Voting in Central Beds to change at general election with new Hitchin constituency
The boundary change is likely to be caused by an increase in population across Bedfordshire, according to an Elections Manager
A boundary change in Central Bedfordshire will now see a number residents represented in a new constituency, which will include voters in parts of the county and its neighbouring county Hertfordshire.
The Boundary Commission for England evaluates constituencies every five years to determine if a change of boundary is needed to better represent voters.
Every MP should represent a certain amount of voters, however, Central Bedfordshire has a larger proportion of voters than most.
This led to the creation of a new Hitchin constituency, and slight changes to the names of other constituencies across Bedfordshire.
Elections Manager for Central Bedfordshire, Claire Carpenter, said: "The Boundary Commission who do the boundary analysis set up a number of different factors and ideally it should be within a county boundary, but as you would see from ours it doesn't quite work but it should be about community interest and community identity."
"They take the number of electorate across the country and then the idea is that you should have a median amount of electors per constituency and I think it's somewhere around the 75,000."
"It is done ideally to try and make sure there is no gerrymandering and that is the background around it, that it is truly representational of the people, proportionate and fair."
The October by-election saw the total electorate set around 93,000 voters, which no longer fits within the median amount of voters per MP.
The new Hitchin constituency will therefore see a number of voters previously included within the Central Bedfordshire electorate vote for an MP who will represent them and a number of voters in North Hertfordshire, as a cross-county parliamentary representative.
The reason for the change is likely to be caused by an increase in population across Bedfordshire, which Ms Carpenter suggested.
She said: "I think what what they are trying to do is just people keep parity with the number of electors that each MP has, and as you know in the South and Southeast development is massive."
Is it likely to cause other changes?
Ms Carpenter was clear: everything is to remain the same, apart from the constituency in which some of the electorate will be voting.
The change is to affect the next general election only; no other elections or any other council services.
The boundary change could further be re-evaluated by the Boundary Commission in the next five years, which could lead to another change in the future.
Voters should, however, remain cautious when applying for postal vote, as Ms Carpenter pointed out.
She said: "Residents will have to deal with North Herts for this election, they'll have to get their postal votes from them, although they'll apply to me to have a postal vote."
Voters are further reminded to bring an ID to vote when the date for the upcoming general election is set.