Overview

This bill amends the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, changing the number and size of parliamentary constituencies across the United Kingdom. It aims to redefine the electoral boundaries and the number of seats in the House of Commons.

Description

The bill makes several key changes:

• Number of Constituencies: Sets the number of constituencies in Great Britain at 632 and 18 in Northern Ireland.
• Electorate per Constituency: Specifies that the electorate in any Great Britain constituency must be between 92.5% and 107.5% of the Great Britain electoral quota. A similar rule applies to Northern Ireland constituencies, using a Northern Ireland electoral quota. The calculation of the electoral quota is also specified, based on the most recent general election registers.
• Consequential Amendments: Makes several consequential amendments to Schedule 2 of the 1986 Act, primarily replacing references to "the United Kingdom" with "Great Britain" in various clauses.
• Boundary Commission Reports: Changes the reporting schedule of the Boundary Commissions, requiring reports before October 1st, 2020, and then every ten years thereafter.

Government Spending

The bill mandates that any expenditure incurred because of the Act, and any increase in sums payable under other acts as a result of this Act, will be paid from public funds. No specific figures are provided in the bill itself.

Groups Affected

Groups potentially affected include:

• Electoral Commission: Responsible for implementing the changes to constituency boundaries.
• Boundary Commissions: Responsible for redrawing constituency boundaries according to the new rules.
• Political Parties: Will need to adapt their campaigning strategies to the revised constituency boundaries.
• Voters: May find themselves in a different constituency after the boundary changes.
• Members of Parliament: The number of MPs and their constituencies may change.

Powered by nyModel