Boundary Commission publishes recommendations to remove Meon Valley

This follows the submission of its final recommendations report to the Speaker of the House of Commons yesterday, and that report is now being laid before Parliament.

In April, Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond lost a vote to be the MP for the newly formed Fareham and Waterlooville seat to Suella Braverman.

The commission is trying to make all constituencies across the UK more equal in size.

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The Winchester constituency will take a part of both the Fareham and Meon Valley constituencies whilst losing Chandler's Ford to Eastleigh. It recreates the constituency when Winchester was held by Lib Dem Mark Oaten until 2010.

In the Boundary Commission's report, it said: “In order to reduce the electorate of the Eastleigh and Fareham constituencies, we proposed a Hedge End constituency comprising areas around the River Hamble, including Titchfield, Shedfield, and Bursledon. We also proposed a Fareham and Waterlooville constituency which included the eponymous towns and rural areas of the lower Meon Valley between the two. Our proposed Winchester constituency extended further south than the existing constituency, to include the remainder of the City of Winchester local authority.

“Our final recommendations in Hampshire are therefore for constituencies of: Aldershot; Basingstoke; East Hampshire; Eastleigh; Fareham and Waterlooville; Gosport; Hamble Valley; Havant; New Forest East; New Forest West; North East Hampshire; North West Hampshire; Portsmouth North; Portsmouth South; Romsey and Southampton North; Southampton Itchen; Southampton Test; and Winchester.”

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Secretary to the commission, Tim Bowden, said: “The recommendations we have published today mark the end of a thorough and consultative process to build the new map of Parliamentary constituencies. We have taken into account over 60,000 public comments, travelled the country, and heard many passionate views about how best to reflect local community ties in our recommendations. We are confident that our final recommendations are the best reflection of the statutory rules Parliament has set us. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has participated in the 2023 Boundary Review.”

The Government now has four months to bring forward an Order to give effect to the final recommendations.

The final recommendations can be viewed on the Commission’s website at boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/.

Danny Chambers, Lib Dem MP candidate for Winchester, said: "This is good news for the local Liberal Democrats. We made significant gains in the Meon Valley in May due to the hard work of our local councillors and campaigners who knocked on thousands of doors, providing a sensible and greener alternative to the Tories.

"With inflation soaring and sewage spilling into our rivers after years of Tory government, we will continue to earn the trust of local people who have been let down and want a change.

"As a local vet I spend much of my time in the Meon Valley which makes up a large proportion of the rural areas in the new Winchester constituency."