Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Are the boundary reforms really good for democracy?

One of the big political rows of the autumn will be over the proposed changes to constituency boundaries. Labour is unhappy about this (and everything else) because the proposed changes could lose the party around 30 seats which it could ill afford at the best of times. And this is the worst of times. But though the recalculation will help the Tories, there are nerves about whether every Conservative MP who wants to stay in Parliament will be guaranteed a seat.

There are also grumblings that this change is not being proposed alongside a reduction in the number of ministers, which will make the executive loom even more powerful in Parliament, thereby weakening the legislature’s ability to scrutinise and hold ministers to account. Neither are there any plans to reduce the number of peers, which means the elected House of Commons will shrink while the unelected House of Lords remains bloated.

Since the legislation which allows the government to reduce the number of parliamentary constituencies from 650 to 600, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act, passed, 144 new peerages have been created, taking the number of peers currently eligible to sit in the House of Lords to 796.

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Though the Conservatives have made some changes which can help cut the number of peers, such as the ability to take voluntary retirement, there are currently no plans to force a reduction.

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