Parliamentary boundary changes: Black Country and Staffordshire could lose two seats - with Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell all affected
The Black Country and Staffordshire could lose two Parliamentary seats under proposals to redraw constituency boundaries.
Across the region a total of 10 seats will change name, while all but three constituencies will see their make-ups revised by the Boundary Commission.
It comes as the commission opened its third and final consultation on the changes, for after the next General Election.
Parliament has vowed to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600, and to ensuring the number of voters in each area is more evenly balanced, with between 72,000 and 78,000 constituents. Under the proposals Dudley North and Dudley South will be scrapped.
And the current Dudley South constituency will include the bulk of the old Dudley South seat held by Conservative MP Mike Wood.
Dudley North will be abolished, with parts of it going into Dudley and others into the new Wolverhampton South and Coseley, the majority of which is the Wolverhampton South East seat currently held by Labour MP Pat McFadden. That seat will lose Blakenhall to the new Wolverhampton West seat, and gain the Dudley Council wards of Upper Gornal and Sedgley. Wolverhampton West – which replaces the city’s South West seat held by Labour’s Eleanor Smith – will also gain Oxley and Bushbury North, expanding voters to 77,373.
Emma Reynolds’ Wolverhampton North East seat will become Wolverhampton East and Willenhall, gaining the three Walsall wards of Short Heath, Willenhall North and Willenhall South. The Walsall North and South seats will disappear, with a new Walsall and Oscott ward taking in parts of both old constituencies and Birmingham’s Oscott ward.
Aldridge-Brownhills will take in Bloxwich from Walsall North. A Darlaston and Tipton ward has also been proposed. In Sandwell, parts of West Bromwich East and West will be split across a new West Bromwich seat.
Initial plans to ditch Halesowen and Rowley Regis have been scrapped and the constituency will remain. The majority of Cannock Chase, South Staffordshire and Wyre Forest will remain unchanged, while the bulk of Bill Cash’s Stone seat will be incorporated into a new constituency called Stoke-on-Trent South and Stone. The final proposals are due to be submitted to Parliament in September 2018.
To view the full plans and take part in the consultation, visit: www.bce2018.org.uk
The current 19 seats
Dudley North
Dudley South
Stourbridge
Halesowen and Rowley Regis
Walsall North
Walsall South
Aldridge-Brownhills
Wolverhampton North East
Wolverhampton South East
Wolverhampton South West
Warley
West Bromwich East
West Bromwich West
Cannock Chase
Stafford
South Staffordshire
Stone
Lichfield
Wyre Forest
The proposed new 17 seats
Dudley
Stourbridge
Warley
Halesowen and RR
West Bromwich
Darlaston and Tipton
Aldridge, Brownhills and Bloxwich
Walsall and Oscott
Wolverhampton East and Willenhall
Wolverhampton South and Coseley
Wolverhampton West
Cannock Chase
Lichfield
South Staffordshire
Stafford
Stoke-on-Trent South and Stone
Wyre Forest