Residents in Burnham-On-Sea, Highbridge, Berrow and Brean are set to vote in the newly-formed Bridgwater constituency at the next general election.
The Boundary Commission for England is proposing changes to boundary lines across Somerset as part of its plans to redraw the UK’s parliamentary constituency lines ahead of the next general election, which must be held by January 2025.
Three rounds of public consultation have been held and the final proposals have been presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle MP.
Parliament has four months to formally consider and appove the changes, meaning the new boundaries will take affect at any general election called after November 1st.
Burnham and Highbridge will be included in the new Bridgwater seat, shown above, but nearby parishes such as Brent Knoll, Burnham Without and Mark will remain in the Wells constituency seat.
Bridgwater’s current MP Ian Liddell-Grainger will not be the MP for the new constituency, as we first reported here, since he will be standing for election in the new Tiverton and Minehead constituency instead.
The new Bridgwater seat is being seen as a three-way marginal, with Labour traditionally polling well in Bridgwater, the Liberal Democrats recently making gains in North Petherton and Burnham-On-Sea, and the Conservatives hoping to do well in rural areas.
Somerset Council’s area is currently split up into five constituencies – Bridgwater and West Somerset, Somerton and Frome, Taunton Deane, Wells and Yeovil.
Under the proposals, the total number of overall seats in the House of Commons will remain at 650 but the number of constituencies will increase from 533 to 543. The new boundaries are designed to make representation more equal, with each of the new seats having a population of between 69,724 and 77,062 people.
