Wednesday 26-10-2016 - 21:00

Union officers have spoken out over proposals to a change in constituency boundaries that would mean the university and the city would be represented by different MPs. 

For the past two days The Boundary Commission for England has been hosting a public hearing in The Auditorium at The Storey. Yesterday morning representatives from your full time officer team went to the hearing to submit their thoughts on the proposed boundary changes.

The Boundary Commission for England has been tasked with reducing the number of MPs from 650 to 600 - and ensuring they represent the same number of people. This means they have proposed a whole host of changes to ward and constituency boundaries. They are carrying out this electoral review of Lancaster in order to improve the levels of electoral representation in the city.

The plans currently bring Lancaster and Morecambe together in one parliamentary constituency. However, the university would not be included in this constituency. These proposed changes would see the university separated from the city, meaning on-campus and off-campus students would be represented in parliament by a different MP.

Rachel Hughes (Vice-President Campaigns and Communications), who spoke at the public hearing, said: “We are concerned about the proposed plans which divide on campus and off campus students. The student voice is best when unified and we are worried that under these plans student views will be the minority in each constituency.

“We are trying to improve our relationship with the city and local community and we feel these changes both politically and symbolically go against this aim.”

As part of the review The Boundary Commission for England are consulting on these initial proposals for new constituencies. As well as submitting views at the hearing, they are also inviting you to submit your views online.