Where old constituencies go to die...

[afleitch]

Probable casualties if the Arbuthnott Commission (a love letter to the unitaryauthorities) is followed through

Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley (formerly Ayrshire South) - crossing an imposed council boundary is a no no even if it makes perfect sense to do so, Renfrewshire West will share a similar fate unless West Renfreshire Council is 'donut-ed' to make a Paisley constituency and an outer constituency.

But we could be saying hello again to:

Monklands East and Monklands West; back again as two pointless constituencies due to Lanarkshire collectively loosing 1 MSP because of the council split. The knock on effects will also likely see the return of Hamilton and also Lanark, as Clydesdale expands and swallows most of the southern two thirds of East Kilbride.

Glasgow Gorbals - a population boom and a reogranisation south of the river as Glasgow looses another seat could see this consitituency reformed and expanded.

[doktorb]

Proposed constituency names which have never been used

(with the caveat that I'm using the great god Wikipedia)

Northern Ireland
*Belfast South East
*Belfast South West
*Coleraine and North Antrim
*Glenshane

Scotland
*Airdrie and Coatbridge South
*Angus East and Kincardine
*Angus West and East Perthshire
*Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber
*Ayr North, Troon and Cumnock
*Ayrshire Central and Arran
*Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty
*Clackmannanshire and Dunfermline West
*Clydesdale and Larkhall
*Cumbernauld and Coatbridge North
*Deeside and Gordon
*East Dunbartonshire and Kilsyth
*East Kilbride and Rutherglen
*East Renfrewshire and Hairmyres
*Edinburgh Central and Leith
*Edinburgh South East
*Galloway, Ayr South and Carrick
*Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West
*Inverness and Skye
*Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes
*Midlothian and Tweeddale
*Motherwell, Wishaw and Bellshill
*Paisley and Renfrew
*Perth and Kintoss-shire
*Renfrewshire South and Ayrshire North
*Stirling and Crieff
*West Dunbartonshire and Bearsden North

England (excluding London)
*Aldridge, Brownhills and Bloxwich
*Ashton-under-Lyne and Denton
*Barnsley North and Hemsworth
*Barnsley South
*Basildon and Thurrock East
*Berwick, Alnwick and Morpeth
*Bideford, Bude and Launceston
*Billericay and Great Dunmow
*Birmingham Erdington and Castle Bromwich
*Birmingham Harborne
*Blyth and Ashington
*Bodmin and St Austell
*Bolton North and Darwen
*Bootle and North Liverpool
*Bournemouth West and Bourne Valley
*Bradford East and Horsforth
*Braintree and Witham
*Bridgnorth, Wellington and The Wrekin
*Brighton East and Seahaven
*Bromsgrove and Droitwich
*Burnham and Glastonbury
*Burnley and Accrington East
*Canterbury and Faversham
*Chatham and Malling
*Coalville and Keyworth
*Colne Valley and Denby Dale
*Crosby and Maghull
*Daventry and Lutterworth
*Derby East
*Derby West
*Didcot and Wantage
*Dudley East and Oldbury
*Gateshead East and Jarrow
*Goole and Howden
*Grimsby North and Barton
*Grimsby South and Cleethorpes
*Harwich and Clacton
*Hazel Grove and Poynton
*Henley and Thame
*Herne Bay
*Isle of Wight East
*Isle of Wight West
*Kenilworth and Dorridge
*Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
*Kingswood and Keynsham
*Leeds Metropolitan and Ossett
*Leeds South East and Castleford
*Leeds West, Pudsey and Tong
*Lewes and Uckfield
*Liverpool Riverside and Walton
*Ludlow and Leominster
*Luton North and Dunstable
*Malvern and Ledbury
*Manchester Gorton and Reddish North
*Mersey Banks and Weaver
*Mid Bedfordshire and Harpenden
*Mid Dorset
*Newcastle upon Tyne North and Cramlington
*Norfolk Coastal
*North East Essex
*Nottingham North and Hucknall
*Nottingham South and West Bridgford
*Penrith and Solway
*Rossendale and Oswaldtwistle
*Rotherham and Sheffield East
*Rotherham North
*Sheffield Hallam and Penistone
*Sheffield North and Dodworth
*South East Hertfordshire
*South Gloucestershire East
*South Gloucestershire West
*Southend East and Rochford
*St Neots and Huntingdon
*Stockton North and Aycliffe
*Stourbridge and Dudley
*Tavistock and Plympton
*The Cities of London and Westminster
*The Weald
*Truro and Newquay
*Walsall West
*Warminster and Shaftesbury
*Washington
*Wells and North East Somerset
*West Cumbria
*West Wiltshire
*Wirral Deeside
*Wisbech and Downham Market


London
*Bexleyheath and Erith
*Sidcup and Welling
*Thamesmead and Plumstead
*Wembley
*Greenford and Northolt
*Willesden
*Islington South and Holborn
*Camden Town and Regent's Park
*Carshalton and Coulsdon
*Ealing Central
*Hammersmith and Acton
*Southall and Heston
*Edmonton and Tottenham Hale
*Eltham and Charlton
*Greenwich and Lewisham Central
*Stamford Hill and South Tottenham
*Bethnal Green and Shoreditch
*Hayes and Feltham
*Brentworth and Isleworth
*Hampton
*Wimbledon and Coombe
*Clapham and Streatham
*Battersea and Vauxhall
*Bermondsey and South Bank
*Deptford and Rotherhithe
*East Ham and Loxford
*Bow and Stratford
*Richmond and Twickenham
*Dulwich and Peckham
*Poplar and Stepney

Wales
*Conwy and Colwyn
*Denbigh and North Montgomeryshire
*Brecon, Radnor and Montgomery
*Flint and North Denbighshire
*Gwynedd
*Wrexham Maelor
*Ynys Môn a Bangor
*Caerfyrddin
*Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire
*South Pembrokeshire
*Cardiff North and South West Gwent
*The Vale of Glamorgan
*Aberavon and Ogmore
*Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Lower Cynon
*Rhondda and Aberdare
*Gower and Swansea West
*Neath and the Swansea Valley

[Gary J]

I did look at the text of the relevant 19th and 20th century statutes and orders in council, when I produced a list of constituency names for Wikipedia. If you think these are wrong, blame me unless the list has subsequently been altered by someone else.

Incidentally I think the English counties (apart from the Palatinate Counties of Cheshire and Durham) were represented at least from De Montfort's Parliament in 1265.

[stepney]

Proposed constituency names which have never been used

(with the caveat that I'm using the great god Wikipedia)

*The Cities of London and Westminster
*The Vale of Glamorgan

These two haven't been used with the definitive article before, although obviously "Cities of London and Westminster" and "Vale of Glamorgan" do exist already.

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

[minionofmidas]

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

Sometimes that makes a lot of sense... and other times (like when the constituency name was only vaguely descriptive in the first place) it... doesn't.

[afleitch]

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

Sometimes that makes a lot of sense... and other times (like when the constituency name was only vaguely descriptive in the first place) it... doesn't.

It can be a bugbear of mine. Two perfect examples at Holyrood; Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Given that the latter have been in Hamilton centred seats in the past, why they were added escapes me. On the flip side there's Rutherglen, despite the fact that Rutherglen proper makes up less than a third of the seat. Cambuslang and Blantyre are both bigger.

[stepney]

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

Sometimes that makes a lot of sense... and other times (like when the constituency name was only vaguely descriptive in the first place) it... doesn't.

Some of them are just plain egregious: “Birmingham Erdington and Castle Bromwich”, “Bootle and North Liverpool”, “Bournemouth West and Bourne Valley” (where?), “Colne Valley and Denby Dale”, and “Manchester Gorton and Reddish North” could all have their qualifiers stripped away.

I’ve derailed the thread now. Sorry. I took a (semi-professional) interest in this while the public part of the review was going on.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Reddish was in the old Gorton constituency for decades!

[doktorb]

Proposed constituency names which have never been used

(with the caveat that I'm using the great god Wikipedia)

*The Cities of London and Westminster
*The Vale of Glamorgan

These two haven't been used with the definitive article before, although obviously "Cities of London and Westminster" and "Vale of Glamorgan" do exist already.

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

I did wonder if someone would pick up on those two. The Welsh Commission mention in passing that they received some comment about the use of "The" in Vale of Glamorgan but never get round to explaining why....

I'm amazed that City/ies of London has suddenly required a name change after so many decades without...

[stepney]

I'm amazed that City/ies of London has suddenly required a name change after so many decades without...

One interesting (though useless) fact for you, Dok - maybe it belongs on the Vote-UK thread - the national Conservative Party's third/final stage submission, deliberately and consciously echoing the national Labour Party's second stage submission, refers (contemptuously of course) to a proposed constituency of "Vales [sic] of Ribble and Lune".

[stepney]

Reddish was in the old Gorton constituency for decades!

I can't find my Times Guide 55 now, but I've a hunch Reddish was in Openshaw while it's Audenshaw and Denton that were in Gorton. The principle stands, though.

[minionofmidas]

Proposed constituency names which have never been used

(with the caveat that I'm using the great god Wikipedia)

*The Cities of London and Westminster
*The Vale of Glamorgan

These two haven't been used with the definitive article before, although obviously "Cities of London and Westminster" and "Vale of Glamorgan" do exist already.

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

I did wonder if someone would pick up on those two. The Welsh Commission mention in passing that they received some comment about the use of "The" in Vale of Glamorgan....

And echoed my submission's wording in that mention!

[stepney]

Proposed constituency names which have never been used

(with the caveat that I'm using the great god Wikipedia)

*The Cities of London and Westminster
*The Vale of Glamorgan

These two haven't been used with the definitive article before, although obviously "Cities of London and Westminster" and "Vale of Glamorgan" do exist already.

Some of the other new names could make me puke: the "Name of Existing Constituency and Name of New Added, Rather Small and Superfluous Area" ones are the worst.

I did wonder if someone would pick up on those two. The Welsh Commission mention in passing that they received some comment about the use of "The" in Vale of Glamorgan....

And echoed my submission's wording in that mention!

Tell me, for the love of God, you didn't make a submission for "The Vale of Glamorgan" over "Vale of Glamorgan"? If so, why?

[minionofmidas]

No, I wrote something like "best configuration when seen in isolation" [I had a remap of Cardiff that involved removing Penarth] "though I am puzzled by the inclusion of the definite article in the name". The Commission's report says something like "widely accepted, though the inclusion of the definite article was questioned by some submissions".

[doktorb]

I can't believe the Conservatives got the name wrong. They seemed very fond of it when we spoke on the day

[stepney]

I can't believe the Conservatives got the name wrong. They seemed very fond of it when we spoke on the day

But not as fond as they were of Morecambe & Lunesdale and Lancaster & Wyre. What a surprise.

[doktorb]

I don't think state secrets are compromised if I tell you that they were intrigued by some of our proposals.

[stepney]

I don't think state secrets are compromised if I tell you that they were intrigued by some of our proposals.

I don't think state secrets are compromised if I tell you they weren't. Particularly not by Vales of Ribble and Lune.

[doktorb]

Westminster is a  poorer place for not knowing Valleys of Ribble and Lune