North Somerset and Weston-super-Mare's new election boundaries

Since 2010, each council area has been divided into two constituencies. But the 2023 Boundary Review, which has now been presented to the House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle, recommends drastic changes to all four of those constituencies and will see some areas join new constituencies altogether.

The boundary changes could mean people could be in a different constituency for general elections, but does not affect which local council covers certain areas, which will remain Bath and North East Somerset Council or North Somerset Council.

The proposed new constituencies came after three rounds of public consultations which included 32 public hearings.

Boundary Commission secretary Tim Bowden said: “We have taken into account over 60,000 public comments, travelled the country, and heard many passionate views about how best to reflect local community ties in our recommendations. We are confident that our final recommendations are the best reflection of the statutory rules Parliament has set us.”

The government has four months to bring forward an order to bring the recommendations into effect. The next election is likely to be held next year, but could legally not happen until January 2025.

North Somerset new boundary. (Image: Boundary Commission for England)

Here are how these could change who you vote for:

North Somerset (73, 963)

Yatton will be removed from the North Somerset constituency, under the Border Commission’s proposals.

North Somerset constituency will remain mostly the same but with its size reduced as its southern boundary will now begin at the south edge of Clevedon and will cut Yatton and villages such as Claverham and Kingston Seymour, of the electoral area.

But the villages will not be joining the Weston-super-Mare constituency, which had been the southern neighbour of North Somerset, but instead will become part of the new Wells and Mendip Hills constituency.

Liam Fox has held the seat for the Conservatives since 1992, when the constituency was called Woodspring but followed largely the same boundaries.

The previous electorate was 80,869.

Weston-super-Mare (electorate 70,722)

Weston-super-Mare new boundary. (Image: Boundary Commission for England)

The new boundaries will see the Weston-super-Mare constituency significantly truncated, no longer including anywhere east of the M5.

Although named for the seaside town, the constituency previously included villages all across the southern part of North Somerset, stretching as far as Blagdon. But now these will all fall within the new Wells and Mendip Hills constituency.

After narrowly losing the seat when he first contested it for the Conservatives in 2001, John Penrose has been MP for Weston-super-Mare since 2005.

The previous electorate was 83,417.