As mentioned last week, the Boundary Commission for England have today announced revised plans for the MP constituencies.
Previously, we saw proposals for a north south split, but the new proposals put Newport, Cowes and the west of the Island in the Isle of Wight West constituency, and Ryde, Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor plus surrounding areas in the Isle of Wight East constituency.
See residents’ views
As reported by On The Wight at the time, many residents on the Isle of Wight put forward their views during the consultation.
The initial release of the public responses were impenetrable, so we put them together in an easy to follow format.
“Boundary Commission have looked carefully at the issues”
Andrew Turner, MP for the Isle of Wight has commented, saying, “As the sitting MP who will be standing as a candidate in the next election I have not expressed any view on how the Island should be divided into two; however it does appear that the Boundary Commission have looked carefully at the issues.
“There were clearly problems with keeping Ryde and its surrounding areas together and splitting Carisbrooke from Newport; these have now been resolved. Because we are exempt from the strict rules on numbers of voters in each constituency the Commission has been able to give greater consideration to such matters as local community ties and communication links.”
Lib dems withdraw support
He went on to say, “However, these proposals are to a great extent academic now. Since the Liberal Democrats have withdrawn their support for cutting the number of MPs the legislation is most unlikely to be passed through Parliament. However, there will now be a further period of public consultation so if anybody has strong views on these matters they should respond to the Boundary Commission.”
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Full details can be found on the Boundary Commission Website.
