Jeremy Corbyn and George Osborne join high-profile Labour and Tory MPs facing chop over boundary redraw
Massive changes to the make-up of the House of Commons will be further bad news for opposition leader
HIGH-profile MPs were last night facing bloody internal party battles to keep hold of Commons seats as 50 were recommended for the chop.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, ex-party deputy Harriet Harman and Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna’s constituencies are all under threat after a boundary review.
Cabinet ministers Justine Greening and Priti Patel, Brexit Secretary David Davis and ex-Chancellor George Osborne also face reselection fights under the Government plans.
It wants to cut MP numbers from 650 to 600 — 533 to 501 in England, 59 to 53 in Scotland and 40 to 29 in Wales.
The Boundary Commission review suggests redrawing constituencies so they have no fewer than 71,031 voters and no more than 78,507.
RELATED STORIES:
The Labour heartlands of the North East and North West would see 11 seats scrapped. Greater London would lose five, including Mr Corbyn’s Islington constituency.
Over a quarter of the 40 constituencies in Wales would face the axe. But Tory strongholds in the South East and East of England would lose two.
Labour moderates Yvette Cooper and Tristram Hunt’s seats are under threat, which could leave them vulnerable to deselection attempts by hardline Corbyn supporters’ group Momentum.
A Labour source said: “It’s going to be brutal for us. Our own MPs slugging it out against each other, while Momentum salivate in the wings.”
Shadow Cabinet member Jon Ashworth fumed: “These changes are not about fairness to voters, they are about what is best for the Tory Party. They must not go ahead.”
Final decisions will be taken in October 2018 before the 2020 election.