THE consultation period for commenting on the Boundary Commission’s recommendations for new parliamentary boundaries ends on April 4th.

The new boundaries are expected to be approved by Parliament next year. Only minor changes are recommended for Dorset. It just so happens that my ward - Upwey and Broadwey will move from South Dorset to West Dorset, whereas all other wards in Weymouth and Portland will stay in South Dorset.

Though illogical it does not worry me.

The changes will not make things fairer; what matters is not the sizes of constituencies but where the boundaries are. With First Past the Post there is no way of saying what is fair and what is not.

Currently all constituencies in Dorset are Conservative although only about half of voters vote Conservative. If we changed to a form of Proportional Representation, the Dorset Council area might become a single constituency with 3 or 4 seats, and we would expect at least one of the seats would go to another party.

That is surely fairer and would allow voters some choice as to which MP they approached.

I will not comment to the Boundary Commission. There is no point; they are stuck with arbitrary rules.

David Smith

Weymouth

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