The final battle lines in Somerset have been drawn for the next general election.
The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has held three rounds of public consultation on its proposals to redraw the parliamentary constituency boundaries ahead of the next general election, which must be held by January 2025.
Following the conclusion of the final round in December 2022, the final proposals have now been presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle MP.
Parliament will now have four months to formally approve the changes – meaning the new boundaries will take affect at any general election called after 1st November.
The area covered by Somerset Council is currently divided into five constituencies – Bridgwater and West Somerset, Somerton and Frome, Taunton Deane, Wells and Yeovil.
Four of these seats currently have Conservative MPs – with a by-election for the Somerton and Frome constituency due to take place on 20th July following the resignation of David Warburton.
Under the proposals, the total number of seats in the House of Commons will remain at 650, but the number of constituencies in England will increase from 533 to 543.
The new boundaries are designed to make representation more equal, with each of the new seats having a population of between 69,724 and 77,062 people.
Frome and East Somerset (electorate: 70,177)
The existing Somerton and Frome seat which has been held by David Warburton since 2015, is one of the largest seats in Somerset, covering around 900 square miles.
The new seat takes the eastern elements of the former Mendip district, keeping Frome and the villages east of Shepton Mallet.
It also includes Midsomer Norton and Radstock, which currently form part of the North East Somerset seat, held by former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg since 2010.
The biggest change from the initial proposals is that Bruton has been moved into the neighbouring Glastonbury and Somerton seat following feedback from local residents.
The Lib Dems will be confident of doing well here following the Somerset Council election elections in May 2022 but Frome has a strong Green following, which may split the progressive vote.
