My plan for Regional Government

[minionofmidas]

Are these multi-member constituencies? Run off or list?

Single seat constituencies

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Not really; Labour sometimes loses councils in the Northeast that are normally safely Labour due to local scandals and stuff (or an overhyped "scandal" over schools policy in the case of Newcastle) like Durham (City) or Wear Valley of all places (back in 1990. The new LibDem administration was even worse than the Labour one turfed out in 1990, and in '95 the LibDem group was very close to getting wiped out).

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Yes, but there are areas of non-Labour support in a lot of the 28 Labour constituencies, they just get outvoted by working class areas in General Elections (Gosforth is outvoted by Newburn/Lemington, Whitley Bay et al by North Shields and so on) and this wouldn't be the case in a system with roughly double the number of seats.
A case could be made for an element of PR, but the point of this is that it would be possible to make it happen; PR is currently politically unacceptable to the people who could pull out a yes vote for devolution.

...and Afleitch has described why.

[minionofmidas]

Might I add that this is very interesting, keep up the good work etc etc. Shame I didn#t really notice this thread til now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

...and Afleitch has described why.

Not quite actually; attitudes hardend following the Euro elections; the Northeast was by far Labour's best region (as always) but they only got one of the three seats. It's possible to argue either way on whether that's fair or not but the point is it pushed PR beyond the pale, for now anyway.

As an aside point, attitudes to electoral systems by political parties always has a lot to do with self-interest; the most blatent example I can think of is a Liberal proposal in the '80's that would have had PR in large multi-seat constituencies... except in certain rural areas which would remain single seat constituencies. I forget the excuse given, but it was interesting to note that all except one of the constituencies mentioned had a Liberal or SDP M.P...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Might I add that this is very interesting, keep up the good work etc etc. Shame I didn#t really notice this thread til now.

Thanks
Any suggestions for inner Newcastle? The rewarding made a complete mess of it... even the city planning districts still use the old wards...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Gateshead

Seats: 5
Quota: 38,230

Gateshead Central
Wards: Felling, Bridges, Deckham, Saltwell
Pop. 34,371

Gateshead East
Wards: Pelaw & Heworth, Wardley & Leam Lane, Windy Nook & Whitehills, High Fell
Pop. 36,129

Gateshead West
Wards: Chowdene, Low Fell, Lobley Hill & Bensham, Dunston & Teams, Dunston Hill & Whickham East
Pop. 43,686

Non-Gateshead Seats... to be done later. Number of seats; 2, total population 76965. One will be called Blaydon.

[minionofmidas]

Might I add that this is very interesting, keep up the good work etc etc. Shame I didn#t really notice this thread til now.

Thanks
Any suggestions for inner Newcastle? The rewarding made a complete mess of it... even the city planning districts still use the old wards...

Gimme pop. totals for the wards...and maybe a street layout map so I can't totally f up...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ware info (inc population) is here).

Wards to use:

Benwell & Scotswood, Fenham, Elswick, Westgate, Ouseburn, Byker, Walker, Walkergate, South Heaton, Winsgrove.

I'm fairly happy with the other seats; not perfect but similer to what the boundary commision would doodle.

[minionofmidas]

Ware info (inc population) is here).

Wards to use:

Benwell & Scotswood, Fenham, Elswick, Westgate, Ouseburn, Byker, Walker, Walkergate, South Heaton, Winsgrove.

I'm fairly happy with the other seats; not perfect but similer to what the boundary commision would doodle.

I'll see what I can do...

[minionofmidas]

On the basis of just these three constituencies, obviously nothing much can be done. (Well, you could switch Elswick and Wingrove around, but I don't see what for.)
However, lemme guess at what your problem is...Fenham in the west is a middleclassish area (34% Council or Housing Authority, which is low for Inner Newcastle; Labour-held in council only due to divided opposition) paired with very very working class areas.
The same is true for Walkergate in the east (30% Council or HA; LD held.)
(Why did the LD's do so well in Ouseburn, btw?)
Since they'd probably be outpolled by their neighbors, you as a Labour man shouldn't be worried.
If you want to do something about it, though, you'd have to breakup the whole thing, especially the oversized Western districts, and create only two riverside districts, sans Fenham, Walkergate, and South Heaton.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

However, lemme guess at what your problem is...Fenham in the west is a middleclassish area (34% Council or Housing Authority, which is low for Inner Newcastle; Labour-held in council only due to divided opposition) paired with very very working class areas.
The same is true for Walkergate in the east (30% Council or HA; LD held.)

Fenham isn't really the problem; the problem is the way the Central seat cuts across different parts of the city that don't have all that much in common... the fault of the rewarding really

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Ah well. Thanks for trying [/quote][/quote]

[minionofmidas]

If you want to do something about it, though, you'd have to breakup the whole thing, especially the oversized Western districts, and create only two riverside districts, sans Fenham, Walkergate, and South Heaton.

Ah well. Thanks for trying

It might actually work out better.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ah well. Thanks for trying

It might actually work out better.

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Maybe. I'm going to review all the boundaries when I've finished them all (when I plan to add that NT seat that I managed to forget about).

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Sunderland

Seats: 7
Quota: 40,115

Sunderland South (or Sunderland St Chads)
Wards: Doxford, Ryhope, Silksworth, St Chads
Pop. 42,061

Sunderland West (or Sunderland St Annes)
Wards: Barnes, Sandhill, St Annes, Pallion
Pop. 45,011

Sunderland Central (or Sunderland St Michaels)
Wards: Hendon, St Michaels, Millfield
Pop. 32,543

Sunderland North (or Sunderland St Peters)
Wards: St Peters, Fulwell, Southwick
Pop. 34,054

Sunderland North West & Washington North
Wards: Redhill, Castle, Washington North
Pop. 35,628

Washington
Wards: Washington West, Washington Central, Washington East, Washington South
Pop. 44,960

Houghton
Wards: Houghton, Shiney Row, Copt Hill, Hetton
Pop. 46,551

[jokerman]

I'd rather you move here and resurect American populism, that would be so awesome.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

City of Durham

Seats: 2
Quota: 43,854

City of Durham North
Wards: Bearpark & Witton Gilbert, Framwellgate Moor, Newton Hall North, Newton Hall South, Crossgate & Framwelgate, St Nicholas, Pelaw & Gilesgate, Carrville & Gilesgate Moor, Belmont, Shadforth & Sherburn, Pittington & West Rainton
Pop. 48,571

City of Durham South
Wards: Elvet, Neville's Cross, New Brancepeth & Ushaw Moor, Deerness, Brandon, Brancepeth-Langley Moor & Meadowfield, Shincliffe, Cassop-cum-Quarrington, Coxhoe
Pop. 39,138

With thanks to Dave (Demohawk)