2 The rules for redistributing parliamentary
constituencies
Boundary
reviews before 2011
5. The rules governing reviews of parliamentary constituency
boundaries are set out in the Parliamentary Constituencies Act
1986, as amended. This Act, as originally enacted, provided for
each Boundary Commission to conduct a complete review of all constituencies
in its part of the United Kingdom every ten to fifteen years.[4]
This provision was subsequently amended to provide for reviews
every eight to twelve years.[5]
In between these general reviews, the Commissions were able to
conduct interim reviews of part of their area of responsibility.
The full reviews usually yielded substantial changes to constituency
boundaries, while the interim reviews did not.
6. In terms of the size of constituency electorates,
the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as originally enacted,
stated that the electorate of a constituency "shall be as
near the electoral quota [the average size of a constituency]
as is practicable". There were no rules specifying what this
meant, and interpretation was therefore left to the Boundary Commissions.
There was also no set limit on the number of MPs, although there
were not to be "substantially greater or less than 613"
in Great Britain, with a minimum of 35 for Wales and 71 for Scotland,
and a range of 16-18 for Northern Ireland.
7. The last boundary reviews to result in changes
to parliamentary constituency boundaries were conducted between
2000 and 2007. Following approval by Parliament, the new parliamentary
constituency boundaries proposed as a result of these reviews
were given effect in Scotland ahead of the 2005 general election,
and in England, Wales and Northern Ireland ahead of the 2010 general
election.
Parliamentary Voting System and
Constituencies Act 2011
8. The Coalition Government committed itself to bringing
forward a Bill to provide for "the creation of fewer and
more equal sized constituencies".[6]
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 gave
effect to this commitment, changing arrangements for the conduct
of reviews of parliamentary constituencies by amending the Parliamentary
Constituencies Act 1986 to replace the Schedule setting out the
rules for the distribution of parliamentary constituencies. On
the day the Bill was introduced, the Deputy Prime Minister stated:
By making constituencies more equal in size,
the value of your vote will no longer depend on where you live,
and with fewer MPs the cost of politics will be cut.[7]
9. The key provisions of the 2011 Act relating to
boundary reviews were:
· That
the Boundary Commissions report every five years recommending
parliamentary constituency boundaries (with the first reports
due by October 2013, with the intention that these would be implemented
ahead of the 2015 general election);
· That the electorate
of each constituency be within 5% of the electoral quota for the
UK (with slightly different rules for Northern Ireland, and four
constituencies to which the quota does not apply); and
· That the number
of parliamentary constituencies be reduced from 650 to 600.[8]
10. In addition to the strict requirement that 596
of the 600 constituencies be within +/- 5% of the UK electoral
quota, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act
2011 allowed Boundary Commissions to take into account several
other factors. These included:
· geographical
considerations;
· local government
boundaries;
· boundaries
of existing constituencies; and
· local ties.
The Act also made substantial changes to the process
for public consultation on the proposals brought forward by the
Boundary Commissions, which we explore below. The Act received
Royal Assent on 16 February 2011.
11. The Government did not publish the Parliamentary
Voting System and Constituencies Bill in draft for pre-legislative
scrutiny on the proposed changes to the rules for the distribution
of parliamentary constituency boundaries, or conduct any sort
of consultation on the proposed changes, but we did produce two
reports looking at the Bill before its provisions were enacted.[9]
The main points we made in our reports on the Bill were:
· That
although there may be a case for reducing the number of MPs from
650 to 600, the Government had not made it.
· That the new
rules regarding variation from the electoral quota could create
particular difficulties for certain parts of the UK.
· That the timeframe
for reviews would mean prospective parliamentary candidates would
not know until eighteen months before a general election what
the boundaries would be of the constituency they intend to contest.
· That one possible
way in which the impact of the measures could be made less stark
would be to provide for a more gradual approach, over a series
of boundary reviews rather than in a single review, to the reduction
in the number of constituencies and to the equalisation of their
size.
The House of Lords Constitution Committee made similar
recommendations in relation to both the reduction to the number
of MPs and the closeness to elections of changes to parliamentary
constituency boundaries.[10]
4 Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 Back
5
Boundary Commissions Act 1992, Section 2 Back
6
The Coalition: our programme of government, HM Government, May
2010 Back
7
Government publishes AV referendum Bill, HM Government, 22 July
2010 Back
8
The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 Back
9
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, First Report
of Session 2010-12, HC 422, and Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill,
Third Report of Session 2010-12, HC 437 Back
10
House of Lords Constitution Committee, Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill,
Seventh Report of Session 2010-12, HL Paper 58 Back
| 
