Last week, the Boundary Commission published its proposed new parliamentary constituency boundaries. This has come as a result of a couple of things. The first being that parliament decided a few years ago that we needed to trim down the size of the chamber from 650 MPs to 600. But it was also the case that there are some large variations in sixes of constituencies. The Isle of White, for example, has 110,000 voters. However, Orkney and Shetland has just 32,000 voters. Obvious geographical considerations aside, how is it right that the island dwellers of Scotland have nearly four times the democratic influence than the island dwellers in England? I use extreme examples to make a point, but here in Wyre Forest we have 77,800 electors, whilst Edgbaston has 69,000, and Erdington has 67,000. Just because you live in Birmingham doesn’t mean you should enjoy greater electoral influence than semi-rural Wyre Forest.

The previous boundary suggestions were vetoed by the Liberal Democrats who, in a fit of pique over their demands to reform the House of Lords being rejected, refused to back boundary changes. Their response, ironically, when the electorate decided that 56 of them was just too many and returned just 8 after the last election, was to pack the House of Lords with unelected Liberal Democrats. Ever since, unelected Lib Dem peers have decided that a mandate of just 2.4 million votes gives them the right to try to block a democratically elected government’s manifesto pledges. But I digress.

The boundary changes being proposed are all about making sure that people in places like Wyre Forest are not disadvantaged over people in Orkney and Shetland. In slashing MP numbers to 600, we also ensure that voters are given equality. For us in Wyre Forest, there is limited change. Because we fit rather neatly inside the boundary of the Wyre Forest District Council, we have very little change so not much will happen. Our voter numbers are a little lower that optimal so the parish of Hartlebury will be brought within the constituency (but will stay within Wychavon District Council).

It makes sense. The two main local towns for Hartlebury residents are Kidderminster and Stourport, but aside from who they vote for at general elections, little will change. The proposals are just that – not set in stone, but what has been proposed for us here looks eminently sensible.