Plans to change the borders of Southport’s parliamentary constituency have been described as “bonkers” by one of the seat’s former MPs.
Proposals released by the independent boundary commission on Tuesday (June 8) would see the Southport seat expand into West Lancashire while losing Ainsdale to Sefton Central across its southern border.
The main impact of the changes would be to make Southport a more strongly Conservative seat as it loses one of its more marginal wards and gains four Tory-voting areas.
The area is currently represented by Merseyside’s only Conservative MP, Damien Moore, who won the seat from the Liberal Democrats in 2017 and increased his small majority to just more than 4,000 votes in 2019.
Liberal Democrat John Pugh, who represented the seat between 2001 and 2017, said the decision to remove Ainsdale from Southport was “bonkers”.
Cllr Pugh, who now leads Sefton Council’s Lib Dem group, told the ECHO: “Ainsdale residents are an integral and important part of the Southport community and wish to be treated [that way].
“To deny them a voice in electing Southport’s representatives can only be the result of a bloodless mathematical exercise done on a Whitehall desk.”
Southport Labour’s chair Mhairi Doyle also objected to the proposals, saying: "Today's proposals are somewhat surprising as they would represent significant changes to Southport constituency but the Boundary Commission freely admits that they are not required by the electorate here.
"The commission says instead that the changes are intended to better respect local ties, however, it's highly debatable whether areas such as Tarleton or Rufford feel more affinity to Southport than Ainsdale does. As such, it seems a rather strange justification."
"What is clear is that three of the four wards to be absorbed had a high Conservative vote share at the last local elections - so we are sure Southport's MP will be delighted at the prospect of these changes becoming reality."
"We'd ask that as many residents as possible actively engage with the process and contribute to the consultation to make their views known."
But Cllr Tony Brough, leader of the local Conservative group, welcomed the proposals.
He said: “I think that the areas proposed under the review to join the parliamentary district of Southport will be delighted at the prospect of having Damien Moore as their MP.
“Damien has worked tirelessly for Southport and will do no less for those areas identified under the review that are recommended for inclusion in a wider Southport constituency.”
Those areas slated for inclusion in Southport are the West Lancashire wards of North Meols, Rufford, Tarleton and Hesketh-with-Becconsall, which are currently part of the South Ribble constituency. The changes add just over 3,300 voters to Southport, bringing its electorate to 74,168.
All four new wards routinely vote for Conservative councillors and South Ribble has been a reasonably safe Conservative seat since 2010.
The changes, expected to come into force in 2023, have been proposed by the Boundary Commission for England, an independent body that determines parliamentary boundaries according to rules set down by Parliament.
The latest rules, passed in 2020, require constituencies to contain between 69,724 and 77,062 electors.
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Explaining its decision, the boundary commission acknowledged that the existing Southport constituency could have been left as it was, but said this would have caused “significant disruptive knock-on effects throughout the North West, with the consequences extending across Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire.”
The commission said the new wards being included in Southport were “already somewhat separated from the remainder of Lancashire” by the Ribble and Asland rivers. The commission added that the proposals meant the West Lancashire seat could remain unchanged and South Ribble would now be contained entirely within one borough.
Elsewhere in Sefton, Bootle will keep its boundaries while Sefton Central will gain Ainsdale but lose Molyneux ward, which contains Aintree and Melling.
This change could see current Sefton Central MP Bill Esterson’s majority fall slightly, exchanging a strongly Labour ward for a Tory/Lib Dem marginal, but not enough to threaten his position.
Reacting to the proposals, Mr Esterson said: “The review of parliamentary constituencies is a crucial democratic step. This includes a review of areas within Sefton Central.
“Alongside the Labour Party, I intend on constructively engaging with the consultation by the boundary commission to ensure this review works for everyone.”
The proposals are now open to public consultation until August 2 at www.bcereviews.org.uk.
