Ludlow and Atcham dropped from constituency titles as changes announced
Changes to the parliamentary boundaries in Shropshire have been announced that will see the constituencies of the county's MPs slightly alter.
The Boundary Commission for England published its final recommendations for new constituency boundaries across England and Wales on Wednesday.
The Commission is trying to re-jig the UK’s Parliamentary constituencies to ensure MPs represent relatively even numbers of people.
The final proposals follow more than a year of public consultation and will see the constituency of Ludlow renamed as South Shropshire.
The constituency is currently served by Conservative MP Philip Dunne, who is stepping down at the next general election.
The new South Shropshire constituency will be larger than the existing Ludlow parliamentary area as it has gained the Burnell and Severn Valley areas from Shrewsbury and Atcham.
The Commission is also doing away with the name "Atcham" from the title of the Shrewsbury seat, which is currently held by Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski.
Meanwhile, The Hodnet and Cheswardine areas are set to be moved from North Shropshire - which is currently held by Lib Dem MP Helen Morgan - and into the Wrekin seat, currently held by Conservative Mark Pritchard.
Helen Morgan, said it was "upsetting" to lose parts of her constituency. She said: “It’s good to finally have clarity on the boundary changes for the next election.
“It is a huge privilege and a pleasure to represent residents in the Hodnet and Cheswardine divisions, and it is upsetting to lose what are some of the most beautiful parts of Shropshire and the most wonderful rural communities.
“However, I will continue to fight for them until the new seat takes effect, and I will keep championing issues like ambulance waiting times and poor bus services, which have a huge impact across rural Shropshire.
“I welcome the challenge of the new constituency, and know that the boundary commissioners have had to make tough decisions in putting together proposals which create seats with even populations. This means I can focus even more on local issues in our area after the next election.”
The change will mean the top and bottom of the Wrekin constituency will now fall under the auspices of Shropshire Council with the rest of the parliamentary area falling under Telford & Wrekin.
The Telford constituency seat, currently held by Lucy Allen, who is also stepping down as a Conservative MP at the next election, will remain unchanged.
In Staffordshire, the Commission said the "existing Central and South constituencies of Stoke-on-Trent needed to expand significantly" so it has renamed and re-jigged the boundaries to make three constituencies of: Kingswinford and South Staffordshire; Stafford; and Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge.
Craig Williams, Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, has welcomed the news that the constituency of Montgomeryshire will be retained and extended to include several new wards that are currently within the constituency of Clwyd South, to create the new ‘Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr’ constituency at the next General Election.
He said: “It is fantastic news that Montgomeryshire will continue to be represented within Parliament, having been so since 1542. We will also be welcoming several new neighbouring communities with open arms."
The changes to the boundaries of England and Wales can be found: boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/
The changes to parliamentary boundaries of England and Wales will be introduced at the next General Election, which is expected to take place some time next year.
