WORCESTER would be largely unchanged under plans to redraw the electoral map in the UK unveiled by the Boundary Commission.
Proposals for new Parliamentary constituencies in a bid to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 in time for the next scheduled General Election in 2020 were revealed on Tuesday (September 13).
Only 68 of the existing 533 English constituencies remain unchanged while Worcester has been tweaked slightly.
The current Worcester parliamentary seat remains but with the addition of 4,290 voters from Drakes Broughton, Norton and Whittington – who are currently represented by the Member of Parliament for Mid Worcestershire.
Current Worcester MP Robin Walker retained the seat for the Conservatives last year and has a majority of 5,646
“I am glad that these proposals keep the Worcester seat together and mean that the whole city will continue to be represented by one MP,” Mr Walker said.
“Worcester is an historic seat in Parliament and is politically iconic so I would have resisted any attempt to change its status or to split the city.
“Including Norton and Whittington in the Worcester seat will resolve some longstanding boundary issues in St Peter’s Parish where one side of the street was in one constituency and one in the other.
“This is the beginning of the process rather than the end so I would encourage both my existing and potential constituents to have a look and make their own comments on the boundary commission website,” he added.
Sam Hartley, Secretary to the Commission, said: “Parliament has set us tight rules about reducing the number of constituencies, and making them of more equal size, and we now need the views of people around the country to help us shape constituencies that best reflect local areas.
Visit www.bce2018.org.uk for more information on the consultation which closes on December 5 before a further two rounds of consultation in 2017.
Following the conclusion of all three consultation periods, the BCE will look at all the evidence received and make final recommendations to Parliament in September 2018.
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