Attack on boundary change plan

Woolas blasts Clegg proposal as ‘bonkers’

Greater Manchester could lose one MP if plans to slash the number of Westminster seats goes ahead.

Controversial proposals put forward by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg would result in constituencies of equal size being created, reducing the number from 650 to 600 and giving each MP about 75,000 voters by the 2015 election.

Analysis by the Chronicle shows the region could be represented by 26 rather than 27 MPs based on the current size of the electorate.

Oldham East and Saddleworth has 72,307 people registered to vote, Oldham West and Royton 72,066, and Ashton 67,657.

In comparison, Stockport has just 62,950 and Manchester Central on 85,522.

Oldham MPs Michael Meacher and Phil Woolas have warned against the changes which are based on the number of people registered to vote, not those eligible to vote — which in turn could bring the Oldham constituencies in line with the 75,000 benchmark.

Mr Woolas said: “It is a bonkers and immoral idea. It is utterly wrong Parliament should change the boundaries within a lifetime of Parliament.

“If it needs to happen do it for the following election. You will make some constituencies even bigger and therefore the MPs even more remote from the people they are representing.

“It is difficult enough serving a massive constituency like mine but bringing in another ward would make it even more difficult.

“I could end up with Marsden in West Yorkshire being brought into my constituency which is ludicrous.

“The argument that it will save the taxpayer money is not true as it will cost more to have additional staff to meet the extra needs of new constituents.”

Mr Meacher said: “No one lives in neat little groups of 75,000. It will not be a clean break among constituencies and local areas all have their own issues and needs.

“A reduction of 50 MPs is an arbitrary figure, I am sure it was because of careful analysis and what it would mean for certain political parties.

“It should be based on what is best for the electorate and must be done on population, not the number of voters.

“You cannot argue the principle of equalising is clearly right — that is what the Boundary Commission are meant to do anyway in their 10-yearly review of seats, and we have just had a change of boundaries in many areas.”

Both David Cameron and Mr Clegg have argued it is wrong for some seats to have 20,000 more voters than others — and that there are simply too many MPs for a country of Britain’s size.

If the number of seats is cut from 27 to 26 across Greater Manchester, it would trigger a furious game of musical chairs among existing MPs — many of whom were only elected in May — to avoid being left without a seat.

Most controversially, the review will be based on the electoral register to be published in December this year, ignoring the fact that the results of the next census would be available in 2013.

According to the Electoral Commission, 3.5 million people who are entitled to vote are not currently registered and will be excluded from the calculations of new boundaries.

It would be the second change in successive elections as many MPs fought the 2010 election on changed boundaries after the number of parliamentary seats increased from 646 to 650.