On Thursday the Boundary Commission announced the latest consultation on the proposed new parliamentary constituencies.
For the Isle of Wight, the proposal is a change from one to two parliamentary constituencies, East (an electorate of 57,004) and West (an electorate of 54,712), split as shown in the graphic further down.
The Commission announced 32 public hearings will take place across England to allow the public to provide feedback in person. The closest to the Isle of Wight is a hearing in Portsmouth on 17th and 18th March 2022.
Why no hearing on the Island?
Given the fact that Islanders would have to pay to cross the Solent and that the proposals are the biggest electoral change in the Island’s recent history, News OnTheWight got in touch with the Boundary Commission to find out why a hearing was not being held on the Island.
A spokesperson for the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) told News OnTheWight,
“We have chosen our public hearing locations to take into consideration both where we had a significant volume of responses during our first consultation period, and to make them as widely geographically accessible as possible within the region.”
Other ways to provide feedback
BCE say Islanders are welcome to attend the Portsmouth hearing and point out that members of the public can also send a written representation via the consultation Website, or by email or letter, within the consultation period (before 4th April 2022).
Videos on YouTube
The Commission also say they place equal weight on feedback submitted orally and in writing.
They will be recording the public hearings, and posting the videos on their YouTube channel.
This means that those unable to attend can still listen to the evidence which was given at the hearing.
