The Fourth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 1995 by the four Boundary Commissions.[1] As well as changes to constituency boundaries, the Reviews recommended an increase of five seats in England (524 to 529), two in Wales (38 to 40) and one in Northern Ireland (17 to 18), with Scotland continuing to have 72 seats. The number of MPs in the House of Commons therefore increased from 651 to 659.[2] 144 new constituencies were created, offset by 136 which were abolished. The new boundaries were first used for the 1997 general election.

Review process

Under the terms of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986, as enacted, the Boundary Commissions were required to present their final recommendations between 10 and 15 years after the submission of their previous reports.[3] As the final reports for the Third Periodic Review had been submitted between October 1982 and February 1983, the final reports for the Fourth Review were due to be submitted no later than February 1998. Accordingly, the English Commission had commenced their review in February 1991 and the Scottish Commission had commenced theirs in February 1992. In the meantime, reflecting concerns that the period between reviews was too long, the Government proposed that the gap between reviews should be reduced to between 8 and 12 years and that the deadline for the Fourth Review should be brought forward to 31 December 1994.[2] This was legislated through the Boundary Commissions Act 1992.[4]

The final reports were submitted as follows:

  • Scotland - 15 December 1994[5]
  • Wales - 16 December 1994[6]
  • England - 12 April 1995[7]
  • Northern Ireland - 20 June 1995[8]

Changes

As a result of changes to the names of seats, it is not always easy to clearly identify newly created constituencies or those abolished during the review process. One way of considering this is to link each proposed seat with an existing seat which contributes the most voters to that new seat. Any proposed seat which cannot be linked to an existing seat is then considered to be a "new" constituency. Conversely, any existing seat which is not linked to a proposed seat is considered to have been abolished.

The tables below list the names of existing seats which were not replicated in the final proposals for the fourth review ("old seats"), and links them with proposed seats which did not exist prior to the review ("new seats"). Those seats which are not linked can be regarded as being genuinely abolished or newly created. There are a number of instances where existing seats are effectively abolished and re-created under the same name, as set out in the notes.

England

The number of seats in England increased by five. 19 non-metropolitan counties gained one seat each, with Hampshire gaining two. This was offset by a reduction of ten seats in Greater London, two each in Greater Manchester and West Midlands, and one each in Lancashire and Merseyside.

In Greater London, the Commission, for the first time, decided to pair some London Boroughs together to reduce the variation in the size of electorates. These are detailed in the table below.

County No. of seats Old seat New seat Notes
Before After
Avon 10 10
Bedfordshire 5 6 North Bedfordshire Bedford
North East Bedfordshire Comprised the largest part of the existing Mid Bedfordshire seat, which was reconfigured and effectively formed a new constituency.
Berkshire 7 8 East Berkshire Bracknell
Windsor and Maidenhead Maidenhead
Windsor
Buckinghamshire 7 7
Cambridgeshire 6 7 North West Cambridgeshire
South West Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire
Cheshire 10 11 Weaver Vale
Cleveland 6 6 Langbaurgh Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland
Cornwall 5 5 Truro Truro and St Austell Name change only.
Cumbria 6 6
Derbyshire 10 10
Devon 11 11 Honiton East Devon
Plymouth, Drake Plymouth, Drake was absorbed into Plymouth, Sutton, with the bulk of that seat now forming the majority of the new seat of South West Devon.
South West Devon
South Hams Totnes
Tiverton Tiverton and Honiton
Dorset 7 8 Mid Dorset and North Poole
Durham 7 7
East Sussex 8 8
Essex 16 17 North Essex Major reconfiguration.
North Colchester Colchester
South Colchester and Maldon Maldon and East Chelmsford
Chelmsford West Chelmsford
Rochford Rayleigh
Southend East Rochford and Southend East
Gloucestershire 5 6 Cirencester and Tewksbury The Cotswolds
Tewkesbury
West Gloucestershire Forest of Dean
Greater London 84 74 Hendon North Hendon London borough of Barnet
Hendon South
Finchley Finchley and Golders Green
Greenwich Greenwich and Woolwich London boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich
Woolwich
Erith and Crayford Erith and Thamesmead
Bexleyheath Bexleyheath and Crayford
Chislehurst Bromley and Chislehurst London borough of Bromley
Ravensbourne
Croydon North East London borough of Croydon
Croydon North West Croydon North
Ealing, Acton Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush London boroughs of Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham
Hammersmith
Fulham Hammersmith and Fulham
The City of London and Westminster South Cities of London and Westminster Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Cities of London and Westminster
Westminster North Regent's Park and Kensington North
Kensington
Chelsea Kensington and Chelsea
Richmond and Barnes Richmond Park Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and borough of Richmond upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Surbiton Kingston and Surbiton
Southwark and Bermondsey North Southwark and Bermondsey London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark
Peckham Camberwell and Peckham
Dulwich Dulwich and West Norwood
Norwood
Bethnal Green and Stepney Bethnal Green and Bow London boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets
Bow and Poplar Poplar and Canning Town
Newham South
Newham North East East Ham
Newham North West West Ham
Chingford Chingford and Woodford Green London boroughs of Redbridge and Waltham Forest
Wanstead and Woodford
Leyton Leyton and Wanstead
Greater Manchester 30 28 Stretford
Davyhulme Stretford and Urmston
Altrincham and Sale Altrincham and Sale West
Manchester, Wythenshawe Wythenshawe and Sale East
Littleborough and Saddleworth Oldham East and Saddleworth
Oldham Central and Royton Oldham West and Royton
Oldham West
Salford East Salford
Hampshire 15 17 North East Hampshire Comprised the majority of the existing East Hampshire seat, which was reconfigured and effectively formed a new constituency.
New Forest New Forest West
Romsey and Waterside New Forest East
Romsey
Hereford and Worcester 7 8 Redditch Comprised the majority of the existing Mid Worcestershire seat, which was reconfigured and effectively formed a new constituency.
South Worcestershire West Worcestershire
Hertfordshire 10 11 North Hertfordshire North East Hertfordshire
Hitchin and Harpenden
West Hertfordshire Hemel Hempstead
Humberside 9 10 Kingston upon Hull West Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle
Bridlington East Yorkshire Major reconfiguration
Beverley and Holderness
Beverley Haltemprice and Howdon
Boothferry Brigg and Goole
Glanford and Scunthorpe Scunthorpe
Brigg and Cleethorpes Cleethorpes
Isle of Wight 1 1
Kent 16 17 Faversham Sittingbourne and Sheppey
Faversham and Mid Kent
Mid Kent Chatham and Aylesford
Maidstone Maidstone and The Weald
Lancashire 16 15 Lancaster Lancaster and Wyre
Wyre
Blackpool North Blackpool North and Fleetwood
Leicestershire 9 10 Charnwood
Lincolnshire 6 7 Gainsborough and Horncastle Gainsborough
East Lyndsey Louth and Horncastle
Holland with Boston Boston and Skegness
Stamford and Spalding South Holland and The Deepings
Grantham and Stamford
Grantham Sleaford and North Hykeham
Merseyside 17 16 Knowsley North Knowsley North and Sefton East
Liverpool, Broadgreen Liverpool, Wavertree
Liverpool, Mossley Hill
Norfolk 8 8
North Yorkshire 6 7 Harrogate Harrogate and Knaresborough
Vale of York
York City of York Name change only
Scarborough Scarborough and Whitby Name change only
Northamptonshire 6 6
Northumberland 4 4
Nottinghamshire 11 11
Oxfordshire 6 6
Shropshire 4 5 Telford Comprised the majority of the existing The Wrekin seat, which was reconfigured and effectively formed a new constituency.
Somerset 5 5
South Yorkshire 15 15 Barnsley East Barnsley East and Mexborough
Staffordshire 11 12 Stone Major reconfiguration
Mid Staffordshire Lichfield
Cannock and Burntwood Cannock Chase
South East Staffordshire Tamworth
Suffolk 6 7 Central Suffolk Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
West Suffolk Comprised the majority of the existing Bury St Edmunds seat, which was reconfigured and effectively formed a new constituency.
Surrey 11 11 North West Surrey Surrey Heath
Chertsey and Walton Runnymede and Weybridge
Esher Esher and Walton
Tyne and Wear 13 13 Wallsend North Tyneside
Newcastle upon Tyne East Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend
Gateshead East Gateshead East and Washington West
Houghton and Washington Houghton and Washington East
Warwickshire 5 5
West Midlands 31 29 Dudley East Dudley North
Dudley West Dudley South
Halesowen and Stourbridge Stourbridge Electorate of Halesowen and Stourbridge distributed more-or-less equally between two new constituencies.
Halesowen and Rowley Regis
Warley West
Warley East Warley
Birmingham, Small Heath
Birmingham, Sparkbrook Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath
Coventry South East Coventry South
Coventry South West
West Sussex 7 8 Arundel Bognor Regis and Littlehampton
Arundel and South Downs
Shoreham East Worthing and Shoreham
Worthing Worthing West
West Yorkshire 23 23 Morley and Leeds South Morley and Rothwell
Wiltshire 5 6 North Swindon
Swindon South Swindon

Wales

The number of seats in Wales was increased from 38 to 40 through the creation of an additional seat in the counties of Clwyd and Dyfed.

County No of seats Old seat New seat
Before After
Clwyd 5 6 Clwyd North West Clwyd West
Vale of Clwyd
Clwyd South West Clwyd South
Dyfed 4 5 Ceredigion and Pembroke North Ceredigion
Pembroke Preseli Pembrokeshire
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
Carmarthen Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
Gwent 6 6
Gwynedd 4 4
Mid Glamorgan 7 7
Powys 2 2
South Glamorgan 5 5
West Glamorgan 5 5

Scotland

The number of seats in Scotland remained at 72, with an additional seat in Grampian region being offset by the loss of a seat in the City of Glasgow in Strathclyde region.

Region No of seats Old seat New seat
Before After
Borders 2 2
Central 4 4 Clackmannan Ochil
Dumfries and Galloway 2 2
Fife 5 5
Grampian 6 7 Aberdeen Central
Kincardine and Deeside West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
Highland 3 3 Caithness and Sutherland Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Ross, Cromarty and Skye Ross, Skye and Inverness West
Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
Lothian 10 10 Edinburgh East Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
Edinburgh, Leith Edinburgh North and Leith
Strathclyde 33 32 Monklands East Airdrie and Shotts
Monklands West Coatbridge and Chryston
Motherwell North Hamilton North and Bellshill
Motherwell South Motherwell and Wishaw
Hamilton Hamilton South
Greenock and Port Glasgow Greenock and Inverclyde
Renfrew West and Inverclyde West Renfrewshire
Glasgow, Garscadden Glasgow, Anniesland
Glasgow, Hillhead Glasgow, Kelvin
Glasgow Central
Glasgow, Provan Glasgow, Baillieston
Tayside 5 5 East Angus Angus
Perth and Kinross Perth
Islands Areas 2 2

Northern Ireland

The number of seats in Northern Ireland was increased from 17 to 18 through the creation of West Tyrone. This comprised the majority of the existing Mid Ulster seat, which was reconfigured and effectively formed a new constituency.

    References

    1. Rossiter 1999, The Boundary Commissions: Redrawing the UK's Map of Parliamentary Constituencies
    2. 1 2 Johnston, Neil (17 November 2022). "Constituency boundary reviews and the number of MPs" (PDF). House of Commons library. p. 76. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
    3. "Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (as enacted)". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
    4. "Boundary Commissions Act 1992 (as enacted)". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
    5. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. 11 April 1995. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
    6. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Wales) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. 11 April 1995. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
    7. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. 28 June 1995. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
    8. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 1995". legislation.gov.uk. 23 November 1995. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
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