The political map of Berkshire could be changing ahead of the next General Election.
That’s because the Boundary Commission for England has released its proposals for the UK parliamentary constituencies. Members of Parliament (MPs) are sent to Parliament after each general election.
Berkshire currently has eight constituencies: Reading East, Reading West, Wokingham, Bracknell, Newbury, Windsor, Maidenhead and Slough.
The proposed changes would give Berkshire nine constituencies: Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell, Windsor, Maidenhead, Slough, Earley and Woodley, Mid Berkshire and Newbury.
We’ve taken a look at what the changes mean for our county.
READ MORE: Conservative Bracknell MP calls on PM Boris Johnson to 'save the Union'
Conservatives gain
Analysis predicts that the Conservative Party would be the beneficiaries of the changes in Berkshire.
New Statesman journalist Ben Walker has produced a notional 2019 election results for England based on the proposed boundaries.
The map in Berkshire would see the Conservatives gaining one seat in Parliament. Mr Walker predicted that the Conservatives would win seven seats out of nine in Berkshire.
The Tories would hold onto the reformed constituencies of Newbury, Wokingham, Bracknell, Windsor and Maidenhead, and winning the newly proposed constituencies of Mid Berkshire and Earley and Woodley.
Meanwhile, the Labour party would expected to win in the drastically reformed constituency of Reading and in Slough.
Big changes in Reading
The current Reading East and Reading West constituencies would be abolished in the proposals, with the reformed Reading constituency consisting of Reading town centre, Coley, Caversham and East Reading.
Mr Walker’s analysis in the New Statesman gives the Reading constituency to the Labour party.
It is likely that Matt Rodda, the Labour MP for Reading East, would want to continue his career and stand as the Labour candidate for the reformed Reading constituency.
READ MORE: Reading constituency boundary changes proposed
Mr Rodda has expressed concern about the proposals, because areas of Reading such as Tilehurst and Whitley would no longer be in the Reading constituency according to the proposals.
But where would that leave Alok Sharma, the Conservative MP for Reading West?
The Reading borough wards of Tilehurst, Norcot and Kentwood would become part of the Mid Berkshire constituency, which covers the West Berkshire villages until it hits the border with Thatcham.
It is predicted that Alok Sharma would stand for the Conservative party in Mid Berkshire, as he already represents Tilehurst, Panbourne, Theale and Calcot as they fall within the Reading West constituency.
Mr Sharma has been asked whether he would consider running in Mid Berkshire or Earley and Woodley.
A new MP in Berkshire
Even if all current MPs chose to stand in the next election for their constituencies, and assuming Mr Sharma stands as a candidate in Mid Berkshire or Earley and Woodley, Berkshire will be getting a new MP in Parliament.
If Mr Sharma does stand in Mid Berkshire as predicted, the new MP would be representing Earley and Woodley, which covers the two towns, Shinfield and the Reading borough wards of Whitley and Church.
There were two changes of MPs in the 2019 general election. James Sunderland became the MP for Bracknell after being chosen by the town's Conservative Assocation. This followed former MP Phillip Lee defecting from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats and choosing to stand as the Lib Dem candidate in Wokingham, where he came in second place to Conservative Sir John Redwood. Laura Farris became the Conservative MP for Newbury, when she replaced retiring MP and fellow Conservative Richard Benyon.
Minor changes across Berkshire
Although none of the other constituencies are being renamed, some council wards and areas will be changing constituencies according to the boundary review.
The Newbury constituency would be reshaped to cover Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford, up to Berkshire’s border with Wiltshire.
The Wokingham constituency would be reshaped to reflect the borough boundary more, gaining the northern parishes from Maidenhead and Finchampstead and Wokingham Without from Bracknell.
READ MORE: Bracknell and Wokingham constituency boundary change proposals 2021
The Maidenhead constituency would be reformed to cover the town and the parishes of Binfield and Warfield. The Windsor constituency would consist of Windsor, Ascot, Sunningdale and parts of Langley.
The Bracknell and Slough constituencies would be largely unchanged.
When will the changes come in to effect?
You can view a map of the changes here: https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/node/6488
Parliament has a term limit of five years. Elections can triggered before then – but once five years had passed an election must be called.
This means the next UK election is scheduled for 2024.
The changes to the political map are only proposals at this stage, and are subject to future revisions. It is understood that any changes to constituency boundaries, if they are approved, would be enacted before the 2024 election.
The changes aim to ensure the number of electors in each constituency is more equal.
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