Shropshire could lose MP in boundary changes

SHROPSHIRE COULD lose an MP under plans to redraw constituencies and cut the number of Commons seats from 650 to 600.

The coalition Government wants all constituencies to contain about 75,000 voters and says boundaries will be redrawn by the Boundary Commission in time for the next election in 2015.

The Electoral Reform Society has now released its own map of possible new parliamentary constituencies.

Under its scheme the county's five current constituencies - Telford, The Wrekin, North Shropshire, Ludlow and Shrewsbury & Atcham - would be renamed and reduced to just four.

Oswestry & Market Drayton would be made up of all the present North Shropshire electoral wards, plus parts of The Wrekin.

Shrewsbury and Bayston Hill would comprise parts of the existing Shrewsbury & Atcham and Ludlow constituencies.

Parts of The Wrekin, Ludlow and Telford would be served by an MP for Madeley & Bridgnorth.

And, a new seat called Telford Dawley & Oakengates/Donnington would also be created.

But Telford Labour MP David Wright said: "The speculative proposals by the Electoral Society are nonsense - and the danger with the Government's approach is that local communities will not be allowed to have any input in the process.

"That is appalling, and that is the crucial issue - so much for the coalition's commitment to listening to local people," he added.

Shrewsbury and Atcham Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski said it would be "an outrage and simply unacceptable" to cut the number of seats in Shropshire.

"The county is actually under-represented in Parliament," he said.

"If you compare the sizes of the Shropshire seats they are vastly bigger in size than most of the Welsh and inner-city area seats."

He added: "I am sure that all Shropshire MPs will work together to fight cuts to any seats in the county."

Ludlow MP Philip Dunne said he supported a reduction in the number of MPs to make Parliament "a fitter, leaner place".

But added: "I am firmly of the view that Shropshire deserves five MPs. The county's growing population justifies five MPs."

By London Reporter Sunita Patel