Constituency would barely change under new plans

LITTLE CHANGE: The Meriden constituency would survive pretty much
intact under the latest set of proposals.

YET another set of plans to redraw the boundaries of MPs' constituencies was published today, with officials now set to retain the seat of Meriden.
Previous proposals would have seen the creation of a new constituency - Chelmsley Wood and Solihull North, encompassing Chelmsley, Kingshurst, Castle Bromwich, Smith's Wood, Marston Green, Sheldon, Elmdon and Lyndon.
But following a consultation, the Boundary Commission has decided on rather more limited changes.
Under the proposal, the borough would be made up of two constituencies bearing the same names as at present (Solihull and Meriden).
The Boundary Commission report said: "[We] rejected suggestions to change the name of the Meriden constituency, such as suggested by the Liberal Democrat Party who wanted to include reference to Chelmsley Wood within the constituency name, because there had only been minimal change to the existing constituency."
The main change is that two of the wards would swap places as part of efforts to give the seats a more even number of voters; Elmdon would move into Meriden, while the more sparsely-populated Blythe would form part of Solihull.
Neither seat would incorporate communities from other councils areas, which was one of the most controversial aspects of the previous set of proposals.
The nationwide shake-up would see the total number of constituencies cut from 650 to 600, meaning that dozens of current MPs would face a scrabble to be selected.
If approved, the new boundaries would come into effect for the next General Election, currently scheduled for 2022. However, some have speculated that the Prime Minister will struggle to get the plans through the Commons now she no longer commands a majority.

Analysis: As far as Solihull is concerned, the plans published today are much less radical than those which were brought forward last year.
Both sitting MPs and a good many councillors had objected to the previous proposals, arguing that plans to match together areas from different council areas would have created confusion. Residents were particularly unhappy about plans to lump the likes of Knowle and Balsall Common in with a Coventry constituency.
That said, some had argued that North Solihull itself may have actually fared slightly better under the previous set of proposals, which would have seen the area at the centre of a generally more urban constituency.
Some of those who are dissatisfied with the make-up of the current seat (which survives pretty much intact under the new plan) argue that it covers too wide an area and ties the north of the borough to rural communities with which it has little in common.