The government has set up a Boundaries Commission to redraw constituency boundaries to make them more equal in size, between 70,000 and 80,000 voters, and reduce the total number of MP’s to 600. The North West England Region will lose seven constituencies.
The Commissioners first shot at redrawing the patchwork means almost every constituency has been changed, none more than our own. Oldham East and Saddleworth no longer, they propose that Saddleworth should be combined with central Oldham.
A big change from the old Colne Valley constituency, linking Slaithwaite and Marsden to Saddleworth for 100 years, or the short lived Littleborough and Saddleworth constituency. This latest reconfiguration will mean rural Saddleworth will always have its MP elected by votes cast in some of the most urbanised wards in the country.
If no one comes up with a better solution this is how it will be at the next General Election.
The Commissioners are coming to Manchester on the 11-12th October to hear alternative suggestions, which can come from councils, local groups or individuals. The whole of the North West Region is being looked at, but Saddleworth suffers by being on the border with the Yorkshire and Humber region. They are very reluctant to see a new constituency straddling the regional boundary, so the options are severely limited. Moving just one ward from one constituency to another, so they both fall within the upper and lower limits for numbers of electors, can cause a ripple effect across a number of constituencies, which then have also to be adjusted.
The alternative set of revised constituencies now being put forward by Saddleworth Parish Council will place Saddleworth at the centre of a new rural ‘South Pennines’ constituency, consisting of small towns and villages nestling in the folds of the Pennines. We want our MP to concentrate on our problems, not be swamped by the quite different needs of the wards clustered round Oldham town centre.
We believe that our alternative proposals will also give a better result than the Commissioners original suggestions for the rest of Oldham Metropolitan Borough. Under their scheme, the other parts of the borough would become minor parts of new constituencies centred on Ashton, Middleton and Rochdale.
All the constituencies shown on our alternative map meet the criteria set by the Commissioners, and no further constituencies are affected by the creation of this new South Pennine constituency.
And we know that boundary commissioners do listen! Some years ago, Saddleworth White Rose Society’s suggestions regarding local ward boundaries in Saddleworth were accepted.
We will be presenting our case at the Manchester meeting with the full version containing more detail going on to the Commissioners for their consideration.
Once this round of consultations ends in December 2011, the Commissioners will put out a revised constituency map for the North West and invite further comments before they make their final recommendations to Parliament in October 2012.
Political party considerations have not influenced the way these alternative new constituencies have been constructed. It is not possible to forecast which party would win a General Election in the proposed South Pennines constituency.

My Comments:

The Commissioners are coming to Manchester on the 11-12th October to hear alternative suggestions, which can come from councils, local groups or individuals. The whole of the North West Region is being looked at, Others can go and voice thier opinions at the event too. Any support from local residents, organisations or assosiations would be welcomed either at the Manchester event or online at http://consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/