North Hykeham to vote for Lincoln MP in proposed boundary changes

Voters in North Hykeham would be part of the Lincoln general election constituency under revised plans published today.

The Boundary Commission for England has redrawn the boundaries for general elections, reducing the number of constituencies in the country from 650 to 600.

Five wards in North Hykeham and Waddington West would be transferred from the Sleaford constituency into Lincoln.

Bracebridge Heath and Waddington East would move from Lincoln to Sleaford under these plans.

The area highlighted with a light blue line around North Hykeham shows the new proposed wards for Lincoln

Wards for the Lincoln constituency would include:

• Abbey
• Birchwood
• Boultham
• Carholme
• Castle
• Glebe
• Hartsholme
• Minster
• Moorland
• Park
• North Hykeham Forum
• North Hykeham Memorial
• North Hykeham Mill
• North Hykeham Moor
• North Hykeham Witham
• Skellingthorpe
• Waddington West

The principle behind the proposals is to create constituencies of a roughly equal size, with similar numbers of electors, while retaining area’s distinctive geography and local character.

However, Cat Smith, Labour’s shadow deputy leader of the House of Commons, said: “To lose 50 MPs at a time when we are repatriating powers from Brussels, as we leave the European Union, risks leaving the UK government struggling to keep up with the day-to-day requriements of legislation.

“They need to drop their unfair, undemocratic plans, as well as ensuring the review is based on the most up-to-date register, and that there is appropriate flexibility to take into account community ties and geography.”

Sam Hartley, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “We’re delighted with the huge number of comments on our initial proposals that we’ve received from members of the public, many of which contain valuable evidence about people’s local communities.

“Based on what people have said to us, we have revised more than half of our initial proposals.

“The new map of the country we publish today is, we think, close to the best set of parliamentary constituencies we can achieve, based on the rules to which we work and the evidence given to us by local citizens.

“But we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we make our final recommendations to Parliament next year. It’s so important to have your say in this fundamental democratic exercise.”

Residents can now go to the BCE’s website to view the new plans that have been published.

All the public comments received during the first two consultations are also published on the website.

Residents across the county have until December 11 to have their say.

Following this third and final consultation, the Boundary Commissioners will consider all the evidence submitted throughout the process. They will then decide on their final recommendations before submitting them to Parliament in September 2018.

If agreed by Parliament, the new constituencies would be in use at the next scheduled general election in 2022.