BBC News: Boundary Commission launches constituency review

BBC News Scotland brings news from north of the English border, an area in which significant changes are now expected—but where some special provisions are also to be made—under the recently-passed Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011:

A major shake-up of MPs' constituencies is under way in Scotland.

The move follows new rules introduced by the UK government, which will cut the number of Westminster constituencies in Scotland from 59 to 52.

The Boundary Commission for Scotland, which is conducting the review, said widespread change was now necessary. The number of constituencies in the UK is being cut from 650 to 600 in time for the next general election.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both made promises in their manifestos to cut the number of seats at Westminster.

The changes, stemming from the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, mean constituency boundaries must be redrawn so that the number of electors is spread more evenly across parliamentary seats. The government bill was steered through parliament by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg who said it would mean "the value of your vote will no longer depend on where you live, and with fewer MPs the cost of politics will be cut".

Under the new rules, the average electorate per constituency in the UK has been set at 76,641, and each constituency must be within 5% of that quota. As a result, the smallest permitted electorate is 72,810, while the largest is 80,473.

However, exceptions to these limits apply to Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles), Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands council areas. Exceptions can also be made for very sparsely populated areas if constituencies are larger than 12,000 sq km.

The balance of the article outlines the predictably varying reception of this news by different political groups in Scotland. It will be interesting to see how the Boundary Commission makes its decisions, particularly as Scotland has been (and probably will remain) an area accused of over-representation in the past... (NB: The coloured map above shows results from the 2005 election).