Boundary Commission reveal 'unbelievable' proposals for West Cumbria

The proposals will drastically change the landscape of the former Workington constituency and have been branded by some politicians as 'just unbelievable'.

Proposals, which will come into force in 2023, after a final consultation has taken place, will see the former constituency of Workington split down the middle joining the majority of the Copeland constituency to create a Whitehaven and Workington constituency.

What are the new proposals for the changes to constituencies ?

The new Whitehaven and Workington constituency that would contain the entirety of Copeland borough, aside from the two wards Black Combe & Scafell, and Millom, which will move into the Barrow and Furness.

The new proposals would also include both the Crummock & Derwent Valley and Keswick wards, which are part of the existing Copeland constituency, in terms of the current Workington constituency,everything from South of the river Derwent in Workington will be added on to Copeland.

A new Penrith and Solway constituency capturing a huge chunk of the current Workington Constituency.

The Assistant Commissioners recommended it be formed to include all the remaining wards in the Eden valley not within the newly formed Westmoreland and Lonsdal constituency, as well as the 15 most northern wards of the Borough of Allerdale.

In the west of Allerdale, the constituency’s southern boundary would be the River Derwent as far as Broughton Cross, where the constituency boundary would then follow the ward boundaries to the south of Cockermouth, and the north of Keswick.

READ MORE: Boundary Commission reveals proposals for new Cumbria constituencies

What do Boundary Commison England say?

A report from the Boundary Commision said: "During their site visit the Assistant Commissioners observed Whitehaven and Workington to be well connected towns with a similar character, and therefore considered that there was justification for their inclusion in a constituency together.

"The proposed name would reference both towns – as the clear population centres – arranged alphabetically, as they are of a comparable size.

"We agree with these recommendations and therefore propose a Whitehaven and Workington constituency as described."

Talking about the new Penrith and Solway constituency, the report said: "The Assistant Commissioners considered that the recommended constituency boundaries would be well defined, it would have a common rural character, and on their site visit to the area they considered that the road connections were adequate and would not present any obstacle. 

"The Assistant Commissioners did note that this constituency would also stretch east to west across Cumbria, from Alston to the Solway Firth, an outcome that the initial proposals specifically sought to avoid, but they considered that it allowed for the formulation of constituencies across Cumbria overall that would better reflect the community identity evidence received."

What do the politicians think ?

Labour politicians have slammed the changes saying that communities in West Cumbria have been 'torn apart by lines on a map', whilst Conservatives have been less critical saying that the new changes present 'interesting proposals' for Cumbria.

Cumberland Leader Mark Fryer (Image: NQ)

Cumberland Shadow Authority leader Mark Fryer said: “It is just unbelievable that communities are being torn apart by lines on a map. The building blocks for this were always the parishes, but it seems that the rule book has just been thrown out of the window over the last few reforms.

“But the bigger issue for me is the rushed roll out of mandatory voter ID for elections across the country in May of next year where it looks as if young people are going to be disenfranchised.

“Councils currently don’t know how much money will be available to support registration efforts.”

Workington MP Mark Jenkinson (Image: Supplied)

Workington MP Mark Jenkinson said: "My only reaction is that I represent the people of Workington and will continue to do so until such time as the boundaries change.

"I was elected to represent the people of the constituency Workington and that is what I intend to do until such time that boundaries may or may not change."

Former Workington MP, Baroness Sue Hayman (Image: public)

Former Workington MP and peer Baroness Sue Hayman said:"It just seems completely absurd that part of Workington itself has been taken off from the constituency and put across to Penrith.

"We won't have Northside or Seaton in constituency and the port of Workington won't be in the Workington constituency. 

"I don't think that the Boundary Commision has understood the town."

Copeland MP Trudy Harrison (Image: Newsquest)

Trudy Harrison, MP for Copeland, said: “The Parliamentary boundary review presents some interesting proposals for Cumbria.

“As the Member of Parliament for Copeland, I will continue to represent and work for all my constituents.

“I have plenty of work to focus on in the remaining two years of this Parliament and that is exactly what I shall be doing.”

READ MORE: Major changes to parliamentary constituency as part of boundary reviews for 2023

Markus Campbell Savours
Cumberland Shadow Authority and Allerdale Borough councillor for Keswick Markus Campbell-Savours has criticised the proposals.

He said: "All this was cooked up by the government who know that reducing the number of MP's increases their chance of a majority at a general electin.

"Thats how we end up with Maryport and the Port of Workington sharing a constituency with Alston and Penrith.

"People will be angry and they are right to be."

After this final consultation has closed on December 5 the Commission will analyse the responses and form its final recommendations.

These will be submitted to Parliament by July 1 2023.