Key Facts

• Jacob Rees-Mogg apologises for standing in for the Minister for the Constitution and Devolution.
• The Minister, Chloe Smith, is suffering from bad ill health.
• The Bill proposes boundary reviews every eight years.
• Lords amendments suggest a ten-year review cycle.
• Current legal requirement is five-year reviews.
• Concerns about outdated data if reviews occur only every ten years.
• Boundary Commission appointments are currently made through the Public Appointments Order 2019.
• Rees-Mogg believes the Lord Chancellor should enhance and protect judicial independence.
• Amendment proposes a single non-renewable term for boundary commissioners lasting up to 10 years.
• Current permitted variation from UK average is plus or minus 5%, or total tolerance range of 10%.
• Proposed amendment would allow up to 15% variation, permitting one constituency to have 78,059 electors and another 67,167.
• The Parliamentary Constituencies Bill is being debated.
• Lord Shutt of Greetland tabled amendment 8 before passing away recently.
• Amendment 8 suggests ways to improve the completeness of electoral registers for boundary reviews.
• The Government opposes automatic registration for attainers (16 and 17-year-olds) on principle.
• Individual electoral registration was introduced in 2014, leading to record-high voter registration rates.
• Online registration takes as little as five minutes.
• A data-matching element of the annual canvass initiative allows officers to focus on hard-to-reach groups.
• Individual electoral registration has increased voter accuracy by removing one million phantom voters.
• The Government opposes automatic voter registration due to potential inaccuracies and risks of voter fraud.
• Amendments set a four-month deadline for submitting draft boundary orders after Boundary Commission recommendations are laid before Parliament.
• The US election highlighted the importance of strong constituency links and democratic systems.
• There are currently 9 million people missing from the electoral roll who will not be included in the next UK constituency map.
• Lords amendment 6 ensures independent appointments for boundary commissioners, reducing Executive influence.
• Lords amendment 7 seeks to increase flexibility in constituency sizes to a 10% tolerance level, as recommended by international best practices.
• The Parliamentary Constituencies Bill aims to update constitutional legislation.
• Basingstoke constituency has almost 83,000 voters.
• There is a manifesto pledge to ensure equal boundaries so that every vote counts equally in each constituency.
• Sixteen and 17-year-olds' registration rates have fallen from around 45% in 2015 to just 25% last year.
• Amendment 7 would undermine the essence of the Bill by increasing differences between constituencies.
• Basingstoke has almost 83,000 voters while Rhondda has just over 50,000.
• Dr Alan Renwick from University College London testified that no academic expert would suggest changing what is on the face of the Bill.
• Scotland will lose two to three constituency seats under new calculations.
• Wales is due to lose the most seats under the proposals.
• The House of Lords amendments aim to review boundaries every 10 years instead of eight.
• Amendment 6 would transfer power to appoint commissioners from a politician to the Lord Chief Justice.
• Scotland previously had 73 seats and was reduced to 59 due to devolution.
• There is a need to move towards a tolerance rate of 7.5% as suggested by Mr Bellringer.
• Registration rates for eligible 16 and 17-year-olds were estimated at 25% in 2018, down from 45% in 2015.
• 94% of those aged 65-plus are registered to vote.
• Alec Shelbrooke criticizes the mathematical arguments presented by others regarding flexibility in constituency boundaries.
• The proposal suggests a tolerance of 5% over an eight-year period to maintain equal representation across constituencies.
• Rejecting Lords amendment 7 is proposed to keep the boundary review cycle at eight years, avoiding disruption caused by major changes during three general elections.
• Alec Shelbrooke states that 1,500 extra people registered for the European referendum but did not register subsequently.
• The speaker argues against moving towards an Australian-style voting system where fines are imposed for non-voting.
• John Spellar criticizes attempts at voter suppression and lack of evidence supporting such concerns.
• The Parliamentary Constituencies Bill aims to ensure a broad equality in the number of electors in each constituency.
• David Cameron's proposals were not carried due to their impact on many Conservative MPs.
• Milton Keynes South has 97,000 electors compared with Newcastle upon Tyne Central’s 54,000.
• The Venice Commission and OSCE recommend a maximum admissible departure of 10% from the distribution criterion.
• The Venice Commission’s “Code of good practice in electoral matters” permits departures from the norm not exceeding 10%.
• Lords amendment 8 aims to improve the completeness of the electoral register but may lead to inaccuracies and data protection issues.
• Individual voter registration helped create the largest ever register for the 2017 election.
• Rees-Mogg supports an eight-year review cycle for constituency boundaries instead of a proposed ten-year period.
• The Electoral Commission’s report of 30 September stated there are low levels of proven electoral fraud.
• There were just three instances of proven electoral fraud and one caution out of all elections held in 2019, including local and general elections.
• Returning electoral canvass forms is a legal requirement with potential penalties for non-compliance.
• The Bill would cause Wales to lose constituencies.
• Departure from the specified point should seldom be 10%, definitely not over 15% according to Venice Commission guidance.
• Valley boundaries and mountains split constituencies in Wales.
• The Cardiff bay barrage was an example of splitting communities among three constituencies.
• Lord Foulkes proposes changing constituency review cycles from every eight years to every ten years.
• Amendments 3 and 5 set out a revised timescale for reports to the commission, which the Government will accept.
• Amendment 6 would allow the Speaker to appoint selection panel members, but Clarkson opposes this due to potential patronage concerns.
• The Bill aims to ensure fairness and equality in electoral representation.
• Scotland's current constituency boundaries are nearly 20 years out of date.
• West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine's population has increased from 81,000 to 97,000 since the last boundary review.
• The electorate in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine has grown from about 61,500 to 72,000.
• Glasgow North currently has about 54,000 electors compared to Linlithgow and East Falkirk's 86,000.
• One in five constituencies will remain unchanged under a 5% quota.
• Two thirds of constituencies risk being changed completely with a 5% quota.
• The economic damage from the pandemic will still be felt in two years' time.
• There are significant variations in constituency sizes, such as between Basingstoke and North East Fife.
• Eight million people are missing from electoral registers.
• Only 66% of 18 and 19-year-olds are registered compared to over 94% of over-65s.
• The MP believes that constituency boundaries should mirror the communities they represent.
• An increase in tolerance size is supported by international best practice.
• Lords amendment 7 increases deviation from quota for constituency electorates to 7.5%.
• Amendments 1 and 2 require boundary commission reports every 10 years rather than eight.
• Amendment 6 puts measures in place to mitigate consequences of ending parliamentary scrutiny.
• The current constituency boundaries are based on data from 2006, with some areas being out of date by up to 13 years.
• Aaron Bell supports an eight-year cycle length for constituency boundary reviews.
• He believes a tolerance of 7,000 votes between the smallest and largest constituencies is sufficient.
• Amendment 7 addresses the deviation from quota from 5% to 7%.
• Amendment 8 is referred to as the Lord Shutt amendment.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of community and identity in constituency boundaries.
• Current constituency boundaries are two decades old.
• Amendment 7 would widen the variance from quota from 5% to 7.5%.
• Amendment 8 aims to improve electoral register completeness for young voters by allowing them to be added when they receive their NI number or providing information on registration.
• The Bill aims to meet the Government’s manifesto commitment.
• Since online registration came in, 8 million 18 to 24-year-olds have registered to vote.
• English constituencies are based on a register from 2000 and are therefore 20 years out of date.
• The House divided on multiple occasions, with varying vote counts.
• Amendments 3, 4, and 5 were agreed to by the House.
• Jacob Rees-Mogg is named as the Chair of the Committee to draw up reasons for disagreeing with certain amendments.