Irwin Armstrong, chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservatives, has welcomed “real progress” toward cutting the number of MPs at Westminster, after the boundary commission in Northern Ireland released its plans for a new electoral map.
“It’s hugely important to iron out some of the anomalies which Westminster constituencies throw up nationally and attempt to make the number of voters represented by each MP relatively uniform. The government’s electoral reforms will make the House of Commons more representative and save the public some £12 million, by cutting the total number of MPs.”
“Yesterday the boundary commissions in England and Northern Ireland published their provisional proposals for a redrawn electoral map, so real progress is now being made towards delivering much needed change.”
“It is suggested that the number of constituencies in Northern Ireland should fall from 18 to 16, which would mean 2 fewer MPs and 12 fewer Assembly members. That has got to be a move in the right direction - toward more streamlined government and better value for money.”
“Over the next while we’ll be taking the opportunity to peruse the commission’s plans in detail. It’s certainly important to better, more democratic constituencies, but it’s also important that we get the new boundaries right. They should make sense in terms of geography, local identity and a shared future for Northern Ireland.”
“We’ll be taking the opportunity to make a submission to the Boundary Commission’s consultation, which closes on Friday 2nd December. We’d encourage anyone with an interest in the future of Northern Ireland to do the same.”