A boundary review is currently underway; this would see the Stone constituency become the Stone and Great Wyrley constituency if implemented – an area stretching from Stone at one end down to almost Wolverhampton.
The boundary commission, who manage the constituency boundaries, routinely carries out reviews of the parliamentary constituencies to ensure that constituencies are roughly equal in size by population – not geographical area.
Here is the current Stone constituency boundary:
The current proposal for redrawing the boundary would see what is currently the Stone constituency changed to the Stone and Great Wyrley County Constituency and will head down to the outskirts of Wolverhampton.
Local councillors and political parties, upon reviewing the new proposed boundaries, feel like the changes will see Stone shift from being the centre of the constituency, and amongst its geographically close neighbours, to being annexed to the outer edges of the constituency and bundled in with towns and villages in South Staffordshire which have no ties with Stone.
✂️ Towns and villages who we share long standing community ties with, like Eccleshall, Barlaston, Fulford and Blythe Bridge, will no longer be in the new Stone and Great Wyrley constituency and instead we will be lumped in with places like Penkridge and Essington.
️ Stone has no community ties or shared resources with these mid and South Staffordshire towns.
🤼 We can fight this though!
We need as many people as possible to write to the boundary commission and make an objection.
We can object on the following valid grounds:
✅ Local ties broken from existing constituencies
✅ Special geographical factors: size, shape and accessibility
The Boundary Commission state that the new area will have an electorate count of 70,701 and note the following about their review:
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The number of constituencies in the West Midlands will decrease from 59 to 57
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By law, every constituency we propose must contain between 69,724 and 77,062 Parliamentary electors (as at 2 March 2020)
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As far as possible, we try to have regard to local ties, geographic factors, local government boundaries (as they were known at 1 December 2020), existing constituencies, and minimising disruption caused by proposed change
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We use local government wards as the building blocks for proposed constituencies, but will consider splitting a ward where there is a strong case for doing so that helps us better respect the factors above
Residents of Stone are encouraged to email their comments to the Boundary Commission ahead of the consultation closing on the 2nd of August 2021.
Residents can submit comments about the initial proposals via https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/node/add/informed-representation/6490
Further Reading:
- All documents relating to the West Midlands region
- https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/review-process-summary
2 comments
Steven Pearson
Is it really all about the feelings of the people of Stone?
Seems they have a rather snobbish attitude towards the boundary changes.
Wyrley, Essington and Cheslyn Hay don’t seem to fit anywhere.
We are more closely connected to Walsall, Cannock, or Wolverhampton – but the boundary commissioners ignore this fact.
We are just the people who make-up the numbers wherever needed.
Stone is as good a mating as any.
Let’s hope Stone can cope – we can adapt.
Nigel Shuttleworth
Any boundary will do, as long as we don’t re-elect the incumbent Member who has consistently demonstrated his total lack of concern for Stone and its people. When was the last time you saw him here???