The boundary commissions in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
are
non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of
constituencies for elections to the
House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions:
* Boundary Commission for England
* Boundary Commission for Scotland
* Boundary Commission for Wales
* Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland
Each commission comprises four members, three of whom take part in meetings. The
Speaker of the House of Commons is ''ex officio''
chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
of each of the boundary commissions. However, the Speaker does not play any part in proceedings, and a
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
is appointed to each boundary commission as Deputy Chairman Commissioner.
Considerations and process
The boundary commissions, which are required to report every eight years, must apply a set series of rules when devising
constituencies. These rules are set out in the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as amended by the
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 and subsequently by the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is the current cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is gover ...
.
Firstly, each proposed constituency has to comply with two numerical limits:
* the electorate (number of registered voters) of each constituency must be within 5% of the United Kingdom electoral quota. The electoral quota is the average number of electors per constituency, defined as the total mainland electorate divided by the number of mainland constituencies, where "mainland" excludes five island constituencies:
Orkney and Shetland,
(Western Isles),
Ynys Môn (Isle of Anglesey) and two on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...
. The total number of constituencies is fixed at 650.
* the area of a constituency must be no more than .
There are a small number of exceptions to the numerical limit on electorate which are specified in the legislation:
* the five island constituencies are permitted to have a smaller electorate than the usual limit;
* a constituency with an area of more than may have a smaller electorate than the usual limit; and
* constituencies in Northern Ireland may be subject to slightly different limits under certain circumstances.
Having satisfied the electorate and area requirements, each commission can also take into account a number of other factors:
* "special geographical considerations" including the size, shape and accessibility of a constituency;
*
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...
boundaries;
* boundaries of existing constituencies;
* local
ties which would be broken by changes to constituencies;
* inconveniences resulting from changes to constituencies.
As these factors can to an extent be mutually conflicting, each commission has discretion on how it applies them. In so doing, each commission aims for a consistent approach within a review.
When a commission publishes its proposals for
public consultation
Public consultation (Commonwealth countries and European Union), public comment (US), or simply consultation, is a regulatory process by which the public's input on matters affecting them is sought. Its main goals are in improving the efficiency, ...
, the consultation periods are specified in the legislation:
* an eight-week initial written consultation period following the publication of Initial Proposals;
* a six-week secondary consultation period allowing scrutiny of all comments submitted during the initial consultation and including a number of public hearings which offer an opportunity to give views orally;
* a four-week consultation period following publication of Revised Proposals.
It has been normal practice for local government electoral wards to be used as building blocks for constituencies, although there is no legislative requirement to do so. In some
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distric ...
s in England, and in Scotland, following the
introduction of multi-member wards in 2007, it is often difficult to do so due to the large electorates in these wards, and therefore a collection of complete wards may not give an electorate that is within the required electoral range.
The law specifies that the electorate used during a review is the
registered electorate at the time of the start of the review, and not the electorate at the end of a review, or the total population.
Boundary changes can have a significant effect on the results of elections, but boundary commissions do not take any account of
voting patterns in their deliberations, or consider what the effect of their recommendations on the outcome of an
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
may be.
Implementation of recommendations
Once a commission has completed its review, it submits a report to the appropriate
Secretary of State who lays it before
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
. Once all four reports have been submitted, an
Order in Council
An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...
which gives effect to the recommendations must be submitted within four months to the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
. The Government may not modify any of the commissions' recommendations unless specifically requested to do so by the relevant commission. On approval by the Privy Council, the new constituencies come into effect for the next
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. Any
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...
s before then use the pre-existing boundaries.
These provisions were brought in by the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is the current cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is gover ...
. Previously, Parliament voted on the recommendations and, although it could not make any alterations to them, it could reject them in their entirety. In addition, although this power was never exercised, for many years the legislation gave the Secretary of State the power to modify a commission's recommendations. The new procedures further strengthen the separation of the creation of constituency boundaries from those elected for the resulting electoral areas, with the aim of eliminating any scope for
gerrymandering.
History
Legislation
The commissions are currently established under the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, most recently amended by the
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011. They were first established as permanent bodies under the
House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944. The 1944 Act was amended in 1947 and then replaced by the
House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949. The 1949 Act was amended in 1958 and 1979 and replaced by the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986; changes in
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
from 1944 to 1986 were generally incremental in nature.
The
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important ...
under
PM Tony Blair's government envisaged that the functions of the boundary commissioners would be transferred to the
United Kingdom Electoral Commission, but this never transpired: the
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 repealed the
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...
(of 2000) effective from 1 April 2010.
The
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 passed under the
Con-Lib Dem coalition government made substantial changes to the legislation governing constituency boundary reviews; this was further amended by the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is the current cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is gover ...
.
Past reviews of UK Parliament constituencies
Customarily, each commission conducted a complete review of all constituencies in its part of the United Kingdom every eight to twelve years. In between these general reviews, the commissions were able to conduct interim reviews of part of their area of responsibility. The interim reviews usually did not yield drastic changes in boundaries, while the general reviews generally did.
Under the rules in force before 2011, the number of constituencies in Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) had to "not be substantially greater or less than 613", of which at least 35 had to be in Wales. The
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
was not to be partitioned and was to be included in a seat that referred to it by name. The
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
and
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the n ...
Islands were not to be combined with any other areas. Northern Ireland had to have between 16 and 18 constituencies.
Under the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, the terms of review were significantly different:
* the total number of constituencies was not fixed (''see above''): each commission had limited discretion to specify the number in its part of the United Kingdom;
* the size of the electorates was just one of several rules, rather than being subject to a numerical limit which overrides other factors;
* there was not previously a limit on the area of a constituency, but in practice, no constituency has ever exceeded the 13,000 square kilometre limit introduced by the 2011 Act;
* the consultation mechanism was significantly different: consultation periods only lasted four weeks, and could be followed by local inquiries;
* reviews were only carried out every eight to twelve years instead of every five years.
The review that gave rise to most of the constituency boundaries currently in force is the
Fifth Periodic Review, which was given effect in Wales by an Order made in 2006, in England by an Order from 2007 and in Northern Ireland by an Order from 2008, with the new boundaries used for the
May 2010 general election. The most recent general review in Scotland was given effect in 2005, and the resulting constituencies were used in the
May 2005 general election.
There are currently 533 constituencies in England, 40 constituencies in Wales, 59 constituencies in Scotland and 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland, providing a total of 650.
Sixth Periodic Review
The
Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was launched on 4 March 2011 by the Boundary Commission for England, the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the Boundary Commission for Wales and the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. The Sixth Review would have resulted in 600 constituencies for the
United Kingdom Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
: a reduction from the 650 constituencies in existence at the
2010 general election. In January 2013, parliamentary opposition to proposed legislative amendments because of a lack of consensus in the coalition resulted in the review being suspended.
Following the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
victory at the
2015 general election, the review was recommenced in 2016 and final recommendations were submitted by the four commissions in September 2018 and laid before Parliament. However the revised proposals were never brought forward by the Government for approval and, further to the passing of the
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020
The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies is the current cycle of the process to redraw the constituency map for the House of Commons. The process for periodic reviews of parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom is gover ...
, the Sixth Review was formally abandoned.
2023 review
Following the passing of the 2020 Act, which reinstated the number of constituencies to 650, a new review, known as the
2023 Review, was launched by the four commissions on 5 January 2021.
They are due to issue their final reports by 1 July 2023. Under the rules governing the number of constituencies in each nation, England will have 543 constituencies (+10), Wales 32 (-8), Scotland 57 (-2) and Northern Ireland 18 (unchanged).
The final consultation for England began on 8 November 2022 with the publication of the Revised Proposals and lasted for four weeks, ending on 5 December.
Relationship with local government, devolved parliaments and assemblies
The scope of the boundary commissions' work is limited to areas for election to the UK House of Commons.
Local authority area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
The phrase i ...
s and
electoral areas are reviewed by the separate but similarly named:
*
Local Government Boundary Commission for England
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and pol ...
*
Boundaries Scotland
Boundaries Scotland is an independent body in Scotland created as the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. According to its website, it is responsible for: carrying out reviews of boun ...
*
Local Government Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland
*
Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales
Changes to parliamentary boundaries do not themselves impact on which local councils are responsible for any area.
Scottish Parliament
The procedure for reviews of constituencies and regions for the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
is set down by the
Scotland Act 1998. That Act specifies that there are 73 constituencies for the Scottish Parliament: Na h-Eileanan an Iar, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands and 70 others. The Act also specifies that the constituencies are grouped into eight regions to allow the return of list members elected by proportional representation to the parliament. The Boundary Commission for Scotland conducted a review of these boundaries between 2007 and 2010, and their recommendations were
implemented from 2011. Since the legislation requires different numbers of constituencies in Scotland for the
United Kingdom Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...
and the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...
, these two sets of areas do not fit together neatly. Responsibility for Scottish Parliament boundary reviews passed to the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in May 2017.
Senedd
The
Government of Wales Act 2006 specified that the constituencies for the then
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...
were to be the same as those for the
UK Parliament at Westminster. The Act required the Boundary Commission for Wales to group the constituencies into electoral regions, to allow the return of list members elected by proportional representation to the Assembly. The Boundary Commission for Wales's Fifth General Review resulted in revised
Assembly constituencies and electoral regions. The
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 removed the link with Westminster constituencies, and there is currently no statutory review body for Senedd constituencies.
The Boundary Commission reported in 2016 proposing to reduce the number of UK Parliament constituencies in Wales to 29, on the basis that all constituencies must have at least 71,031 voters. While the
Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 removed the link between UK Parliament and Senedd seat boundaries, organisations such as the
Electoral Reform Society have indicated a preference for coterminosity (meaning the mirroring of seat boundaries in Wales along the lines of the 2016 proposed reforms to the Welsh seats in the UK Parliament).
Northern Ireland Assembly
Section 33 of the
Northern Ireland Act 1998
__NOTOC__
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allowed Westminster to devolve power to Northern Ireland, after decades of direct rule.
It renamed the New Northern Ireland Assembly, established by ...
provides that the constituencies for the
Northern Ireland Assembly
sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie
, legislature = Seventh Assembly
, coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg
, coa_res = 250px
, house_type = Unicameral
, house1 =
, leader1_type = S ...
are the same as the constituencies that are used for the United Kingdom Parliament. From 1998 to 2016 six
members were elected from each
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
; the
Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 reduced this to five members.
See also
*
List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies
*
Delimitation Commission of India
*
Electoral Affairs Commission
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) is the body, established under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance, that oversees electoral matters in Hong Kong. Its main functions include considering or reviewing the boundaries of Legisla ...
of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
*
Irish Boundary Commission
The Irish Boundary Commission () met in 1924–25 to decide on the precise delineation of the border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, which ended the Irish War of Independence, provided for such a c ...
which drew the border between the (then)
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
in 1925
*
Redistricting in the United States
References
External links
Boundary Commission for EnglandBoundary Commission for ScotlandBoundary Commission for WalesBoundary Commission for Northern IrelandElection maps of the UK
{{Cabinet Office
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government
Electoral redistributions