Here is my submission to the Boundary Commission. Enjoy!!
Submission to the Boundary Commission for England by
Chris Chatterton on behalf of Gloucester Labour Party
GLOUCESTER
Gloucester retains the Westgate Ward and Hucclecote Ward is transferred to the Tewkesbury constituency. This achieves an electorate number for Gloucester of 73751, which is within the acceptable range. This would also re-unite the parich of Hucclecote, which is currently divided between the constituencies of Gloucester and Tewkesbury.
Electorate as BCE recommendation: 76,379
Re-instate Westgate Ward: 4,409
Transfer Hucclecote Ward to Tewkesbury: -7,037
Revised electorate fro Gloucester: 73,751
TEWKESBURY
Hucclecote is added to this constituency from Gloucester. We also propose that the Tewkesbury Wards of Twyning, Newtown, Town with Mitton and Prior’s Park are moved to the Forest of Dean Constituency. This would result in an electorate of 74391, within the acceptable range. This “new” constituency could be named ‘North Gloucestershire’.
Electorate as BCE recommendation: 77,206
Transfer of Hucclecote from Gloucester: 7,037
Transfer Twyning to Forest of Dean: -1419
Transfer Tewkesbury Newtown to Forest of Dean: -1664
Transfer Tewkesbury Prior’s Park to Forest of Dean: -2991
Transfer Tewkesbury Town with Mitton to Forest of Dean: -3778
Revised electorate for North Gloucestershire: 74,391
FOREST OF DEAN
We propose the addition of the following wards from the current Tewkesbury Constituency to the Forest of Dean Constituency: Twyning, Newtown, Town with Mitton and Prior’s Park and the return of Westgate Ward to Gloucester. This would result in a revised electorate of 78555, within the acceptable range. This “new” constituency could be named ‘West Gloucestershire’.
Electorate as BCE recommendation: 73112
Transfer Westgate ward to Gloucester: -4409
Transfer Twyning from Tewkesbury: 1419
Tranfer Newtown from Tewkesbury: 1664
Transfer Prior’s Park from Tewkesbury: 2991
Transfer Town with Mitton from Tewkesbury: 3778
Revised electorate for West Gloucestershire: 78555
COMPLIANCE WITH BCE RULES
All constituencies meet the statutory requirements regarding number of electors.
There is no division of Wards or communities. The Westgate community remains intact and the City Centre, Docks, Cathedral and Council Offices remain in Gloucester. The urban area of Tewkesbury remians intact. The community of Hucclecote is re-united.
‘Detached Parts’ We note that this role allows for some flexibility with ‘detached parts’ to be avoided as far as possible. The movement across the West Gloucestershire Constituency is impaired to a degree by the River Severn. To achieve movement from and to Tewkesbury Town requires access through another Constituency, albeit for a very short strech of road. This geographical element of the River should not prevent consideration of this proposal. It is worth drawing your attention to the BCE recommendation for the Mersey Bank Constituency in the North West Region. This proposed constituency will straddle the River Mersey, with five Wards on the South bank and two Wards on the North bank. The only connection point between the Wards is the Widnes-Runcorn road and rail bridges which are a number of miles upriver, requiring a journey of several miles through the Halton Constituency.
CONCLUSION
We trust that this submission is seen as a realistic alternative to the proposed changes to the Gloucester constituency, which will remove the heart of the City from the Constituency. Our proposal manages to ensure that no wards are split, unlike other proposals we have seen, following your guidance that wards should be viewed as the ‘building blocks’ of constituencies. We hope that you give this proposal your full consideration.
