House of Commons Public Bill Committee Proceedings

House of Commons

Session 2010 - 11
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
92

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

in particular the size, shape and accessibility of a proposed constituency, would cause an

unreasonable amount of time to travel round the various communities within it.’.

Andrew George

Not called  73

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  11,  after ‘kilometres’, insert ‘including the area of sea, where

the constituency includes off-shore islands’.

Graham Stringer

Not called  226

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  16,  leave out ‘may take into account, if and to such extent as

they may think fit’ and insert ‘must take into account’.

Mr Charles Kennedy

Mr Alan Reid

John Thurso

Not selected  346

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  16,  leave out ‘may’ and insert ‘must’.

Mr Charles Kennedy

Mr Alan Reid

John Thurso

Not selected  347

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  16,  leave out from ‘account’ to end of line 17.

Andrew George

Not called  69

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  24,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
A Boundary Commission must ensure that constituencies are wholly within a

principal local authority area when the following support such a proposition:

(a)
The principal local authority:

(b)
All sitting Members of Parliament representing constituencies wholly or

partially within that area;

(c)
Two thirds of all civil parish and town councils or parish meetings within

that area who express an opinion;


and where the Commission is satisfied from its own soundings amongst the

electorate and the business and voluntary sectors that this preference is widely

shared.’.

Edward Miliband

Sadiq Khan

Chris Bryant

Mr Peter Hain

Not called  367

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  24,  at end insert—

‘(2)

(a)
In England no district or borough ward shall be included in more than one

constituency.

(b)
In Northern Ireland no local authority ward shall be included in more

than one constituency.

(c)
In Wales no unitary authority ward shall be included in more than one

constituency.

(d)
In Scotland regard shall be had to local authority ward boundaries.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
93

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

(e)
In England the Boundary Commission should where practicable have

regard to the boundaries of counties and London boroughs and in any

case no constituency shall include the whole or part of more than two

counties or London boroughs.

(f)
In Wales the Boundary Commission should where practicable have

regard to the boundaries of unitary authorities and in any case no

constituency shall include the whole or part of more than two unitary

authorities.’.

Mr Andrew Turner

Not called  116

Clause  9,  page  8,  leave out lines 25 to 30.

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Not called  39

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  30,  at end insert ‘The Boundary Commission for England

shall take into account counties as listed in Schedule 1 to the 1997 Lieutenancies Act in

so far as is possible in accordance with rule 2 above.’.

Mr Andrew Turner

Not called  117

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  30,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
The Boundary Commission for England must, so far as reasonably practicable,

use parishes rather than wards or eletoral divisions as the basis for

constituencies.’.

Mark Durkan

Not called  357

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  30,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
The Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland must take into account the effect

of the proposals in any of their reports on the equity of the electoral arrangements

for the Northern Ireland Assembly, and in particular must seek to ensure that the

disparity between the electorates of constituencies in Northern Ireland is not such

as to undermine the system of proportional representation as set out in the

Northern Ireland Act 1998.’.

Edward Miliband

Sadiq Khan

Chris Bryant

Mr Peter Hain

Not called  368

Clause  9,  page  8,  leave out line 31.

Mr Mark Field

Not called  203

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  32,  leave out subsection (6).

Edward Miliband

Sadiq Khan

Chris Bryant

Mr Peter Hain

Not selected  369

Clause  9,  page  8,  leave out lines 32 to 39.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
94

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

Mr Charles Kennedy

Mr Alan Reid

John Thurso

Not called  349

Clause  9,  page  8,  leave out lines 32 to 39 and insert—

‘Whole numbers of constituencies

6    (1)
The following shall be allocated whole numbers of constituencies by

whichever Boundary Commission is responsible for them—

(a)
Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands council areas;

(b)
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar council area;

(c)
the Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn Isle of Anglesey county area;

(d)
the Isle of Wight county area;

(e)
the county of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly council areas;

(f)
the Highland council area;

(g)
the Argyll and Bute council area.

      (2)
The number of constituencies to be allocated to each area shall be determined

by dividing the electorate of the area or areas concerned by the United

Kingdom electoral average and rounding to the nearest whole number, unless

this would mean that rule 4(1) could not be satisfied, in which case the area

concerned will be allocated the smallest number of constituencies required in

order to satisfy that rule. Each area must be allocated at least one whole

constituency.

      (3)
In this rule the United Kingdom electoral average means—


where E is the electorate of the United Kingdom.’.

John Mann

Not selected  362

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  33,  leave out ‘continue to’.

Hywel Williams

Mr Elfyn Llwyd

Mr Jonathan Edwards

Not called  150

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  38,  at end insert—

‘(c)
a constituency named Ynys Môn, comprising the area of the Cyngor Sir

Ynys Môn Isle of Anglesey County Council.’.

John Mann

Not selected  363

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  38,  at end insert—

‘(c)
a constituency named East Retforde, comprising the historic borough of

East Retforde as defined by Royal Charter in 1105, with 150 freemen of

the town electing two members for the consituency.’.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
95

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

Mr Andrew Turner

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Mr Graham Allen

Mr Mike Hancock

Dr Julian Lewis

Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil

Not called  43

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘Isle of Wight

6A  (1)
All parts of the Isle of Wight must be included in a constituency which is

wholly in the Isle of Wight.

      (2)
Rule 2 does not apply to any such constituency.’.

Andrew George

Stephen Gilbert

George Eustice

Sheryll Murray

Not called  71

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

6A  (1)
All parts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly must be included in a constituency

which is wholly in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

      (2)
Rule 2 does not apply in relation to any such constituency.

      (3)
The electorate of any constituency in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly shall be:

(a)
no less than 95% of the Cornwall and Scilly electoral quota; and

(b)
no more than 105% of that quota.

      (4)
The “ Cornwall and Scilly electoral quota” means C/E where C is the electorate

of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and E is the number of parliamentary

constituencies which the Commission has determined should be allocated to

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.’.

Susan Elan Jones

Not called  110

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘Wales

6A  (1)
There shall continue to be 40 constituencies in Wales.

      (2)
Rule 2 does not apply in relation to Wales.

      (3)
The electorate of any constituency in Wales shall be—

(a)
no less than 95 per cent. of the Wales electoral quota,

(b)
no more than 105% of that quota.

      (4)
The “Wales electoral quota” means W/40 where W is the electorate of Wales.’.

Sheryll Murray

Stephen Gilbert

George Eustice

Andrew George

Not called  137

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  39,  at end insert—

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
96

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

‘Cornwall

6B  (1)
All parts of Cornwall must be included in a constituency which is wholly in

Cornwall.

      (2)
Rule 2 does not apply to any such constituencies.’.

Mark Field

Not called  351

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  39,  at end insert—

‘Special authorities

6A  (3)
The area of a special authority shall form part of not more than one

constituency at any time, and the name by which that constituency is known

shall refer to the area of that authority.

      (4)
In this paragraph “special authority” has the same meaning as in section 144

of the Local Government Finance Act 1988.’.

Mr Jonathan Edwards

Hywel Williams

Mr Elfyn Llwyd

Not called  148

Clause  9,  page  9,  leave out lines 1 to 40.

Mr Graham Allen

Sheila Gilmore

Simon Hart

Tristram Hunt

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Sir Peter Soulsby

Not called  238

Clause  9,  page  9,  leave out lines 1 to 25.

Mark Durkan

Not called  358

Clause  9,  page  9,  line  13,  after ‘5(1)’, insert ‘or (2A)’.

Edward Miliband

Sadiq Khan

Chris Bryant

Mr Peter Hain

Not called  370

Clause  9,  page  9,  leave out line 26 to 40 and insert—

‘Allocation of constituencies

8    (1)
The adjusted UK Electoral Quota shall then be calculated as follows:

The total electorate of the United Kingdom less the areas listed in Rule

4(1B) divided by

650 minus the total number of constituencies allocated to the areas listed in

Rule 4(1B).

      (2)
Each country shall then be allocated a whole number of constituencies as

follows.

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
97

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

      (3)
The first constituency shall be allocated to the part of the United Kingdom with

the largest electorate.

      (4)
The second and subsequent constituencies shall be allocated in the same way,

except that the electorate of a part of the United Kingdom to which one or more

constituencies have already been allocated is to be divided by—


where C is the number of constituencies already allocated to that part.

      (5)
An Electoral Quota shall then be calculated for each of the four countries by

dividing the electorate of each country by the number of constituencies

allocated as described in Rules 8(3) and 5(4).

      (6)
The total number of constituencies to be allocated to any country shall not be

more than ten per cent. above or below the current number of constituencies.

If the number of constituencies allocated by the process described in Rules 8(3)

and 8(4) exceeds or falls below that limit then additional or fewer seats shall

be allocated as appropriate, sufficient to bring the allocation within ten per

cent. of the current number of seats in the country concerned.

      (7)
This adjusted number of seats shall be the allocation for that country for the

purposes of Rule 8(5).’.

Mr Charles Kennedy

Mr Alan Reid

John Thurso

Not called  350

Clause  9,  page  9,  leave out lines 38 to 40 and insert ‘and accordingly the electorate of

each part of the United Kingdom shall be treated for the purposes of this rule as reduced

by the electorate of those constituencies.’.

Hywel Williams

Mr Elfyn Llwyd

Mr Jonathan Edwards

Not called  151

Clause  9,  page  9,  line  38,  after ‘Scotland’, insert ‘and of Wales’.

Susan Elan Jones

Not called  115

Clause  9,  page  9,  line  40,  at end insert—

‘(4A)
If the number of constituencies allocated to Wales under 8(3) is fewer than 35, an

additional allocation shall be made to Wales to ensure that it has 35

constituencies.

(4B)
Where an additional allocation is made under sub-paragraph (4A) above, sub-

paragraph (4C) shall apply in place of rule 2.

(4C)
The electorate of any constituency in Wales shall be—

(a)
no less than 95 per cent. of the Wales electoral quota

(b)
no more than 105 per cent of that quota;


the “Wales electoral quota” meaning W/P, where W is the electorate of Wales and

P is the number of constituencies allocated to Wales.’.

Martin Vickers

Not called  228

Clause  9,  page  9,  line  40,  at end insert—

Committee of the whole House Proceedings: 20 October 2010
98

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, continued

‘Variation in number of constituencies

8A  (8)
A Boundary Commission shall have power to recommend that the number of

constituencies in the relevant part of the United Kingdom should be greater or

smaller than the number determined in accordance with the allocation method

set out in rule 8.

      (9)
The number so recommended must be no less than 98 per cent. and no more

than 102 per cent. of the number so determined.’.

Geraint Davies

Graham Stringer

Graham Jones

Ian Lucas

Paul Blomfield

Mr George Howarth

Not called  125

Clause  9,  page  10,  line  2,  leave out from ‘persons’ to end of line 6 and insert ‘who

are estimated by the Office of National Statistics to be eligible to vote in United Kingdom

parliamentary elections, whether or not they are so registered to vote.’.

Nic Dakin

Mr Graham Allen

Not selected  229

Clause  9,  page  10,  line  2,  leave out from ‘persons’ to first ‘in’ in line 5 and insert

‘aged 18 or over who are shown by the most recent census of population to reside’.

The Deputy Prime Minister

Agreed to  327

Clause  9,  page  10,  leave out lines 8 and 9 and insert—

‘(a)
in England, the boundaries of—

(i)
each county for which there is a county council,

(ii)
each district that is not in such a county, and

(iii)
each London borough,’.

Jacob Rees-Mogg

Not called  40

Clause  9,  page  10,  line  8,  after ‘counties’, insert ‘as defined by the 1997

Lieutenancies Act’.

Mr Graham Allen

Sheila Gilmore

Simon Hart

Tristram Hunt

Mrs Eleanor Laing

Sir Peter Soulsby

Not called  239

Clause  9,  page  10,  line  27,  leave out ‘United Kingdom’.

Clause, as amended, Agreed to on division.



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