The initially battle of the new parliament is already well under way

UNTIL it was abolished by the Reform Act of 1832, the “rotten borough” of Ancient Sarum elected two MPs including fewer than a dozen registered voters. If you believe Labour bigwigs, those days are back. The government proposes to redraw constituencies to make them much more equal in terms of voter population, and to shrink the House of Commons from 650 to 600 members. To make constituencies including around 75,000 voters, bits would be chopped off giant seats such as the Isle of Wight (which has more than 100,000 voters currently), while sparsely peopled rural seats in places like Wales would be merged. A handful of (mostly Liberal Democrat) constituencies in the Scottish Highlands would be exempted.

In order to have new boundaries ready for the next general appointment, the government would crumb the formal broadcast inquiries including the intention of have dragged out previous boundary reviews for years. In response Labour frontbenchers talk of the “worst kind of gerrymandering” and of abuses to rival rotten boroughs. …

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