* Conservative Government skewed Boundary Commission Review in its favour
* Two million voters missing from electoral data used in review
* Jonathan Bartley: “By giving the Commission out-of-date figures it has effectively airbrushed two million voters out of the review.”
The Green Party has accused the Conservative Government of deliberately airbrushing non-Conservative voters out of the review into new political constituencies in England.
The party said by doing so the Government has skewed the Boundary Commission for England Review 2018 in its favour.
The Green Party’s response to the review, which was submitted today as the Commission’s consultation closes, said there are two million voters missing from figures the Conservative Government has made the Commission base its new constituencies on.
The response criticised the Government’s use of December 2015 electoral register data as “ill-advised” because figures in that register are at a historic low due to the introduction of Individual Voter Registration (IVR).
Many of the missing two million are young people, and the Green Party said the Commission’s work to create constituencies with equal numbers of voters has been skewed in favour of the Conservatives by deliberate use of elector figures when it was known elector registration among young people and in more deprived communities would be at a particular low point.
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
“The Conservative Government has manipulated the entire Boundary Review in its own favour. By giving the Commission out-of-date figures it has effectively airbrushed two million voters out of the review.
“This compromises the Commission’s work and the Government must take steps to readdress this imbalance if this review is to have any credibility at all.”
The Green Party response said:
“The Government pressed for the use of the December 2015 register in the Boundary Review, against the advice of the Electoral Commission, who wanted to give more time for people to get used to IVR.
“Since December 2015, there has been a large increase in elector registration, particularly in areas with higher levels of deprivation and large student populations.”
The Green Party rejected Government claims that IVR has affected all constituencies equally, giving the example of the centre Oxford where IVR led to a 40% drop in voter registration.
The Green Party response added:
“Registration in the run-up to the EU Referendum demonstrated that the December 2015 register is inaccurate to different extents in different constituencies.”
The Green Party wants the Commission, in those areas particularly badly hit by the slump in electoral registration, to create constituencies at the smaller end of the acceptable size range, to allow for the greater elector registration since December 2015.
The response also criticised the Commission’s approach to splitting wards, saying it has been far too conservative in not splitting any wards, even when it would help keep communities together in one constituency. The Green Party called on the Commission to respect communities by splitting wards where necessary, such as in Birmingham, where odd ‘sausage-shaped’ constituencies have been proposed.
Further criticised were proposals to split communities that have been part of the same constituency for many years. The Green Party’s response gives the example of Warwick and Leamington Spa, which have been in the same constituency since 1885 and form one community.