Bletchley to stay in MK South as Tory boundary changes plan is defeated
Iain Stewart could have seen half his constituency shift to Buckingham if boundary change plans had been passed
PLANS to redraw constituency boundaries which would have seen Bletchley split in two, with half the town falling under the constituency of Buckingham, have been defeated.
Within the last hour the Government’s proposals were defeated in the House of Commons.
MPs voted by 334 to 292 to accept changes made by peers, meaning the planned constituency shake-up will be postponed until 2018 at the earliest.
Liberal Democrat ministers voted with Labour against their Conservative coalition colleagues.
In 2011, Parliament had agreed in principle to reduce the number of MPs and redraw the electoral map to make constituencies roughly the same size in terms of voters.
The number of MPs sitting in Parliament would have been reduced from 650 to 600 as a result.
But arguments prompted by last year’s Tory decision to drop plans for elections to the House of Lords have resulted in the Lib Dems blocking the move.
The changes would have seen Bletchley split between Milton Keynes and Buckingham, with current Milton Keynes South MP Iain Stewart’s seat potentially most at risk. But today’s result will mean the next general election, scheduled for 2015, will be fought along the same boundaries as the 2010 campaign.
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 15 C
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