Proposal to move Isham to district 30 miles away 'illogical'

Currently villagers in Isham, Orlingbury, Hardwick, Little Harrowden and Great Harrowden are part of Parliament’s Wellingborough constituency.

But under proposals by the Boundary Commission, they could be forced into a new constituency of Daventry and Lutterworth.

Daventry is 30.6 miles from Isham with Lutterworth 27.2 miles away from the village.

Parish councillor Graham Rait said the plan doesn’t make sense.

He said: “We think it’s absolutely disastrous for Isham.

“We are four miles from Wellingborough and we can go and see Mr [Peter] Bone whenever we want.

“If we want to see our MP if this goes through we’ll have to travel one hour by car or three hours by bus.

“We are not impressed, it’s illogical.”

A report by the Boundary Commission admits there has been ‘significant’ opposition to their proposed Wellingborough constituency.

Other proposed changes in the north of the county include moving Finedon from Wellingborough to Kettering and moving Irthlingborough from Corby and East Northants to Wellingborough.

The moves, part of a series of proposed boundary changes across the country, would see the number of MPs in the UK drop from 650 to 600.

They will now go before Parliament to be voted on by MPs.

If they are approved, they will be used in the next General Election.

Secretary to the Commission, Sam Hartley, said: “The recommendations we’ve published mark the end of a thorough and consultative process to build the new map of constituencies.

“We’ve travelled the country, taken account of more than 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.”