Constituency has changed without knowing

[Tired756]

I opened up my postal vote yesterday to find that I'm now voting for an MP in a town 30 miles away, with several towns in between and absolutely nothing to do with my town. Having googled the boundaries were reviewed and changed last year to balance out the numbers, there's a lot of new build estates here and presumably has tipped the number of constituents over the limit and now the surrounding villages, as well as basically the top few miles of the actual town havd been redistributed. I can't really understand how I'm now voting for an MP so far away rather then the next constituency over, or how they are going to represent a small area of a different town, the fact that these redistributed areas are essentially just going to be lost, but hey ho that's a different debate and I'm far from an expert.
My issue is that no one seemed to know about it until getting their postal cards. Now I've googled I've found a couple of articles about it from a month ago, but none of my neighbours were aware, and from posts I've seen on Facebook groups most people were surprised.

AIBU to expect a leaflet through the door explaining the change before a national election? Like others I've been keeping an eye on the candidates and now it isn't actually who I'm voting for. Oddly we haven't even recieved a single election related leaflet whereas we usually get bombarded with them so I think we've already been forgotten by the potential MPS anyway

Yes, of course it does because anyone who's paying attention knew about these well publicised changes ages ago.

The new MP will be your local MP. Your local issues are their local issues. They are not the MP for Runcorn, they are the MP for Runcorn And Where You Live.

I don't see what the quibble is here. Everyone knows that some constituencies are set up in such a way that they include disparate areas with very different concerns, or areas that get a lot of attention and areas that are easy to ignore, or particular areas that the MP is always seen out and about in and others that never see hide nor hair of them. Or in my case, an MP who's spent the last couple of decades banging on about a hospital that isn't even in his constituency. If the redrawing of constituency boundaries causes some people to develop new concerns about how well their specific area will be listened to, represented and catered for, why wouldn't they express those concerns?

There was some political wonk conversations when the draft plans were announced about the length of consistency names and I think this thread has shed some light on that logic. People seem to think that if precisely where you live isn't named then you're not in that constituency?

It was nothing to do with wanting to safeguard seats.

Same. Our seat has gone from incredibly safe Tory to now neck and neck. We’ll be one of surprise swing votes, I imagine.

This has happened to where I live. My old constituency is X City South but now it’s been incorporated into a place with the name format “Y and Z” where Y and Z is neither area that I live in. X City provides council services at my address so I consider myself a resident of X City. The argument about length of name makes sense because it would be ridiculous if they listed the areas but it’s going to take time for the new name to feel right.

I find all this concern about local issues quite odd when MPs are voted into a Parliament that decides national issues.

I would imagine that most predictions look at the potential votes at a more granular level (eg per parish) and so will calculate it based on the make up of the new constituency.

But they help with local issues. People go to them about local issues at there surgeries. Hence why it's preferable for some to have an MP from that area living in that area not shipped in from Islington.

There is still no situation where one part of a constituency is completely separated from the rest ,with another constituency in between. Yes it could well be that Anytown was previously a constituency by itself, and the boundaries now mean that half of Anytown is now part of Anyville's constituency, along with villages and houses in between. What does not happen is that half of Anytown is carved off, stuck into a constituency 20 miles away in Beetown, with three other constituencies in between.

Anyway it's all academic. We are all in a constituency as decided by the electoral commission. Those of us in Wales or Scotland might be in different constituencies with different boundaries depending on the election. It's really no big deal.

My constituency has changed and I'm really pissed off about it as I knew my local MP well and he helped me personally on a number of issues.

I now find myself looking at a list of candidates I don't know, and my village has been tagged onto a new constituency which is in a different county to me.

I get that I am still being represented, but I'm not happy.

I actually feel it is a big deal and I'm rather annoyed. I have no affiliation with the area I am now being represented in. I rather ied my old constituency a traditional red wall seat.

Same happened here. Funnily enough our small town has been moved from a labour voting area into an area that has always, since the down of time (or at least the modern Conservative Party) voted conservative. It’s about as safe as it’s possible to be. I’m very hacked off.

That has nothing to do with boundary changes though. Absolutely parties parachute people into "safe" seats, but they always have. Constituencies remain local areas of about 70,000 people.

I'm annoyed by it here. And loads of residents don't know (no such thing as a local paper anymore). I think most people in my village think they can vote again for 'that nice young man' who saw off the Tories from Dorries' constituency. But now it's been redrawn he has buggered off to contest the key Tory seat next door (to be fair the town he lives in is a town that has moved into the constituency - but I'm still in a huff.

Not heard a peep from anyone contesting this new seat.

My constituency has been made more rural really. It lost the fastest growing town.

I didn't say it was to do with boundary changes.

It hasn't changed without anyone knowing, it has changed without people paying attention. Two different things. There was a lengthy consultation period and it was national news.

Yes can you reveal the constituency? It's not likely to be outing . It sounds very curious

Same has happened to me @Tired756 Me - and everyone in my lovely rural village were super happy with our lovely MP, and now we have lost them. We have been shifted into another constituency and everyone is fucking fuming. Like a few others have said, we now have to pick from a bunch of people we don't know, who live 17-18 miles away (in a big town,) and who won't give a shit about the little rural areas and our problems and issues... Nearly 20 miles away!

Many of us are torn between not voting, or voting for REFORM as a protest. Yes I believe there were whisperings about it possibly happening (last Autumn) but nothing definite. No-one was asked their opinions or if they wanted to go to the new constituency. The first we heard about it was when we got our polling cards a few days ago.

We have also had NO-ONE canvassing for votes, and only a couple of pieces of literature though our letterbox. Normally would have 15 to 20 by now! They can all get tae fuck now as far as I'm concerned.

Fuckers!

And the idea that a local MP wouldn't do that to any hospital in their constituency is daft.

I'm in your constituency. The people on my local Facebook page should have been more careful what they wished for at the by-election. They were all insistent that only a candidate living in the constituency would do. The lib dem who only lived a couple of miles over the border wouldn't do. Not local enough.

So now the boundary has changed, and the really good Labour guy is doing what they all expected from an MP, and is standing in the constituency where he lives. People's memories are very short. Now he's not 'doing the right thing', he's 'abandoning his constituents'.
People are very stupid.

Yeah, the banging on about living the constituency was tedious. That is the legacy of Dorries, however.

Loads of Labour signs in the town I work in. Not a single sign in my village or any en route for any party. So different!

There are not several constituencies between you and the "main town" of your new one. It might be that you are geographically closer to a different town in a different constituency but that's not the same thing.

We've changed too. We are in a village about 4 miles from Town A where we go all the time and and about 10 miles from Town B where we go only to use the train station. The main town of our constituency is now B instead of A. It's a bit annoying. Town A feels more like "our" town, the issues that affect it are more significant to me than Town B. But it doesn't mean my constituency is further away, it's just a different boundary.