Ballot box carve up and fewer MPs on the cards

The third and final stage of a national review that could change the shape of the country's parliamentary boundaries has started.

In Lancashire it is proposed to reduce the number of constituencies by two, to 14.

In the borough of Burnley the proposal is to move Gawthorpe, Hapton with Park (covering Padiham) and Coalclough with Deerplay wards into what is now Hyndburn, but change the constituency name to Accrington.

The Burnley constituency would expand northwards, taking in eight wards currently in Pendle and stretching up to, and including, Brierfield and Nelson.

Pendle and the Ribble Valley would also see huge changes if the proposals are enacted.

As said, Nelson, Brierfield, Barrowford and their satellite villages will be joined with the Briercliffe, Lanehead, Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, Queensgate and Bank Hall wards from Burnley to form a new constituency of Burnley North and Nelson, with an estimated 74,989 voters.

Towns and villages in West Craven, meanwhile, will become part of a new Ribble Valley constituency stretching from the Forest of Bowland in the north to the outskirts of Preston in the south, with an estimated 73,653 voters.

The Boundary Commission for England is considering constituency areas across England as part of a periodic review of the boundaries of all Parliamentary seats.

The overall aim is to have constituencies that have between 71,031 and 78,507 people eligible to vote living in them.

From today (October 17th), people can go to the BCE’s website, www.bce2018.org.uk, to view the new plans we have published.

All the public comments received during the first two consultations are also published on the website. People have until December 11th to have their say.