By Rebecca Hannant
People across Holderness have been asked to comment on the revised boundary commission review, which could lead to significant changes in some parts of the region.
The Boundary Commission for England has published its third-round proposals for parliamentary constituencies across the country and has opened a final month-long consultation giving the public a last opportunity to send in their views.
The Commission is part of an independent review of all constituencies in England as requested by Parliament, because the number of electors within each is widely varied due to population changes since the last boundary review.
The 2023 Boundary Review will rebalance the number of electors each MP represents to about 70,000, resulting in a major change to the existing constituency map. The number of constituencies in England will increase from 533 to 543.
During the last review, changes were expected to take place in Hull East, which is represented by Labour MP Karl Turner. The South West Holderness region of Hedon, Thorngumbald, and Paull, which currently sits in the Beverley and Holderness constituency and is represented by Conservative MP Graham Stuart, was proposed to merge with Hull East, which led to tensions between the parties who cited major differences between the two areas.
Under the new proposals, South West Holderness will remain within the Beverley and Holderness constituency. But the biggest changes for the area would see Hornsea, Mappleton and Skipsea merge with parts of the East Yorkshire constituency currently represented by Conservative MP Sir Greg Knight.
The proposals could see it renamed to Bridlington and the Wolds, and Mr Stuart losing representation of Hornsea.
Mr Stuart said: “I am delighted the Boundary Commission has listened to the residents of South West Holderness by deciding that the area will remain part of the constituency of Beverley and Holderness. Given South West Holderness’s predominantly rural nature, it is much better served by a constituency of similar character and I am pleased that the Boundary Commission’s recent proposals reflect this.”
However, on the proposals for North Holderness, Mr Stuart added: “I am sad that towns and villages including Hornsea, Mappleton and Sigglesthorne will no longer be part of the constituency of Beverley and Holderness. “They are great places which I have visited many times for street surgeries and events, and I have been proud to represent the residents there for over 17 years. I would like to reassure people living in these areas I will continue to work hard as their Member of Parliament until the next election and they can continue to contact me if they have any issues they would like me to help them resolve.”
The last review also proposed large changes to the whole of the Holderness area with plans to merge Bridlington with Holderness creating a newly named Bridlington and Holderness constituency.
However, under the revised proposals, no changes have been planned for the mid-Holderness area including Withernsea, Aldbrough, Patrington and Brandesburton. South East Holderness will also remain within the Beverley and Holderness constituency.
Sir Greg said: “Due to population changes, largely because of new housing, these reviews are necessary because in rural constituencies like East Yorkshire, the population has grown greatly, causing an imbalance with many urban seats, which remain smaller in size.
“Any boundary change is disruptive, but these reviews are needed to ensure that as far as possible, there is no democratic deficit and constituencies remain comparable in terms of size.
“It is not for me to comment on what is happening to other constituencies but although I would prefer no change at all to take place involving the East Yorkshire seat, these proposals are well-thought out in this regard and I welcome the Boundary Commission’s constructive review.”
The new-look constituency would largely mirror the current East Yorkshire seat held by Sir Greg, with Hornsea effectively replacing Pocklington as one of its main population hubs.
Tim Bowden, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “We are announcing the publication of our revised proposals. Last year we published our initial proposals for new constituency boundaries – our first go at what the map should look like.
“We are delighted with the huge number of comments from members of the public on our initial proposals, many which included valuable evidence about local communities.
“The publication is the culmination of months of analysis, and we have revised nearly half of our initial proposals based on what people have told us. We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to.
“However, we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we submit our final recommendations to Parliament next year. This is our final consultation and I encourage you to participate in the 2023 Boundary Review.”
After this final consultation has closed on December 5, the Commission will analyse the responses and form its final recommendations. These will be submitted to Parliament by July 1, 2023.
The public are invited to view and comment on the new map at bcereviews.org.uk.
