NI Constituencies Reduced

New rules introduced by Parliament earlier this year, will reduce the number of parliamentary constituencies across the UK.

In Northern Ireland, the decrease will be from 18 seats to 16 at the next Westminster elections, expected in 2015.

This will mean redrawing the existing constituency boundaries, however the new rules allow for a wider range in NI, from 70,583 to 80,473.

The Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland, which is responsible for reviewing Northern Ireland's constituency boundaries, will put its final recommendations to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by 1 October 2013.

Secretary to the Commission, Liz Benson, commented: "With the new rules placing great emphasis on broadly achieving equal numbers of electors in each constituency, the review will result in significant changes. The next step in the process will be the publication of the Commission's provisional proposals for the new boundaries for public consultation towards the end of the year.

"The proposals will be fully available for comment by everyone with an interest and the consultation process will include a number of public hearings," she said.

Across the UK, the number of constituencies is being reduced from 650 to 600: in England 533 constituencies will be reduced to 502; in Scotland 52 in place of the current 59 and in Wales 30 in place of the current 40.

The new rules mean that in most of the UK the electorate of each constituency will have to be within 5% of the electoral quota (76,641.2). The smallest permitted electorate in any constituency will be 72,810 and the largest 80,473.

See: boundarycommission.org.uk

(JG/GK)