The Boundary Commission for England has revealed the proposed changes to Westminster constituency seats, and whilst there is only the loss of one seat in the South East GOR and it’s the high-profile Green seat of Caroline Lucas Green in Brighton Pavillion, there are other significant changes elsewhere – like in Wealden District.

Wealden District council is geographically a large council covering Uckfield, Crowborough, Hailsham, Heathfield, Polegate, Forest Row, Wadhurst and Pevensey. The current Wealden seat covers broadly the same area. Under the boundary change proposals, the three big towns (Uckfield, Crowborough and Hailsham) would be represented by three different MPs:-

• Bexhill CC would cover parts of Lewes district and Wealden including Heathfield, Hailsham and Polegate.
• The Weald CC would cover Battle, Hawkhurst, Rother Levels, Cranbrook and Paddock Wood taking on Crowborough, Wadhurst and Mayfield.
• Uckfield CC would take almost half the current electorate of the Wealden constituency and the remainder coming from Lewes district. It would include Forest Row, Hartfield, Buxted, Maresfield, Framfield, Nutley, Newick, Ringmer, East Hoathly, Horam, Hellingly, Seaford, Newhaven and Friston.

The Guardian’s initial data analysis on proposed boundary changes suggests that whilst great swathes of the South East would still be coloured Tory blue, the Uckfield CC would be a lot closer to turning Lib Dem yellow – less than 4,000 votes compared to Wealden’s 2010 difference of 16,000 votes. In comparison, the Lib Dems fight a very serious campaign in Mid Sussex where the difference in 2010 was 7,000 votes.

That’s a pretty big shake-up of the Wealden District. Whilst local authorities don’t always mirror Westminster seats, this looks quite a radical departure and one wonders whether a shake-up of local authority boundaries is in the offing as well.

ABBStract Data Services can provide further data analysis for your specific needs.

Tags: Crowborough, Hailsham, Lewes, Sussex, Uckfield, UK