Jeremy Corbyn’s seat will be axed and Boris Johnson’s majority under threat by controversial boundary review to cut 50 MPs
Revised proposals would see the Labour leader’s Islington North constituency removed - and the new system would have given the Tories an overall majority of 16 at the 2017 general election, according to analysis
JEREMY Corbyn's seat will be abolished and Boris Johnson's majority put under threat by a controversial new boundary review.
A revised set of proposals to cut the number of MPs 650 to 600 has been published today – and would see the Labour leader’s Islington North constituency one of those axed.
And the proposed new system would have given the Tories an overall majority of 16 at the 2017 general election, according to analysis.
Under the plans, which if they are voted through by Parliament would come into force ahead of the 2022 election, there would be a bitter fight between Mr Corbyn and two of his other shadow cabinet members to stay in the Commons.
Part of his constituency would be consumed into Emily Thornberry’s Islington South seat, and the other half would form part of a new “Finsbury park and Stoke Newington” seat, which includes part of long-tine ally Diane Abbott’s current patch.
The rest of her Hackney North seat is combined with backbencher Meg Hillier’s Hackney South, and could be the MP to miss out when the candidate for the new “Hackney” constituency is decided.
Elsewhere former foreign secretary Mr Johnson faces a challenge to his 5,034 majority in Uxbridge & Ruislip South, with the seat losing the Tory-leaning Yiewsley areas and gaining the Labour-leaning Northolt.
Ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis' Haltemprice & Howden seat is still on course for abolition, meaning he could be forced to fight another seat to stay as an MP.
Downing Street insisted earlier this year that Theresa May remained committed to delivering "more equal and updated" constituency boundaries after they were previously put on hold.
But ministers must secure the backing of Parliament if they want to push the plans through, and have been warned the overhaul is unlikely to pass as some Tories, along with Labour, are opposed to the move.
Analysis by renowned professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher shows that the Tories would have kept their majority, while under the current boundaries Mrs May lost hers.
The academics from the Elections Centre at Plymouth University put the Conservatives on 308 seats, while Labour would have won 232, the Liberal Democrats seven and the SNP 33.
Sam Hartley, secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: "We've travelled the country, taken account of over 35,000 public comments, and heard many impassioned views about how best to reflect local communities in our recommendations, while ensuring that constituencies are all much more equally represented.
"We're confident that the map we propose today is the best match of the legal rules Parliament has set us.
“It's now up to Parliament to decide whether these boundaries will be used at the next general election."
But Labour said the boundary review, based on rule changes introduced by the former coalition government in 2011, was a Government "power grab".
Shadow Cabinet minister Jon Trickett branded the proposed boundary changes a "disgrace" and a "Tory stitch up".
Minister Cat Smith added: “With no plans to reduce the number of ministers, the Government is weakening the role of Parliament and creating unprecedented levels of executive dominance at the expense of backbenchers, when Parliament is meant to be taking back control.
“Cutting the number of MPs by 50 as we prepare to leave the European Union is further proof this Government is clamouring to tighten its grip on power."