Boundaries Scotland consults on new constituency boundaries for the Scottish Parliament
ISSUED BY BOUNDARIES SCOTLAND
Boundaries Scotland has today published its provisional proposals for new constituency boundaries for the Scottish Parliament. It marks the start of a one month public consultation on the proposals, running until the end of Saturday 17 June 2023.
There are 73 Scottish Parliament constituencies, three of which are protected in the legislation and not subject to review (Na h-Eileanan an lar (the Western Isles), Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands).
In the proposals:
- 21 constituencies are unchanged.
- one constituency retains its boundaries but with a new name.
- 26 constituencies have minor changes to boundaries but retain their existing names.
- 2 5 constituencies have both new names and new boundaries.
Ronnie Hinds, Chair of Boundaries Scotland, said: "I believe that our provisional proposals offer a robust set of constituencies within the legislative rules set for us. They represent a necessary rebalancing to reflect movements of the electorate in Scotland since parliamentary boundaries were last reviewed. We have reduced the variation in electorate between the largest and smallest constituencies by over a third and increased the number of constituencies sitting within a single council area from 51 to 59.
Today is the beginning of a process, however, and we now want to hear the views of the public. We will reflect on responses to the consultation and make changes where appropriate and where the legislation allows us to do so. We strongly encourage people to make their views heard. We particularly want to hear suggestions for alternative boundaries that comply with the legislative requirements and for constituency names"
We welcome all comments on our proposals on our consultation site at https: //consult.boundaries.scot/
When the consultation closes Boundaries Scotland will consider all responses received and whether further revision is necessary. If changes are made another one-month consultation will be held.
The legislation provides that there will be 73 constituencies for the Scottish Parliament, including Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles, and also determines the rules which the Commission follows when proposing constituencies. Those rules include a requirement to have regard to the boundaries of local authority areas, and to design constituencies where the electorate is as close to the electoral quota as is practical. The electoral quota is the average electorate per constituency, excluding the three protected constituencies, at the start of the review.
As part of this review we will also consult on the boundaries of Scottish Parliament regions in late 2023 or 2024.