Let the great boundary rejig commence

[minionofmidas]

Fife North East 74,274*.988+x
Gains the Leven etc ward and Methil from the Buckhaven etc ward (14,314)
Glenrothes & Kirkcaldy 74,358*.988+x(-x)
The six wards whose names begin in either "Glenrothes" or "Kirkcaldy", plus the remainder of Buckhaven etc. This is almost certainly slightly too large (though I assume the sizable foreign population in Fife is in Dunfermline and at the eastern end rather than in the coalfield), and there actually is a bit of Kirkcaldy sliced off already, but there's still room for removal west of Glenrothes proper. Only remove the bare minimum though.
Dunfermline 76,582*.988
I'd originally intended to pair Dunfermline with Clackmannan, but to my surprise this worked out better.
Dunfermline wards, Rosyth, Inverkeithing & Dalgety Bay, Burntisland etc.
Cowdenbeath & Clackmannan 75,286(+x)*.988/.984 (Clackmannan part)
Remaining wards of The Lochs, Lochgelly & Cardenden, Cowdenbeath, West Fife & Coastal Villages, probably some territory on the outskirts of Glenrothes; Clackmannanshire except West ward (based on Tullibody)
Stirling 81,937*.985/.984/.99-x
Stirling excluding the huge northern Trossach & Teiths ward; Clackmannanshire West; Carse, Kinnaird & Tryst.
Probably still be too large, in which case we have the options of removing the larger Dunblane & Bridge of Allan ward (12,764) instead, or of removing Trossach & Teiths and the Dunblane part of Dunblane. Although that latter might already be too much or close to.

[minionofmidas]

Inverness, Moray, Aberdeenshire, Angus is about 5.12

Highland   171,587 174,428 1.6%
Moray         66,169   66,872 1.1%
Aberdeen 332,593 339,550 2.0% City of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
Dundee    190,454 192,861 1.2% and Angus

Inverness remnant portion 57,454*.984 (ca. 56,535)
Aberdeenshire 182,953*.98 (ca. 179,294)
Angus 86,536*.988 (ca. 85,498)

One seat Inverness and parts of Moray, a Moray seat extending into Banffshire, a seat taking in the bulk of Angus, two broadly Aberdeenshire seats with a northern bit lopped off and a southern bit slapped on. Right...

Inverness, Nairn & Forres ca.77,123
Remainder of Highland (including Strathdearn... taking account of that as well would have made my headache even worse), Heldon & Laich and Forres wards of Moray
Moray & Banff ca.69,942+x
Remainder of Moray, Banff  & District, Troup, Turriff & District, and the northern part of Huntly etc ward (Strathbogie; this ward is 11,136*.98) of Aberdeenshire.
Gordon & Buchan (I suppose... what does "Gordon" refer to, exactly?) ca.80,414*.98
Fraserburgh, Central Buchan, Peterhead N & S, Mid Formantine, Ellon, East Garioch, Inverurie. If there are few furriners here (less than 1%), it might be above quota in which case a ward needs to be split.
Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine ca.77,246+x
Remainder of Aberdeenshire including the southern parts of Huntly etc ward; Brechin & Edzell ward Montrose & District ward in Angus
Angus 77,722*.988
Remainder

This also moves the dividing line in Huntly etc southward.

Dundee West 67,296*.988+x
Strathmartine, Lochlee, West End, Coldside, Maryfield; inland part of Monifieth & Sidlaw (12,812) ward of Angus
Dundee East & Arbroath 72,144*.988+x
East End, North East, The Ferry; Carnoustie & District, Arbroath West & Letham, Arbroath East & Lunam, Monifieth part of Monifieth & Sidlaw
This seat is an expanded version of the former Tayside North abomination but I don't want to call it Tayside North 69,006*different factors+x. Atholl. I think Atholl should go into this name somewhere.
Forfar & District, Brechin & Edzell, Kirriemuir & Dean in Angus; Blairgowrie & Glens, Highland, Strathtay, Strathearn, northern parts of Strathmore (11,690) in Perth & Kinross; Trossachs & Teith in Stirling
Perth & Kinross 79,766*.984-x(+x)
Remainder of authority; plus possibly Dunblane (which might go into the name if included).

And that's it.

[minionofmidas]

Just abolish the whole uberstrict quota crap. Because crap is what it is.

[minionofmidas]

...except in the Islands, of course. Though Skye, Scilly and Anglesey are apparently not islands.

[minionofmidas]

That explains it, then. IIRC there is a bridge over the Menai as well, but none at Wight. While all the other island areas are even smaller (and less distant) than the Outer Hebrides. -_-

[minionofmidas]

According to your blog regional boundaries can't be crossed, is that correct?

[minionofmidas]

The Boundary Commission of Northern Ireland have always been like that. After all, it's only British elections. Who, in NI, cares?

[minionofmidas]

MPs have been queing up like students on exam day waiting for their results

Some leaks are coming out from this (as they would)

Gloucester city centre moved into Forest of Dean

Lolwut? Lolwhy?

[minionofmidas]

Might this end up a lot like the last Scottish boundary review? Allchange original proposals, going back to as close as possible to the last map - and to the legislation's tolerance limits - in the end?

[minionofmidas]

It will be impossible to decide as there will be very many deserving claimants.

Do I win?

[minionofmidas]

They call it Manchester Central but it really, really, really ought to be Manchester & Salford Central. 40% of it is in Salford.

[minionofmidas]

Maps too?

No.

They didn't cross the Mersey though... but they called the South Wirral-and-into-Cheshire seat "Mersey Banks".
There is also a Greater Manchester-Cheshire (Stockport-Poynton) and a Greater Manchester-Lancashire (Rochdale-Rossendale) constituency.

[minionofmidas]

Oy.

"40. The existing constituencies of Birkenhead and Wallasey are slightly reconfigured both to achieve electorates within 5% of the electoral quota and to better reflect the development of the two towns. Many of the wards currently contained within the constituencies of Wirral South and Wirral West are included in our proposed Hoylake and Neston constituency, which extends south to incorporate the town of Neston. The communities within the constituency are connected by the A540 which runs throughout.
41. The remaining wards of the sub-region are included in our proposed Mersey Banks constituency, which stretches along the southern bank of the River Mersey and inland to Weaverham. Additionally, it incorporates the Borough of Halton wards of Ditton and Hale, on the north bank of the River Mersey. Consequently, the constituency is divided by the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey, despite the nearest cross-river transport link being the Silver Jubilee Bridge between Runcorn and Widnes.
42. While we were keen to avoid proposing a constituency which contains detached parts, our modelling suggests that to do so, while maintaining a constituency which wholly incorporates the centre of the city of Chester, would have a number of consequences across the whole of the sub-region. These consequences would include: dividing the
town of Winsford between two constituencies; dividing the town of Nantwich between two constituencies; the creation of a constituency that incorporates wards from the centre of Warrington with the town of Knutsford and the surrounding area; and leaving no retention
of existing constituencies. We have referred here to our reservations in proposing this constituency, but, on balance, we considered that our proposed cross-river Mersey Banks constituency allowed for the most satisfactory distribution of constituencies across the whole area."

[minionofmidas]

And Rossendale and Darwen loses the southern half of Rossendale (to Rochdale N & Rawtenstall), compensating with areas beyond Rossendale, around Oswaldtwistle, and is to be called Darwen & Haslingden.

[minionofmidas]

Newkie proposals sound bizarre to my untrained ear...
Newcastle South along the river. Newcastle Central to not touch the river and to include two North Tyneside wards. Newcastle East & Tynemouth again snaking along the river. Newcastle North & Cramlington!? And Whitley Bay for the remainder of N Tyneside, also extending into Northumberland.
North of that, Blyth & Ashington, Berwick & Morpeth. And... wait for it... a Hexham seat that extends, not east into the populated parts of Northumberland, not south into non-metropolitan Durham, but southeast into what's now Blaydon. Lmao.
It's pretty clear why they did that, though - it makes it possible to create three seats out of the remainder of Gateshead (sans the two southerly wards that go to a seat now simply named Washington) and S Tyneside: Gateshead W, Jarrow & Gateshead E, South Shields.
Sunderland Central can then grow a little, move a little, and be renamed simply Sunderland, and the remainder of the borough can revert to being called Houghton-le-Spring.

[minionofmidas]

Is that what they've done, call it "Houghton-le-Spring" ?

Yes. Chester-le-Street (for North Durham) is back too.

But I really, really love Consett & Barnard Castle. Because it's not enough to link Durham valleys that have no communication links, parts of one used to be in Yorkshire historically, they had to add two Northumberland wards.

Easington, City of Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool just do what they have to do. Bishop Auckland takes Crook and Spennymoor. Sedgefield is dismembered. Their proposal though is a Sedgefield & Yarm seat to angle around Stockton (or rather Stockton & Billington, as the constituency is to be named). Thornaby goes into Middlesbrough. Redcar grows even deeper into boro. Middlesborough S & East Cleveland is renamed & Guisborough just for the hell of it. This concludes my overview of changes in the northeast.

[minionofmidas]

Next on my to-read list: London.

[minionofmidas]

Hornchurch & Upminster, Romford - old names but very new areas, apparently.
Barking & Dagenham proposals are difficult to understand without a map. A Barking & Dagenham seat of the current Barking minus three northern wards, plus River, plus two Ilford South wards, and a Dagenham North seat of the remainder plus two Havering wards? I have trouble visualizing that. Maybe I just should look at a map.

EDIT: Yes, it helped.

[minionofmidas]

"We also propose a Wanstead and Woodford constituency containing nine wards, including wards from the existing Chingford and Woodford Green, Ilford North, Ilford South, and Leyton and Wanstead constituencies."
And an Ilford North, and an Edmonton & Chingford. IDS is out of job, I suppose?
And a West Ham & Royal Docks (ie, what once was "Newham South"), an East Ham that extends into Ilford, a "Stratford" that extends into Leyton. Newham was, of course, too large for two seats at the end. A redrawn Walthamstow survives in between.

[minionofmidas]

I'm assuming that McVey will be the MP for the new Wirral West (presuming it'll span down to the old Wirral South/Neston boundary), Angela Eagle will hold some kind've Wallasey+Birkenhead North seat and McGovern and Andrew Miller will fight for the selection in "Mersey Banks".

Oh, no. Birkenhead and Wallasey remain cores of separate seats. The third Wirral seat is Hoylake & Neston.

Sounds like Mersey Banks is pretty literally "all the stuff left in between our west Cheshire [historical sense] seats".

[minionofmidas]

Tower Hamlets seats unchanged. Shoreditch and Stoke Newington dropped from names. Hackney North also includes one Tottenham ward, and is exactly on the upper permissible limit.
Minimal changes to Tottenham (loses one to Hackney, gains one from Hornsey) and Hornsey & Wood Green (loses one to Tottenham, gains one from Southgate). Southgate and Enfield N to take in parts of Edmonton.

Ah, here's the Edmonton monstrosity: "We propose a cross-River Lee constituency named Chingford and Edmonton, the two parts of which link via the North Circular road. The constituency contains three Enfield wards (Edmonton Green, Jubilee, and Lower Edmonton) from the existing Edmonton constituency, five Waltham Forest wards (Chingford Green, Endlebury, Hatch Lane, Larkswood, and Valley) from the existing Chingford and Woodford Green constituency and one Waltham Forest ward (Higham Hill) from the existing Walthamstow constituency."

Hendon, Chipping Barnet unchanged, Finchley & Golders Green to take in one Camden ward. Islington S gives up territory to N, takes in King's Cross, Holborn & Covent Garden, and the City of London. (The name, then, becomes City of London & Islington S).
Hampstead & Kilburn retains the name but moves southeast as far as Kentish Town (so now includes only the Kilburn part of Brent). Remainder of Brent is in Willesden (with one Hammersmith ward) and Wembley & Perivale (with one Ealing ward). The remainder of St Pancras is in a seat with parts of Marylebone, named "Camden & Regent's Park".
Kensington goes on the butcher's block. (All of this crazy sh!t is of course forced by the decision not to split wards if it can be at all prevented.) There's "Paddington" expanding into North Kensington, "Westminster [proper] & Kensington", and an enlarged Chelsea & Fulham. Hammersmith becomes Hammersmith & Acton.
Three more Brent wards go into redrawn Harrow East and West seats, now renamed "Stanmore" and "Harrow" (both go into Brent). RN&Pinner and Uxbridge & S Ruislip survive, but southeast of that it's all change again: Feltham & Hayes, Ealing, Greenford & Northolt, Southall & Heston. Brentford & Isleworth sheds Hounslow Heath which goes into "Teddington & Hanworth" with the northern half of Twickenham and the Hanworth part of Feltham & Heston. South of that, Richmond & Twickenham crosses the river but is entirely within the borough.

[minionofmidas]

The Commission is actually proud of having achieved no ward splits without drawing seats from three or more boroughs - of course that policy forced multiple borough crossings.

[minionofmidas]

South London:
Bromley now fits into three seats again, so Penge is back in Beckenham. Orpington, Bromley & Chislehurst also survive. Erith now with only the Bexley part of Thamesmead, Bexleyheath & Sidcup. Two Bexley wards in Eltham. These proposals look Toryfriendly for a change. Woolwich wholly in the borough, Deptford & Greenwich leaking across the boundary. "Lewisham & Catford" as a mildly expanded Lewisham E. Rest goes into "Dulwich & Sydenham". Camberwell & Peckham just exchanges a ward for another, Bermondsey gets the northernmost Lambeth ward and yet another new name - Bermondsey & Waterloo.
Croydon N, Croydon E which is what C probably always ought to have been called. Two cross-borough wards of Croydon C & St Helier and Purley & Carshalton. Sutton & Cheam to expand into Morden. Kingston & Surbiton needs to grow, remainder of Kingston goes into "Wimbledon & New Malden". That leaves a Mitcham constituency in E Merton - which has one Lambeth ward. Indeed, Lambeth gets one whole constituency (to be named Brixton) and parts of five as there are three 50% Lambeth - 50% Wandsworth seats: Battersea & Vauxhall, Clapham Common, Streatham & Tooting. Of yeah, Putney takes Fairfield ward and, because it really can't grow any further in that direction, one Wimbledon ward.

[minionofmidas]

Good news from the southwest:
In North Somerset, the existing two constituencies are unchanged.
Additionally, we propose no change to the boundaries of the two existing constituencies
in the Borough of Swindon.
In the City of Bristol, two of the four existing constituencies are unaltered, while
the remaining two are changed only by the transfer of one ward.
In the County of Gloucestershire, two of the six existing constituencies are unaltered, two are changed only by a small ward boundary change, while two are changed only by the transfer
of one ward.

[minionofmidas]

Devon and Cornwall are much as I expected: Devonwall seat is in the north ("Bideford & Bude"), East Devon is barely changed, West Devon needs to be swung around by the tail and pick itself up from wherever it lands. Plymouth Sutton takes Plymstock (but not Plympton). Indeed, Plymouth is back to Sutton and Devonport seats.