What the new constituency boundaries mean for you
Something slightly mysterious happened at midnight on 31st December, 2023, that you may not know about, but could have a significant impact on your life. 90% percent of UK constituencies have been redrawn to some extent, but few as dramatically as the Cotswolds.
Constituency boundaries may sound rather dull and geeky (and probably of limited interest to my readers from overseas – apologies! I’ll be back to my broader philosophical musings next week), but if you’re concerned about our future as a country, it does actually matter – a lot.
For all the many (MANY!) flaws of our political system, writing to your MP is still one of the best ways to get action on local and national issues that concern you – depending, of course, on the willingness of your MP to listen and to act. So the boundaries affect which candidate is most likely to become your MP, and hence your chances of getting satisfaction.
The old Cotswolds constituency is being split into the North Cotswolds and South Cotswolds. The South Cotswolds is going to encompass Cirencester and Tetbury on the Gloucestershire side, and is also going to include a sizeable chunk of Wiltshire, including Malmesbury, Cricklade, Purton and Sherston. North Wiltshire itself is being abolished as a constituency. A small part of Stroud constituency will also come under the umbrella of the new South Cotswolds seat.*
The changes haven’t been well publicised, and as I’ve been talking on doorsteps, some people are rather disgruntled to find themselves politically transplanted into a new constituency without so much as a by-your-leave.
But I think, once the dust settles, the South Cotswolds will start to form a coherent new identity. Its disparate parts have much in common, despite straddling two counties and three local councils.
The new constituency is more rural than urban, more Remain than Leave, a little bit older, richer, more educated, more employed and more married than the national average. But there are still unacceptably high rates of deprivation. The Cotswolds isn’t all chocolate-box villages and climbing roses over the front door. There is much work to be done here to give people access to the resources and the opportunities they need to live a good life.
Why are the boundaries changing? Every so often, the Boundaries Commission reviews constituencies to try and level out the number of voters in each seat to around 73,000, give or take. The Commission is supposedly politically neutral, but it’s estimated that the current round of changes will give the Conservatives an additional 5 to 10 seats, other things being equal (which of course, in politics, they never are).**
However, for me as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the South Cotswolds, the news is actually rather good. We have a strong base of local Lib Dem councillors – 20 in all, compared with just 6 Conservatives (plus two Independents, but no Labour councillors, nor Green Party).
Under the UK’s outdated, first-past-the-post voting system, where winner takes all in each seat, regardless of whether they win by 1 vote or 30,000, many people in the Cotswolds have felt that their vote was wasted, that it didn’t matter how they voted – the Tories always won.
Not any more. Lifelong Tories are turning their backs on a party they feel no longer represents their values. They know it’s time for change, and they’re willing to use their vote to get it.
A new year, a new constituency… a new MP? You choose.
* To check which constituency you live in, go to the Electoral Calculus website and enter your postcode.
** Laws are being changed to favour the party with the most money, namely, the Conservatives. A new statutory instrument has raised the spending cap for a political party by 80%, from £19.5m to £35m. Interesting to note that a statutory instrument is a legislative tool that the government can implement unilaterally, without debate or vote in the House of Commons. There are also moves afoot to relax data protection so political parties can send emails and texts to you without your specific consent. Again, this will favour the party who can afford to buy the most contact data. Guess who?
Justice for Sub-Postmasters
The Post Office scandal continues to dominate headlines. Sir Ed Davey is facing criticism for not having done more, sooner, for the sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft due to bugs in the Horizon computer system. I could defend Ed, but you could rightly suspect me of bias, so instead I’ll quote people who were more closely involved with the story.
Lord Arbuthnot, who as an MP was the first to champion the postmasters’ cause, has said that “no party” and “none of us politicians” come out well from the scandal, and that calls on former postal minister Sir Ed Davey to answer questions are a “red herring”.
Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, which published a lengthy and definitive article on the scandal, suspects that the scapegoating of Ed is politically motivated by Conservatives fearful of losing their seats.
Alan Bates himself, founder of the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance, does not hold Ed responsible, saying the Post Office gave him “a real bum steer” by wilfully concealing the problems with the Horizon system.
There is also a factual and well-referenced account of Ed’s role on the Lib Dem website.
It’s time to shift the focus away from the politically-motivated scapegoating of Ed, and onto getting long-overdue justice for the sub-postmasters. They have suffered too long and too much. It’s time to right this egregious wrong.
(Breaking news: “The Post Office’s internal investigators were offered cash bonuses for successfully prosecuting the sub-postmasters affected by the faulty Horizon IT software, the inquiry into the scandal has revealed.” As Charlie Munger said, “Never, ever, think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives.”)
Other News:
On Friday 12th January I shall be speaking at Sustainable Sherston. Please contact me for further details by hitting Reply to this email.
Combining 3 things I’m passionate about – rowing, Cotswold Water Park, and, errr, George Clooney – The Boys in the Boat is out this week. Based on a dramatic true story, I loved the book, can’t wait to see the movie!
To keep up to date with me and my campaign, please follow me on Facebook! Or on LinkedIn, if that’s more your style.
We’re keen to welcome more campaigners to our team to help with deliveries and/or doorknocking. Please consider lending us an hour or two a month. Email my wonderful Campaign Organiser, Poppy Fair, for more details.
We are also looking for financial support. Every pound matters – even the price of a weekly latte would help. If you’re ready for positive change in the South Cotswolds, please put your money where your mouth is by hitting Reply to this email, and I’ll let you know how. Thank you! 🙏
Quote of the Week
“Borders – I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.”
— Thor Heyerdahl
Have a great week!
💜
Photo of Roz by Nick Pentney on the Chipping Steps, Tetbury