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Electoral Administration Bill

I used to think about this when I was a Member of Parliament. There is some merit in the amendment. It only says ““have regard to””; it is not an absolute requirement that constituencies be equally based. I remember when my constituency was substantially increased in size—bigger than other constituencies in the county. It meant taking in areas as part of attempt to create more balance, but my area lost out and became almost unmanageable. There is an argument for greater consistency in numbers of constituents. I remember going to a particular Boundary Commission inquiry in 1983, during the course of which it became quite clear that the Boundary Commission did not have constituent numbers in mind. They were prepared to protect much smaller constituencies within Cumbria, and load the weighting on to other areas. I always thought that was wrong. There should be a little bit more guidance in the law, aiming them towards greater equity in the number of constituents.