Putney Constituency to be Expanded

Published: 02/12/2022 By Allan Fuller

The Putney constituency looks set to be expanded as part of a radical overhaul of representation in Westminster.

The Boundary Commission has published its latest recommendations for constituency borders in which it confirms the plans first proposed for Putney last year. A consultation has now begun on the new boundaries which are likely to apply at the next general election. 

The Putney seat, which is currently held for Labour by Fleur Anderson, would incorporate the Wandsworth Borough ward of Fairfield up to Trinity Road. This would mean much of the centre of Wandsworth including Wandsworth Town station and South Thames college would form part of the constituency.

If the local electorate continued to vote in the way they have previously done in local elections, this move would reduce Fleur Anderson’s majority of 4,774 in the seat. The area was previously part of the Battersea constituency. 
The Commission has made no changes to earlier proposals for the changes to the boundaries of seats across the borough of Hounslow. 

A final consultation is now being held into the proposals with a view to them being adopted in the 2023 Boundary Review for submission to Parliament by 1 July 2023. If confirmed, these would be the seats contested at any general election held in 2024.
This month-long consultation is the last opportunity for residents to send in their views.

The commission says it has taken into consideration over 45,000 comments sent in by the public across the country during the previous two stages of public consultation and has changed nearly half of its initial proposals based on this feedback. This third and final consultation on the new map of revised constituency proposals is open now until 5 December. The public are invited to view and comment on the new map at bcereviews.org.uk.

The commission is undertaking an independent review of all constituencies in England as requested by Parliament. The number of electors within each constituency currently varies widely due to population changes since the last boundary review. The 2023 Boundary Review will rebalance the number of electors each MP represents, resulting in significant change to the existing constituency map. As part of the review, the number of constituencies in England will increase from 533 to 543 with the number in London rising from 73 to 75.

Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said, “Last year we published our initial proposals for new constituency boundaries – our first go at what the map should look like. We are delighted with the huge number of comments from members of the public on our initial proposals, many which included valuable evidence about local communities.

“Today’s publication is the culmination of months of analysis, and we have revised nearly half of our initial proposals based on what people have told us. We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to. “However, we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we submit our final recommendations to Parliament next year. This is our final consultation and I encourage you to participate in the 2023 Boundary Review.”

Comment has been requested from Fleur Anderson on the proposal.