Parliamentary Boundary Review 2023

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The Boundary Commission for England has concluded the 2023 Review of Parliamentary constituencies in England, and submitted their final report and recommendations.   

The Orders which give effect to the boundary changes are due to be made by 1 November 2023. The new constituencies will take effect at the next UK Parliamentary general election, which could be called at any time before January 2025.

Full details of the 2023 Review timetable, the Final Report and maps of the proposals are available on the Boundary Commission for England website.

For the district, the review has recommended that North Kesteven is split between three constituencies of ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’, ‘Grantham and Bourne’ and ‘Lincoln’.

This means the following wards and parishes will be in different constituency areas

  1. Skellingthorpe & Eagle Ward – From this District Ward Skellingthorpe parish only will form part of the ‘Lincoln constituency’. The remaining parishes in the Skellingthorpe & Eagle District Ward, namely the parishes of Doddington and Whisby, Eagle and Swinethorpe and North Scarle, will remain in the ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’ constituency.
  2. Waddington Rural Ward - Waddington parish will be split, with Waddington East parish ward in the ‘Lincoln’ constituency and the Waddington West parish ward remaining in the ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’ constituency. The other two parishes within the Waddington Rural District Ward, namely the parishes of Harmston and Coleby, will also remain in the ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’ constituency.
  3. Bracebridge Heath Ward - Bracebridge Heath District Ward, which is made up of Bracebridge Heath parish, will sit within the ‘Lincoln’ constituency in its entirety.
  4. Cranwell, Leasingham & Wilsford Ward - From this District Ward the parishes of Wilsford and Culverthorpe and Kelby only will become part of the ‘‘Grantham and Bourne’ constituency. The remaining parishes within the Cranwell, Leasingham & Wilsford District Ward, namely the parishes of Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byards Leap, Leasingham and Roxholm, North and South Rauceby will remain in the ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’ constituency.
  5. Heckington Rural Ward - All parishes within this District Ward will move to the ‘Grantham and Bourne’ constituency; namely the parishes of Burton Pedwardine and Burton Gorse, Great Hale, Heckington and Little Hale.
  6. Helpringham and Osbournby Ward - All parishes within this District Ward will move to the ‘Grantham and Bourne’ constituency; namely the parishes of Aswarby and Swarby, Aunsby and Dembleby, Helpringham, Newton and Haceby, Osbournby, Scredington, Silk Willoughby, Swaton, Threekingham and Walcot near Folkingham.

Aside from the areas mentioned above all other parishes and wards within North Kesteven will remain within the ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’ constituency.

What was the purpose of the 2023 review?

Parliament asked the BCE to rebalance the number of electors in each constituency, as due to population changes since the last review, the number of electors in some constituencies was currently much higher than in others. The number of constituencies in England also had to increase from 533 to 543. The new map of constituencies proposed by the Commission therefore has significant changes.

The 2023 Boundary Review has made sure that all Parliamentary constituencies will have roughly the same number of electors, within 5% of the same total. This means that each MP will represent between 69,724 and 77,062 (with the only exception being two ‘protected’ constituencies for the Isle of Wight). The ‘Sleaford and North Hykeham’ constituency will have an electorate of 73,380.

The review used district wards as building blocks to make constituencies. For the first time in this type of review it included use of boundaries that were legally ‘made’ by 1 December 2020, even though not yet implemented at a subsequent election. However in North Kesteven, the district wards changed on 4 May 2023 due to an Electoral Review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. As they were not legally made until September 2021 they were not considered in the 2023 Review.

accordion | some faqs parliamentary boundary review 2023

Some FAQs

Will the changes affect my local council services, bin collections or schools, for example?

No. The boundary changes only relate to Parliamentary constituencies (the area an MP is elected to represent in Parliament). Services and council tax in your local area are set by your local authority and this review does not change local authority boundaries.

When will the new constituencies take effect?

The Boundary Commission for England has now submitted their final recommendations for the whole of England to the Speaker of the House of Commons, which contain a description of the review in each region, a textual description of all the final recommendations, and a set of maps to illustrate the existing boundaries and those proposed by the final recommendations. The Boundary Commissions for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have done the same.

The procedure to subsequently implement new constituencies is the responsibility of the Government.  The Government is required to draft an Order that gives effect to all four Commission’s recommendations. After the Privy Council approves the Order (by 1 November 2023), the new constituencies will take effect at the next General Election. Any Parliamentary by-elections held before the Order is approved would have to be held on the basis of the old (existing) constituencies.

Will the name of my constituency change following the review?

The 'Sleaford and North Hykeham' and 'Lincoln' constituencies have not changed their names. Part of the North Kesteven district will now become part of the 'Grantham and Bourne' constituency, which was previously named the 'Grantham and Stamford' constituency.

Who conducted this review?

The Boundary Commission for England has carried out the 2023 review. There is a Boundary Commission for each of the four parts of the UK, which each determine the constituency boundaries in their area. A statutory formula is applied to the electorate figures to share out the 650 constituencies across the four countries of the UK and all regions.