Boundary changes: winners and losers

EASTERN ENGLAND
Old constituencies
58
New constituencies
56
Points of interest
• Luton North to include Dunstable and therefore to marginal rather than safe Labour.
• A new Newmarket and Ely seat, controversially crossing the Suffolk county boundary
• Harlow adds some more safe Conservative wards, making it harder for Labour to regain this marginal seat
Personalities
• Mid Bedfordshire seat of Nadine Dorries is abolished
• Welwyn Hatfield seat of housing minister Grant Shapps made more Conservative

EAST MIDLANDS
Old constituencies
46
New constituencies
44
Points of interest
• Derby and South Derbyshire. Labour look like the beneficiaries of a big redrawing of boundaries in the Derby area
• Marginal North West Leicestershire split and both parts added to Conservative rural areas
Personalities
• Kenneth Clarke’s Rushcliffe seat is radically altered into a still-Tory (but less safe) Nottingham South and West Bridgford seat

LONDON
Old constituencies
73
New constituencies
68
Points of interest
• A cross-Thames constituency at Richmond which divides Vince Cable’s current constituency of Twickenham
• Dagenham North – Jon Cruddas faces a tough fight in this redrawn seat that includes parts of Tory Romford
• City of London, paired with Westminster since 1950, now linked to Islington and Camden
• Lib Dem seat in Carshalton & Wallington abolished
Personalities
• Iain Duncan Smith sees his safe Conservative Chingford area paired with Labour Edmonton to form a strange new marginal seat
• Sarah Teather emerges with her Brent Central constituency little altered but renamed Willesden

NORTH EAST
Old constituencies
29
New constituencies
26
Points of interest
• Tony Blair’s former safe seat of Sedgefield is merged with some Tory surburbs of Stockton, making the new Sedgefield and Yarm an unexpected marginal seat. Who would have thought Sedgefield might go Tory?
• Northumberland – recommendations to cross the county border several times will be very controversial

NORTH WEST
Old constituencies
75
New constituencies
68
Points of interest
• Westmorland and Lonsdale – Lib Dem President Tim Farron has his seat abolished
• Liverpool – despite predictions, both Stephen Twigg and Luciana Berger see their seats survive
• Bolton – marginal Labour Bolton West abolished, and probably Tory Bolton North created
Personalities
• George Osborne’s Tatton seat is altered and renamed Northwich. It is less safe, but should still be a Tory stronghold

SOUTH EAST
Old constituencies
84
New constituencies
83
Points of interest
• One of Labour’s rare southern seats, Southampton West, is made perilously marginal
• New The Weald seat crossing the border between Kent and East Sussex
• Lewes and Brighton East – Lib Dem seat replaced by a Conservative seat
Personalities
• Chris Huhne’s Eastleigh seat is radically altered, and while it is still winnable his task is made more difficult
• Green Party leader Caroline Lucas’s Brighton seat is chopped in two, but she can probably win one of its successors
• David Cameron’s Witney seat is unaffected by the changes

SOUTH WEST
Old constituencies
55
New constituencies
53
Points of interest
• A “Devonwall” constituency is proposed in the north of the counties, pairing Bude and Bideford
• Gloucester city centre is transferred to the Forest of Dean constituency
• The lucky Tory winner in marginal Kingswood in 2010, Chris Skidmore, finds his seat made much safer in the form of Kingswood and Keynsham
Personalities
• Ben Bradshaw’s Labour seat in Exeter is unaffected
• As is Liam Fox’s in North Somerset

WEST MIDLANDS
Old constituencies
59
New constituencies
54
Points of interest
• Newcastle Under Lyme, a Labour seat for generations, becomes part of a Tory marginal seat, Newcastle and Stone
• Birmingham Erdington, a seat held by Jack Dromey, is probably flipped to Conservative
• Halesowen and Stourbridge, two marginals the Tories gained in 2010, give territory to a new safe Conservative seat. MPs Margot James and James Morris will be in contention
Personalities
• Tom Watson and Caroline Spelman both see their constituencies changed out of all recognition

YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER
Old constituencies
54
New constituencies
50
Points of interest
• The Boundary Commission has taken a brave decision in altering several constituencies in North Yorkshire which are currently the right size under the new rules
• Several newly drawn constituencies will be welcome to the Conservatives, including Mirfield in West Yorkshire
Personalities
• Ed Miliband’s seat in Doncaster North is unaltered
• Nick Clegg sees his Sheffield Hallam seat become Sheffield West and Penistone – it would still have been comfortably Lib Dem in 2010
• Ed Balls had his Normanton seat abolished in 2010. The same thing will happen to his current Morley and Outwood constituency