Sheffield constituencies- changes proposed

[JHJ21]

Yes, indeed; just like our local councils. MPs only have to deal with national-level issues.

 

Nope, they're more like devolved parliaments with their own lawmaking powers: a lot of law in the US is state-level. They then have other elected bodies which are more comparable to our local councils at a lower level.

 

I'm not particularly arguing that we need 650 MPs, but the US is a bad comparison, as is any country with genuine regional devolution. Anyway, I'd rather discuss sorting out these awful boundaries.

[andyofborg]

The USA has twenty times our geographical area, six times our population, and manages with only 435; it's hard to argue that we need six hundred.

 

unlike here, in the USA, the executive isn't drawn from the legislature and while party politics does come into play there seems to be more of a desire for the legislature to hold the executive to account.

 

personally, i would be quite happy for a greater separation between our executive and legislature.

 

the other thing of course, is that the final plan requires a final approval by both houses of parliament, it will be interesting to see how that goes.

[fake]

Look on the Brightside, David Blunkett will lose his seat and so will Hillary Benn.

 

David Davis, current shadow cabinet members Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper will have theirs split in half and Philip Davies Shipley seat will also go. Not sure when this comes into effect though.

[jake]

Yes. But only if he does worse than the party did in the 2011 local elections. Of course, he might get a peerage and decide not to stand at all. There's more details on the changes in this thread.

 

I think its a fairly safe bet that Nick Clegg will either have given up politics, be in the Lords or possibly a Tory MP after the next election - i'd be very surprised if he's still a Sheffield MP and leader of the LibDems

[gnvqsos]

It will be interseting to see which local association would accept Corporal Clegg as a candidate.I can see him a presenter of Homos Under the Hammer or Crap in the Attic,or perhaps A Home in the Cuntry

[Stoatwobbler]

Possible but the constituency could be a 3-way split - Lab/Lib Dem/Tory. At the last election the Tories weren't that far from winning Stocksbridge & Penistone. At the next one it will be less likely to be Tory but as the Lib-Dems have no track record in Barnsley, Tories may not be likely to vote for a Lib-Dem.

 

Equally the Tories have no presence in large parts of Sheffield and Labour are well behind in 3rd place in other areas that could be part of this proposed constituency.

 

To be perfectly blunt a lot of the proposed new constituencies look like a right dog's breakfast, drawn up with no consideration of natural or community boundaries.

[Stoatwobbler]

The USA has twenty times our geographical area, six times our population, and manages with only 435; it's hard to argue that we need six hundred.

 

Given how abysmal US politicans are, I'm not too sure that's always such a good example.

 

Plus it was America which gave the world Gerrymandering in the first place with Elbridge Gerry back in 1812.

[Stoatwobbler]

That's just about inevitable. Sheffield is fairly central to Britain; you cannot start there and work outwards, because you'd end up with problems in all sorts of coastal areas. When looking at the country as a whole, you need to start around the edges and work inwards - because central constituencies can always be adjusted to suit, they border on other consituencies in all directions.

 

If Grimsby's size is wrong, throwing in some areas of the North Sea won't help. If Sheffield South West's size is wrong, you have options all over the place to help you fix it.

 

There's only one boundary that's vaguely respected in all this, the border between Sheffield and Derbyshire as it's also part of the border between the Yorkshire and East Midlands regions.

[Stoatwobbler]

unlike here, in the USA, the executive isn't drawn from the legislature and while party politics does come into play there seems to be more of a desire for the legislature to hold the executive to account.

 

personally, i would be quite happy for a greater separation between our executive and legislature.

 

 

This much I totally agree with. Seperation of legislature and executive would be a huge improvement on the way things currently work. However it would make the government much more accountable and no political party with any chance of grabbing power wants that.

[Alcoblog]

I'd quite like to have my own constituency if that's OK (area 51 and a half), bordering on the front door to the shed at the bottom of the garden, then right to the privet hedge and back up to the front of my facility, using the party wall between me and the little old lady as the dividing line.