MP launches campaign to save the name of The Wrekin constituency

Under proposals published by the Boundary Commission for England last week, The Wrekin constituency would remain largely in its current form except for the addition of the wards of Hodnet and Cheswardine.

However, the Boundary Commission for England has proposed that the new, larger constituency should be called Newport and Wellington.

Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard has written to all local town and parish councils, and to the leaders of Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council, to ask them to consider supporting his campaign to keep the name the same.

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Mr Pritchard said: “The Wrekin parliamentary constituency is over a century old, and it puts Shropshire’s most famous landmark on the Westminster and Whitehall map.

"Wellington and Newport are important market towns in the current and proposed future parliamentary constituency, which is excellent news, but the new parliamentary boundaries also include the historic and sizeable parishes of Hodnet and Cheswardine.

"The proposed new name also fails to recognise Shifnal or Albrighton and does nothing to encompass those parts of The Wrekin constituency which fall under the auspices of Shropshire Council rather than Telford and Wrekin Council.

"I believe it is in the best interests of all my constituents, current and future, that the parliamentary constituency name does not overlook large parts of the constituency but instead brings communities together."

The changes centre on all of Shropshire’s five parliamentary constituencies – North Shropshire, Shrewsbury and Atcham, Telford, The Wrekin, and Ludlow.

Under the Boundary Commission plans, which aim to make sure all constituencies have between 69,724 and 77,062 electors, only the Telford constituency sees no significant change.

Shrewsbury and Atcham will become just ‘Shrewsbury’, while Ludlow becomes ‘Ludlow and Bridgnorth’.

The detail of the proposals will see the Ludlow constituency stretching north to take both the Shropshire wards of Burnell and Severn Valley from the existing Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.

The move is to bring the size of the Shrewsbury electorate down, as it currently stands at over 80,000.

North Shropshire will lose Hodnet and Cheswardine, which will go into the new Wellington and Newport constituency – taking with it the Clive Barracks at Tern Hill which falls just on the Wellington and Newport side of the new border.

Again the proposal is being made because of the size of the North Shropshire constituency, which is close to 84,000.

Members of the public can submit their views on the proposed changes to the Boundary Commission for England through a consultation portal at bcereviews.org.uk.

The deadline for submissions is August 2.