Boundary changes mean MPs face battles over fewer seats

THE political map of Scotland has been completely redrawn in proposals published by the Boundary Commission today which will pitch political colleagues against one another in a fight to retain their seats.

With seven of Scotland’s 59 Westminster constituencies disappearing, most of the main parties, except the SNP, look set to suffer losses.

Another Tory wipe-out north of the Border is also a strong possibility as the party’s sole MP, David Mundell, has seen his seat divided between three others.

The redrawn boundaries proposals, currently out for consultation, are a result of the coalition’s agreement to reduce the number of seats in Westminster by 50 to 600 and make constituencies more evenly balanced with about 75,000 voters each.

It means that in the last 20 years Scotland’s number of MPs will have dropped by 20 to 52.

The proposals published today have also thrown up some difficult personal competitions including Lib Dem Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander, who led the coalition talks with the Tories, against former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy, who led opposition to joining the coalition.

Mr Kennedy’s Ross, Skye and Lochaber seat is broken up and all but disappears. However, at the recent party conference he made it clear he would resist attempts to move him to the Lords and would run against Mr Alexander for the nomination.

In Paisley and Renfrew, old and new Labour will be pitched against one another as shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander has to contend with the trade unionist Jim Sheridan.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh and Glasgow each lose a seat and Scottish deputy leadership contender Anas Sarwar has been left looking for a new constituency as his old Glasgow Central seat has been split up, although its name survives.

He looks set to enter a competition with Glasgow North’s Ann McKechin, recently sacked by Ed Miliband as shadow Scottish secretary.

The clearest battle in Scotland’s capital appears to be between Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray, whose seat is effectively abolished, and Edinburgh East Labour MP Sheila Gilmore.

But with rumours that former Chancellor Alistair Darling, whose Edinburgh South west seat appears to be safe, may step down at the next election, it is possible that Mr Murray may contest that seat instead.

Another potential clash is between former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and one of his closest political friends, Glenrothes MP Lindsay Roy, as the bulk of their seats merge.

It is understood that Mr Roy is “not unhappy” about this because many expect the former Premier, who has been rarely seen in parliament since he left Downing street in 2010, to step down in 2015.

Out of the seven seats to go, two are Lib Dem and five are Labour. However, the change in boundaries means that Tory Scotland Office minister Mr Mundell is probably pitted against Labour Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown in a Dumfries seat with a notional Labour majority.

The one clearly winnable seat for the Tories is the new Galloway and Carrick constituency, but even this is marginal.

In addition to losing two seats – one in Aberdeenshire where Malcolm Bruce and Sir Robert Smith will potentially be rivals – the Lib Dems face notional Labour majorities in two others.

This means that Edinburgh West’s Mike Crockart and East Dunbartonshire’s Jo Swinson could both be out at the next election.

The SNP hopes that the boundary changes will give them at least two more seats with the new Dundee West and Gowrie seat offering them a comfortable majority. The party also thinks the new Stirling seat is now more winnable.

It is understood that Labour believes there is a strong chance of changing the review to give Dundee a single seat and creating a new rural seat around it.

Despite the potential losses for the two coalition parties, shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran yesterday accused them of gerrymandering, pointing out that the protected seats included the Lib Dem’s Orkney and Shetland as well as the SNP held Western Isles.

She said: “This is a bad scenario for Scotland because Nick Clegg’s plan to gerrymander seats will weaken Scotland’s voice at Westminster. The Tories and Lib Dems want to abolish seven parliamentary constituencies in Scotland – but have introduced special measures in a desperate attempt to protect the seats of some existing Lib Dem MPs.”

She added: “Scotland’s great cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh will see their voice in parliament reduced.

“Instead we have totally new constituencies that cross different local authority boundaries, are completely different from Holyrood boundaries and have little regard for local communities.”

The other parties gave a more guarded response to the Boundary Commission’s proposals.

An SNP spokesman said: “These are substantial proposals which we will analyse closely to ensure Scotland’s distinct local communities are not adversely affected.”

A Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesman said: “Liberal Democrat MPs will take the time to listen to what their constituents think of the changes.”

The Boundary Commission for Scotland is now beginning a 12-week consultation on the proposals.

The publication of the Scottish seats comes a little over a week after Conservative chairwoman Baroness Warsi dubbed the revised constituency map of England both “mad and insane”.

The Electoral Reform Society attacked the “thankless task” handed to the Boundary Commission.

Electoral Reform Society Scotland director Willie Sullivan said: “If Scotland’s new boundaries prove as ‘mad and insane’ as England’s then responsibility must lie with the British government.”