programme of government to reduce the number of MPs in the House of Commons
from 650 to 600, which will save the taxpayer about £12 million a year and
result in seats that are much closer together in terms of size.
The Boundary Commission, which decides on how parliamentary constituencies are
made up, has produced its initial proposals for England. These include an
overall reduction in MPs for London, but the changes for Newham and the
surrounding boroughs involve a slight increase in representation.
The commission found that Newham was too large for two constituencies, as both
the existing constituencies (East Ham and West Ham) have electorates in excess
of 86,000, which is over the maximum permitted under the new arrangements.
Therefore they have proposed a West Ham and Royal Docks constituency containing
nine wards, including three (Beckton, Boleyn, and Royal Docks) from the
existing East Ham constituency; a revised East Ham constituency that contains
six Newham wards and two wards (Clementswood and Loxford) from Redbridge, which
are currently in the Ilford South constituency; and a new Stratford
constituency with five wards from the north west of Newham, together with the
four southernmost Waltham Forest wards.
The full list of wards for the new proposed constituencies are:
West Ham & Royal Docks constituency:
Beckton
Boleyn
Canning Town North
Canning Town South
Custom House
Plaistow North
Plaistow South
Royal Docks
West Ham
Stratford constituency:
Forest Gate North
Forest Gate South
Green Street East
Green Street West
Stratford and New Town
Cann Hall (WF)
Cathall (WF)
Grove Green (WF)
Leyton (WF)
East Ham constituency:
East Ham Central
East Ham North
East Ham South
Little Ilford
Manor Park
Wall End
Clementswood (R)
Loxford (R)
The full Boundary Commission proposals for London are here: http://t.co/aoYHPPF
Unsurprisingly, an analysis by the Guardian shows that all three seats will be
safe Labour. Based on voting in the 2010 election Labour's majorities will be
20,382 in West Ham & Royal Docks, 20,032 in East Ham and 16,926 in Stratford.
The only minor surprise is that the Lib Dems will be the main challengers in
Stratford (by a small margin, it has to be said).
If you have comments on the proposals for this part of London the Boundary
Commission will be holding hearings at East Ham Town Hall on Thursday 27 –
Friday 28 October 2011. More information is available at
http://www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk
You can also write with comments to Boundary Commission for England, 35 Great
Smith Street, London SW1P 3BQ, or by email to <email obscured>.
The closing date for comments is 5 December 2011.
It would be interesting to hear from anyone that has any initial thoughts on
this forum.