Three extra MPs for Anglia region in shake-up of political map of the East of England
Extensive boundary changes to most of the parliamentary constituencies in the Anglia region will see three additional MPs sent to Westminster at the next election.
Population movements across the UK mean the political map of the country is being re-drawn in an attempt to equalise the number of voters in each seat.
The East of England will get three extra Members of Parliament including an additional MP in Cambridgeshire where population growth has been the fastest.
For the first time in parliamentary history, it proposed that new constituencies will cross county borders as Suffolk and Norfolk share one extra MP between them with a similar cross-border arrangement in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
Under the plans a new seat will be created in the Waveney Valley taking in the Norfolk towns of Diss and Harleston along with the Suffolk communities of Halesworth, Bungay and Eye. The existing constituency of Waveney will be made smaller and re-named Lowestoft.
There had been plan to create a constituency called Haverhill & Halsted which crossed the Suffolk-Essex boundary but it was scrapped after local objections.
Map of proposed constituency boundaries in the ITV Anglia region
Use the map to discover the proposed changes in your local constituency by moving your cursor over the screen
Across England, 10 new constituencies will be created with each seat having between 69,724 and 77,062 voters.
Currently the number of voters in existing constituencies in the Anglia region range from the highest in Milton Keynes South with 96,500 down to roughly 59,000 in Northampton North.
Under the new proposals, the constituency in the region with the highest number of voters will be Basildon & Billericay in Essex with nearly an electorate of nearly 77,000 while the proposed South Norfolk seat will have only around 70,000 voters.
Some of the planned boundary changes
New constituency in Cambridgeshire called St Neots & Mid Cambridgeshire
New cross county-border constituency in Suffolk and Norfolk called Waveney Valley
New cross county-border constituency in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire called Hitchin which will also include the Bedfordshire communities of Stotfold, Shefford and Arlesey
Rutland will be paired up again with Stamford in Lincolnshire
A more compact Lowestoft constituency re-appears for the first time since 1983 as the Waveney seat is divided to create the Waveney Valley seat
Parliamentary seats are usually re-shaped every 10-15 years to take account of population changes but this boundary review is long overdue having been scrapped on two previous occasions.
The Boundary Commission for England will finalise its plans by July 2023 so they can be in place before the next General Election which must be held before January 2025. If that election is held before next July, it would be conducted using the existing constituencies.
There is now a public consultation on the proposed changes and people can comment online on the Boundary Commission website.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know