Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill — Second Reading — 18 Nov 2016 at 13:33

The majority of MPs taking part voted to keep the number of MPs at 650, and permit 5% more flexibility in the variation of the number of electors per constituency.

MPs were considering the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill^[1]

The Bill provides for^[2]:

• 650 MPs in the House of Commons (which would reverse the reduction to 600 members provided for in Section 11 of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 but which had not taken effect at the time of this vote).
• Increasing the flexibility permitted in the size of the electorate in most constituencies from 5% to 10% of the average (excepting four island seats).
• Requiring the calculation of the size of the total electorate to be based on registers of parliamentary electors published in or after 2017.
• Requiring the Boundary Commissions to complete their reviews of parliamentary boundaries by 1 October 2018 and thereafter to carry out reviews every ten years.

The motion supported by the majority of MPs in this vote was:

• That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Support from the majority of MPs meant this bill continued on its path to becoming law.

• [1] Parliament's webpage on the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill
• [2] Explanatory notes to the Parliamentary Constituencies (Amendment) Bill - Overview

Debate in Parliament |