Ministers urged to ditch plans to cut number of MPs

The Boundary Commission’s proposed map of parliamentary constituencies would see the Black Country and Staffordshire lose two seats overall, while 10 would be altered significantly.

Politicians from across the region - and across the political divide - have criticised the changes, with the plans for Dudley described as a ‘complete dog’s breakfast’.

Labour and the Lib Dems say the revisions are a ploy to boost the chances of the Tories winning the next General Election.

A number of the proposals, which have been revised from last year’s initial plans following a consultation, have been questioned by MPs.

They include plans to create a new Walsall seat that features the Birmingham ward Oscott, and a new Sandwell seat that contains part of Dudley town centre.

Brierley Hill is set to be split into half, and a new West Bromwich constituency will be home to 17,000 residents of Birmingham’s Handswood Wood ward.

Meanwhile a new seat, Darlaston and Tipton, will take in parts of Sandwell and Walsall.

Dudley North is one of six Black Country seats that will disappear under the plans.

Labour MP Ian Austin, who has held the seat since 2005, said is was laughable that the commission was proposing to put Upper Gornal and Gornal into two different constituencies.

“It is bad enough that the whole thing is a politically motivated fiddle to help the Tories, but the proposals for Dudley are a complete dog’s breakfast,” he added.

The majority of Conservative MP Mike Wood’s Dudley South will be incorporated into a new Dudley seat under the plans, although part of Brierley Hill would be lost to Stourbridge.

Mr Wood said: “The new plans are a step forward but could still be improved. It is unfortunate that the commission appears to have missed the opportunity to go back to more traditional boundaries such as Dudley East and Dudley West.

“It seems illogical to split Gornal away from Upper Gornal and Sedgley.”

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant hit out a proposals for his constituency that would see one the cathedral city’s railway station platforms come under Tamworth.

Lichfield would lose Streethay and Whittington and gain the Haywoods villages and Hixon from Stafford.

He said: “I am very disappointed with this decision. It cuts a corner of Lichfield off with the nonsense of the London platform of Lichfield Trent Valley Station being moved to Tamworth while the Manchester and Crewe platform will remain in Lichfield.

“How I would have been able to argue for the lifts to be fitted at the Lichfield Trent Valley with my only having responsibility for half the station, I do not know.”

The lifts at Trent Valley are due be installed next year, whilst the boundary changes have to be approved by Parliament before coming into effect at the next General Election.

Both Walsall North and Walsall South will go under the plans, which will see Bloxwich incorporated into Wendy Morton’s Aldridge-Brownhills seat.

A new Darlaston and Tipton seat would contain Great Bridge, part of Greets Green and Lyng, Princes End, Tipton Green, Wednesbury North and South, Bentley and Darlaston North, Darlaston South and Pleck.

Labour's Walsall South MP Valerie Vaz said: "I am disappointed that the Boundary Commission does not appear to have taken into consideration the views of myself and my constituents. I don't understand why Oscott is linked to Walsall and clearly the Boundary Commission is still constrained by legislation that does not allow it to look at the most up to date electoral register.

"I don't thin k the Government should be wasting time on artificially bringing down the number of MPs."

Eddie Hughes, the Conservative MP for Walsall North, said that although he agreed that constituency sizes should be evened up, he was 'disappointed' with the commission's latest plans. "I will just keep doing the best for my constituents," he added.

However, the changes have been welcomed by Darlaston South’s Labour councillor Doug James. He said: “I am pleased that Darlaston has been recognised in the revised constituencies.

“It reconfirms our links with Wednesbury and puts our name up in lights. It is important that we are not part of Walsall and Wolverhampton.”

The Boundary Commission has been told by the Government to find a way of reducing the number of MPs 600 from 650, and to ensure that the number of electors in each constituency is roughly equal.

It insists that the only way to achieve this is to create constituencies which cross local authority boundaries.

However, it is questionable whether the proposals - which are said to have already cost up to £10 million - will ever pass through Parliament.

Labour’s Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said he did not expect the changes to ever go ahead, partly because they were ‘unwanted’ by the public.

Meanwhile Paul Butters, a spokesman for the Lib Dems in the Black Country, said: “This review is liked by Tory MPs because they are only people who gain out of it.

“Not the public, them. I can tell you now this won’t get through Parliament in any shape or form. This plan was a waste of taxpayers cash and is a dead as a dodo.”

The review has now been put to its third and final consultation, which runs up to December 11.