Fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies

The fifth periodic review of Westminster constituencies was undertaken between 2000 and 2007 by the four boundary commissions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the UK Parliament. The changes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland took effect at the 2010 general election; that for Scotland took effect at the 2005 election. Changes were also made to the constituencies and electoral regions of the then National Assembly for Wales (now the Senedd), and took effect at the 2007 Assembly election. All of the recommendations were approved.

Review process

The boundary commissions were required at the time by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to review constituencies in their part of the United Kingdom every eight to twelve years. The commissions' recommendations from the review were based on the numbers of electors on the electoral register and ward boundaries at the start of the review in 2000.

In Scotland, the recommendations were submitted in November 2004, and approved in February 2005. In Wales, the recommendations were submitted on 31 January 2005, and approved on 11 April 2006. In England, the recommendations were submitted on 31 October 2006, and approved on 13 June 2007. In Northern Ireland, the recommendations were submitted on 14 September 2007 and approved on 11 June 2008.

Summary of changes

The nominal results of the 2005 election on the new boundaries (note that Scotland remained the same from 2005).

These were the first major changes to UK Parliamentary constituencies since 1997.

As set out in the approval dates above, the Scottish changes were effective from the 2005 general election. The post-2010 shape of those for the rest of the UK can be viewed alongside those for Scotland of 2005 at United Kingdom Parliament constituencies.

A side effect of reviews is the number of seats won by each party may change (even if all voters repeated their votes at later elections).

The total number of Scottish seats dropped from 72 to 59, due to changes made by the Scotland Act 1998, applying the English electoral quota to Scotland. This had reduced total seats back down from 659 to 646, pending the review of the rest of the UK.

In Wales, changes were made not only to the Westminster constituencies but also to the constituencies and electoral regions of the then National Assembly, which at the time used the same constituency boundaries. This was the first time the Assembly's boundaries were changed. The total number of constituencies remained 40, but entailed radical redrawing in Clwyd and in Gwynedd. Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor Meirionnydd replaced Conwy, Caernarfon and Meirionnydd Nant Conwy respectively. 18 seats were unchanged with only minor changes elsewhere. The boundaries of the Assembly's electoral regions were changed accordingly to reflect constituency changes, thusly the only major changes were to the boundary between North Wales and Mid and West Wales. Per 2006 statistics, Welsh constituencies had on average 16,000 fewer electors than those of England.

In Northern Ireland, the Boundary Commission recommended that the number of seats remained at 18, with minor changes to 12 of these, primarily in the east of the province.

In England, the seats recommended seldom straddle the largest council areas, i.e. counties (metropolitan or otherwise); however they may cross boundaries of unitary authorities. York was consolidated to have two seats, without electoral wards from North Yorkshire. The unitary authorities of Berkshire are represented in Westminster by many cross-authority seats.

The Boundary Commission for England created one extra seat each to represent ten non-metropolitan counties: Cornwall, Derbyshire, Devon, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire; and one covering the area of the former county of Avon. This was partly offset by the abolition of one seat in each of the six metropolitan counties of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, South Yorkshire, West Midlands and West Yorkshire, together with a net loss of one seat in Greater London.

London was reviewed borough-by-borough – some were "paired". This means they see one or more straddling seats. This solution ensures that the sizes of the electorates are not too disparate, in other words, quite fairly apportioned to reflect the adult resident population. Two boroughs lost a seat and one area of central London gained a constituency.

The approved recommendations for the three countries saw a net increase of 4 seats from 646 to 650 (for the 2010 general election).

Detailed changes – England (2010)

New and abolished constituencies

As a result of changes to the names of seats, it is not always easy to clearly identify newly created constituencies or those abolished during the review process. One way of considering this is to link each proposed seat with an existing seat which contributes the most voters to that new seat. Any proposed seat which cannot be linked to an existing seat is then considered to be a "new" constituency. Conversely, any existing seat which is not linked to a proposed seat is considered to have been abolished.

Accordingly, the following seats are regarded as new creations:

• Central Devon
• Chelsea and Fulham
• Chippenham
• Filton and Bradley Stoke
• Kenilworth and Southam
• Meon Valley
• Mid Derbyshire
• Mid Norfolk (as reconfigured)
• South Northamptonshire
• St Austell and Newquay
• Witham
• Wyre and Preston North

NB – the existing seat of Mid Norfolk is succeeded by Broadland (see below) and the reconfigured Mid Norfolk is therefore considered to be a new constituency.

The following constituencies are regarded as having been abolished by the review process:

• Barnsley West and Penistone
• Birmingham Selly Oak (existing configuration)
• Brent East
• Eccles
• Hornchurch
• Knowsley North and Sefton East
• Normanton
• Sunderland South

NB – the proposed constituency of Birmingham Selly Oak is preceded by the existing constituency of Birmingham Hall Green; and, in turn, the proposed constituency of Birmingham Hall Green is preceded by Birmingham Sparkbrook and Small Heath (see below).

Name changes

There was a total of 72 linked constituencies which involved a change of name. A majority of these involved significant changes resulting from the knock-on impact of new or abolished seats within review areas. However, some arose from the consultation process and involved only minor changes. The table below lists those constituencies with name changes, indicating the extent of the changes by reference to the proportion of the old constituency included in the new constituency, or the proportion of the new in the old, which ever is the lesser:

• Minor – greater than 90%
• Moderate – between 75% and 90%
• Major – between 75% and 50%
• Wholesale – less than 50%

County/authority	Old seat	New seat	Extent of change
Barking and Dagenham/Havering	Dagenham	Dagenham and Rainham	Major
	Upminster	Hornchurch and Upminster	Major
Bath and North East Somerset	Wansdyke	North East Somerset	Moderate
Brent/Camden	Brent South	Brent Central	Wholesale
	Hampstead and Highgate	Hampstead and Kilburn	Major
Bromley/Lewisham	Lewisham West	Lewisham West and Penge	Major
Cornwall	Falmouth and Camborne	Camborne and Redruth	Major
	Truro and St Austell	Truro and Falmouth	Major
Derbyshire	West Derbyshire	Derbyshire Dales	Major
Devon	Teignbridge	Newton Abbot	Major
Ealing/Hammersmith	Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush	Ealing Central and Acton	Major
Essex	Basildon	South Basildon and East Thurrock	Major
	Billericay	Basildon and Billericay	Wholesale
	Harwich	Clacton	Moderate
	Maldon and East Chelmsford	Maldon	Major
	North Essex	Harwich and North Essex	Major
	Rayleigh	Rayleigh and Wickford	Major
	West Chelmsford	Chelmsford	Moderate
Gloucestershire	Cotswold	The Cotswolds	Minor
Greater Manchester	Manchester, Blackley	Blackley and Broughton	Major
	Salford	Salford and Eccles	Major
	Worsley	Worsley and Eccles South	Major
Hammersmith and Fulham/ Kensington and Chelsea	Hammersmith and Fulham	Hammersmith	Major
	Kensington and Chelsea	Kensington	Major
Hampshire/Southampton	Romsey	Romsey and Southampton North	Moderate
Harrow/Hillingdon	Ruislip-Northwood	Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner	Major
	Uxbridge	Uxbridge and South Ruislip	Major
Herefordshire/Worcestershire	Hereford	Hereford and South Herefordshire	Minor
	Leominster	North Herefordshire	Moderate
Kensington and Chelsea/ Westminster	Regent's Park and Kensington North	Westminster North	Major
Kent	Gillingham	Gillingham and Rainham	Minor
	Medway	Rochester and Strood	Moderate
Lambeth/Southwark	North Southwark and Bermondsey	Bermondsey and Old Southwark	Minor
Lancashire/Blackpool	Blackpool North and Fleetwood	Blackpool North and Cleveleys	Major
	Lancaster and Wyre	Lancaster and Fleetwood	Major
Leicestershire	Blaby	South Leicestershire	Minor
Merseyside	Crosby	Sefton Central	Major
	Knowsley South	Knowsley	Major
	Liverpool, Garston	Garston and Halewood	Moderate
	St Helens South	St Helens South and Whiston	Moderate
Milton Keynes	North East Milton Keynes	Milton Keynes North	Moderate
	Milton Keynes South West	Milton Keynes South	Moderate
Newham/Tower Hamlets	Poplar and Canning Town	Poplar and Limehouse	Major
Norfolk	Mid Norfolk	Broadland	Major
North Somerset	Woodspring	North Somerset	Minor
North Yorkshire/York	City of York	York Central	Moderate
	Ryedale	Thirsk and Malton	Major
	Selby	Selby and Ainsty	Moderate
	Vale of York	York Central	Wholesale
Plymouth	Plymouth Devonport	Plymouth Moor View	Moderate
	Plymouth Sutton	Plymouth Sutton and Devonport	Moderate
Somerset	Bridgwater	Bridgwater and West Somerset	Minor
	Taunton	Taunton Deane	Minor
South Gloucestershire	Northavon	Thornbury and Yate	Moderate
South Yorkshire	Barnsley East and Mexborough	Barnsley East	Wholesale
	Sheffield, Attercliffe	Sheffield South East	Minor
	Sheffield, Brightside	Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough	Major
	Sheffield, Hillsborough	Penistone and Stocksbridge	Major
	Wentworth	Wentworth and Deane	Moderate
Tyne and Wear	Gateshead East and Washington West	Washington and Sunderland West	Wholesale
	Houghton and Washington East	Houghton and Sunderland South	Major
	Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend	Newcastle upon Tyne East	Major
	Sunderland North	Sunderland Central	Major
	Tyne Bridge	Gateshead	Wholesale
Warwickshire	Rugby and Kenilworth	Rugby	Major
West Midlands	Birmingham, Hall Green	Birmingham, Selly Oak	Wholesale
	Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath	Birmingham, Hall Green	Wholesale
West Yorkshire	Bradford North	Bradford East	Moderate
	Elmet	Elmet and Rothwell	Moderate
	Morley and Rothwell	Morley and Outwood	Major
	Pontefract and Castleford	Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford	Moderate
Wiltshire	Westbury	South West Wiltshire	Moderate

Other major changes

In addition to the changes listed above, the following 45 constituencies were subject to major changes whilst retaining their names.

County/authority	Constituency
Barking and Dagenham/Havering	Barking
Brent/Camden	Brent North
Bristol	Bristol East
	Bristol North West
	Bristol West
Bromley/Lewisham	Beckenham
	Bromley and Chislehurst
	Lewisham East
Cornwall	North Cornwall
Derbyshire	Derby North
	Derby South
Devon	East Devon
	Tiverton and Honiton
Ealing	Ealing, Southall
Essex	Braintree
	Saffron Walden
Greater Manchester	Leigh
	Makerfield
Hampshire	East Hampshire
	North East Hampshire
	Winchester
Harrow/Hillingdon	Harrow West
Lambeth/Southwark	Camberwell and Peckham
Lancashire	Ribble Valley
Newham/Tower Hamlets	West Ham
Norfolk	South West Norfolk
Northamptonshire	Daventry
	Northampton South
South Gloucestershire	Kingswood
South Yorkshire	Barnsley Central
	Doncaster North
	Sheffield Central
	Sheffield, Hallam
Tyne and Wear	Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Warwickshire	Stratford-on-Avon
West Midlands	Birmingham, Hodge Hill
	Birmingham, Ladywood
	Birmingham, Northfield
	Birmingham, Yardley
West Yorkshire	Dewsbury
	Leeds Central
	Leeds East
	Wakefield
Wiltshire	Devizes
	North Wiltshire

Detailed changes – Scotland (2005)

The reduction in the number of seats from 72 to 59, combined with the 1996 reorganisation of local government under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, resulted in a significant reconfiguration of constituencies in Scotland. Only three seats remained unchanged: East Renfrewshire (formerly named Eastwood), and quota-immune Orkney and Shetland, and Na h-Eileanan an Iar (formerly named Western Isles). A further 22 seats were retained with increased electorates of varying amounts, with 47 abolished constituencies being offset by 34 new ones.

No changes were made to the constituencies and electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament, as the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 delinked the constituency from those used for Westminster elections. The first First periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries would be held and its recommendations implemented for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

The table below lists all Scottish seats before and after the redistribution, linking new and abolished seats where applicable, as described above.

Region (before 1996)	Old seat	New seat	Council area
Highland	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Highland
	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	Ross, Skye and Lochaber
Grampian	Moray	Moray	Moray
	Aberdeen North	N/A
	Aberdeen Central	Aberdeen North	Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire
	Aberdeen South	Aberdeen South
	Banff and Buchan	Banff and Buchan
	Gordon	Gordon
	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
Fife	Dunfermline East	N/A
	Dunfermline West	Dunfermline and West Fife	Fife
	Central Fife	Glenrothes
	Kirkcaldy	Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
	North East Fife	North East Fife
Tayside / Central	Angus	Angus	Angus / Dundee
	Dundee East	Dundee East
	Dundee West	Dundee West
	North Tayside	N/A
	Perth	Perth and North Perthshire	Clackmannanshire / Perth and Kinross
	Ochil	Ochil and South Perthshire
	Stirling	Stirling	Stirling
	Falkirk East	N/A
	Falkirk West	Falkirk	Falkirk / West Lothian
Lothian / Borders	Linlithgow	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	Livingston	Livingston
	Edinburgh Central	N/A
	Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	Edinburgh East	Edinburgh
	Edinburgh North and Leith	Edinburgh North and Leith
	Edinburgh Pentlands	Edinburgh South West
	Edinburgh South	Edinburgh South
	Edinburgh West	Edinburgh West
	East Lothian	East Lothian	East Lothian
	Midlothian	Midlothian	Midlothian
	Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	N/A
	Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk	Borders / Dumfries and Galloway / South Lanarkshire
Dumfries and Galloway	Dumfries	Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
	Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	Dumfries and Galloway
Strathclyde	Clydesdale	Lanark and Hamilton East
	East Kilbride	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
	Glasgow Rutherglen	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
	Hamilton South	N/A
	Argyll and Bute	Argyll and Bute	Argyll and Bute
	Dumbarton	West Dunbartonshire	West Dunbartonshire
	Clydebank and Milngavie	N/A
	Strathkelvin and Bearsden	East Dunbartonshire	East Dunbartonshire / North Lanarkshire
	Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East
	Coatbridge and Chryston	Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill
	Airdrie and Shotts	Airdrie and Shotts
	Motherwell and Wishaw	Motherwell and Wishaw
	Hamilton North and Bellshill	N/A
	Glasgow Kelvin	N/A
	Glasgow Anniesland	Glasgow North West	Glasgow
	Glasgow Maryhill	Glasgow North
	Glasgow Springburn	Glasgow North East
	Glasgow Baillieston	Glasgow East
	Glasgow Shettleston	Glasgow Central
	Glasgow Cathcart	Glasgow South
	Glasgow Pollok	Glasgow South West
	Glasgow Govan	N/A
	Greenock and Inverclyde	Inverclyde	Inverclyde
	West Renfrewshire	N/A
	Paisley North	Paisley and Renfrewshire North	Renfrewshire
	Paisley South	Paisley and Renfrewshire South
	Eastwood	East Renfrewshire	East Renfrewshire
	Cunninghame South	N/A
	Cunninghame North	North Ayrshire and Arran	East Ayrshire / North Ayrshire / South Ayrshire
	Kilmarnock and Loudoun	Kilmarnock and Loudoun
	Ayr	Central Ayrshire
	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
Orkney Islands / Shetland Islands	Orkney and Shetland	Orkney and Shetland	Orkney Islands / Shetland Islands
Western Isles	Western Isles	Na h-Eileanan an Iar	Na h-Eileanan Siar

See also

• 2023 review of Westminster constituencies (next review to have its recommendations implemented)
• 2018 periodic review of Westminster constituencies (recommendations never implemented)
• 2013 periodic review of Westminster constituencies (recommendations never implemented)
• Fourth periodic review of Westminster constituencies (previous review)
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

References

1. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 2005", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2005/250
2. "The Parliamentary Constituencies and Assembly Electoral Regions (Wales) Order 2006", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2006/1041
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2007/1681
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2008/1486
5. Denver, David (14 April 2005). "Election set to test new limits". London: BBC News.

Footnotes

1. From 1922 to 1945 the number of seats was 615. It rose from 635 to 650 in 1983 and incrementally rose to 659 for the years 1997 to 2005.

Bibliography

• Fifth Periodical Report, Boundary Commission for England, ISBN 0-10-170322-8. Contains list of boundary changes in England.
• Fifth Periodical Report, Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland, ISBN 978-0-10-173212-3. Contains list of boundary changes in Northern Ireland.
• Fifth Periodical Report, Boundary Commission for Scotland, ISBN 9780101642729. Contains list of boundary changes in Scotland
• Fifth Periodical Report, Boundary Commission for Wales, ISBN 0-10-293660-9. Contains list of boundary changes in Wales.