Merton is set to be carved up and parcelled out into five new constituencies under proposals released today by the Boundary Commission for England (BCE).
The plans would see a complete reorganisation of the electoral wards which currently make up the two Parliamentary constituencies of Mitcham and Morden and Wimbledon.
The BCE proposes that Figges Marsh, Longthornton and Pollards Hill make a new constituency named Streatham and Mitcham, joining five wards from Lambeth and Norbury, from Croydon.
Lower Morden and St Helier will join with eight Sutton wards to form an expanded Sutton and Cheam constituency, while Graveney ward will fall under the Tooting constituency.
Merton and Wimbledon Central (centre), Sutton and Cheam (bottom left) Wimbledon Common and Putney (top left), Tooting (top right), Streatham and Mitcham (centre right)
For Wimbledon, a Wimbledon Common and Putney constituency has been proposed, with Wimbledon Park and Village joining with the existing six wards in the Putney constituency, in a seat currently held by Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening MP.
A final new constituency, under the name of Merton and Wimbledon Central, will be made from four Mitcham and Morden wards (Colliers Wood, Cricket Green, Lavender Fields and Ravensbury) and eight Wimbledon wards (Abbey, Cannon Hill, Dundonald, Hillside, Merton Park, Raynes Park, Trinity and West Barnes).
These proposed changes would leave both Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh and Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond fighting for their seats, but Ms McDonagh has said she is most concerned about what the implications of such upheaval would be on the residents of her constituency.
Ms McDonagh said: “This is not so much a carve up of Merton as a carve up of Mitcham and Morden. It shows no respect for the people of Mitcham and Morden, and tears apart the old parishes.
“In parts of Mitcham and Morden, the life expectancy is much lower than in Wimbledon. People need someone to represent them to health services and to local government, because all too often these people lose out. If they are split between four constituencies, no one will focus on them.”
She added: “I appreciate the BCE is a non-party operation, but it’s an extremely political decision. The people who have it worst are the ones who are going to have the worst representation.
Parliament commissioned the BCE to reduce constituency numbers in London
“I will argue against these proposals every single minute of every single day until a final decision is made. This isn’t over by a long way.”
Mr Hammond said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the proposals, and added: “Wimbledon is quite badly affected. What the BCE have done is just make numbers work instead of looking at community interest.
“Wimbledon was a very cohesive seat, and the BCE have put a bomb underneath it and blown it apart.
“These proposals are nonsensical for our area. I will be asking them to rethink.”
A spokeswoman for Merton Council confirmed that ward councillors would remain councillors for Merton, even if their wards became part of other constituencies.
The BCE is an independent, impartial and non-departmental public body, which is responsible for viewing Parliamentary constituency boundaries.
In 2011, Parliament set the BCE the task of reducing the number of constituencies in England from 533 to 501, with the requirement that all constituencies bar two must have an electorate between 71,031 and 78,507 voters.
This task included reducing the number of constituencies in London from 73 to 68.
Secretary to the BCE, Sam Hartley, said: “Today’s proposals mark the first time people get to see what the new map of Parliamentary constituencies might look like.
“But they are just the Commission’s initial thoughts – during the next 12 weeks we want people to take a look and tell us what they like and don’t like about our proposals.
“Parliament has set us tight rules about reducing the number of constituencies, and making them of more equal size, and we now need the views of people around the country to help us shape constituencies that best reflect local areas.”
The consultation on the new constituencies will run until December 5, with two further rounds of consultation in 2017 before final recommendations are made to Parliament in September 2018.
To give feedback on the proposals, click here.
What do you think? Email letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk
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