Proposed changes for Peterborough constituency at parliamentary elections revealed

Under final recommendations published today by the Boundary Commission for England, the current Labour seat held by Fiona Onasanya will add the ward of Fletton and Woodston to its constituency.

The ward is currently part of the North West Cambridgeshire constituency where Conservative Shailesh Vara is the MP.

Fletton and Woodston currently has two Conservative and one Labour councillor.

The recommendation is included in a report to the Government which can now be revealed after it was presented to Parliament today.

If approved by Parliament the changes will come into force at the next election.

The change in boundaries was first proposed in September 2016, with no additional changes being made in a follow-up consultation.

When the proposal was first made back then in 2016, Cllr Mohammed Jamil, who was then group leader of the Labour group on Peterborough City Council, said he believed the party had “strong support there”.

Secretary to the Commission, Sam Hartley, said: “The recommendations we’ve published today mark the end of a thorough and consultative process to build the new map of constituencies.

“We’ve travelled the country, taken account of over 35,000 public comments, and heard many impassioned views about how best to reflect local communities in our recommendations, while ensuring that constituencies are all much more equally represented.

“We’re confident that the map we propose today is the best match of the legal rules Parliament has set us. It’s now up to Parliament to decide whether these boundaries will be used at the next general election.”

If approved the number of seats in England will reduce from 532 to 499.

For more information visit the Boundary Commission’s website.