distributed among new several others.

Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander may have to compete for the Liberal Democrat selection with his former party leader and leading coalition critic Charles Kennedy, whose Ross, Skye and Lochaber powerbase is marked for the axe as the Highlands lose a seat. Unchanged proposals include Bearsden, which will be split between two constituencies.

Dr Hugh Buchanan, secretary to the Boundary Commission for Scotland, said: "After careful consideration of all of the comments received during the consultation on the initial proposals, the commission has designed this revised set of constituencies.

"Where the legislation has allowed it, we have tried to respond to the views expressed in the consultation. In some areas, we have been unable to make changes in response to opposition to the initial proposals because of the constraints on constituency design within the legislation."

Prime Minister David Cameron has signalled his intention to press ahead with a Commons vote on boundaries despite the Liberal Democrat opposition. Mr Clegg said he would order his MPs to oppose the changes after a vote by Tory backbenchers derailed his plans to reform the House of Lords.

The proposals to cut the number of parliamentary seats while realigning the boundaries to ensure they have roughly equal numbers of voters is widely seen as the key to the Conservatives chances of outright victory at the next election, giving them up to 20 additional seats across the UK.