Tory MPs break ranks to attack ‘outrageous’ plans to cut number of MPs while Lords numbers grow
Brexit minister David Davis and Tory MP Andrew Percy face a fight for the same seat
A SENIOR Tory MP has slammed parliamentary boundary changes slashing the number of MPs by 50 as “perverse” because the Lords keeps swelling in numbers.
Charles Walker, chairman of the Procedures Committee, broke ranks to say the planned move was “unjustified” while the House of Lords “continues to gorge itself on new arrivals.”
His intervention comes ahead of proposals for redrawing constituency boundaries being published on Monday.
He was backed up by fellow Tory MP Philip Davies who added: “We have the situation whereby the Government are proposing to reduce the number of MPs by 50 but not reduce the number of ministers by an equal proportion, thereby giving the Government more control over the House of Commons, which clearly has to be an outrage.”
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The political map of England is being redrawn by the Boundary Commission forcing constituencies to contain between 71,031 and 78,507 voters.
Under the Government plans, the number of MPs would be slashed by 650 to 600.
MPs will spend a nail-biting weekend waiting to hear if their seats are under threat of being scrapped.
Brexit minister David Davis and Tory MP Andrew Percy both face seeing their patches in Yorkshire and the Humber combined – leaving them fighting for the same seat.
Changes to the size and make up of constituencies are expected to increase the Tory majority to around 48 seats.