The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – East Midlands
Northamptonshire
Initial proposals
Of the existing seven constituencies in Northamptonshire, only the constituency of Kettering was within the permitted electorate range. The four constituencies of Corby, Daventry, South Northamptonshire and Wellingborough were above the range and both Northampton North and Northampton South were below. As part of our initial proposals, we suggested changes to all the existing constituencies in the county.
In formulating our initial proposals we identified that both the recently established unitary authorities of North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire were temporarily using the county electoral divisions (hereafter referred to as wards) of the now defunct Northamptonshire County Council, in lieu of a future review from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The consequence of this is that the wards are unusually large for a primarily rural area, both geographically and in terms of electorate size. Therefore, in formulating our initial proposals, we considered it necessary to split a small number of wards.
Under our initial proposals, we proposed that the existing Northampton North and Northampton South constituencies be expanded southwards. To bring it within the permitted electorate range, the Northampton North constituency included the Riverside Park, and Billing and Rectory Farm wards. The Northampton South constituency included the Abington and Phippsville ward and the remaining southernmost wards that covered the Northampton urban area. Consequently, we proposed a South Northamptonshire constituency that was more rural in character as it no longer included parts of the urban area of Northampton. To bring this constituency within the permitted electorate range we proposed that it include part of the Irchester ward – the villages of Bozeat and Wollaston – the Bugbrooke ward and part of the Silverstone ward. The remaining part of the Silverstone ward was included in a reconfigured Daventry constituency that also included the Earls Barton ward.
As the existing Corby constituency was above the permitted electorate range, we proposed transferring from it the Raunds ward, which we included in a reconfigured Wellingborough constituency. Also included in the Wellingborough and Raunds constituency was the remaining part of the Irchester ward and part of the Finedon ward. The remaining part of the Finedon ward was included in a Kettering constituency which was otherwise unchanged.
In response to the consultation on our initial proposals, we received some opposition to our proposal to split three wards in formulating a pattern of constituencies across Northamptonshire. We received some counter proposals which sought to split fewer wards, and thereby proposed a different configuration of constituencies across the county.
We also received some support for our approach to formulating the initial proposals, with some respondents considering that the statutory factors could be better reflected by the splitting of more wards.
In Northampton, we received a mixture of support and opposition to our initial proposals. Those in support considered that the A45 acted as a clear boundary and that the Northampton North and Northampton South constituencies reflected community ties. However, those in opposition considered that the proposed pattern did not reflect community ties or existing constituencies. The representations particularly commented that the wards of Abington and Phippsville, Castle, and Dallington Spencer should all be included in a Northampton North constituency and the wards of Billing and Rectory Farm, and Riverside Park be included in a Northampton South constituency.
We received some opposition to our proposed Daventry constituency, with the majority of representations opposed to the inclusion of the Earls Barton ward in this constituency. Respondents considered that this ward shared closer links with Wellingborough.
We received substantial opposition to the proposal to include part of the Irchester ward, specifically the villages of Bozeat and Wollaston, in the South Northamptonshire constituency. Again, respondents stated that they had shared community ties with Wellingborough. We received little opposition to the proposal to split the Silverstone ward between the Daventry and South Northamptonshire constituencies.
In the east of the county, we received opposition to our proposed Corby and East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough constituencies. As previously mentioned, we received opposition to excluding the Earls Barton ward and part of the Irchester ward from the Wellingborough constituency. Similarly, we received opposition to the division of the Finedon ward between the Wellingborough and Kettering constituencies, with respondents suggesting that the whole ward should be included in a Wellingborough constituency.
We also received opposition to our proposed Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency, with respondents suggesting that the Irthlingborough ward should not be included in this constituency but Wellingborough, and that the Raunds ward should be included in this constituency rather than Wellingborough as we had initially proposed.
A number of respondents submitted counter proposals that sought to address these concerns. One counter proposal was for a revised Wellingborough constituency that included all of the Finedon ward and part of the Irthlingborough ward. Under this pattern the Raunds ward was included in a modified Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency and finally, it proposed to split the Corby Rural ward between the Corby and East Northamptonshire, and Kettering constituencies. Under this proposal would be included in the Kettering constituency the parts of the Corby Rural ward containing: Cottingham; East Carlton; Middleton; Little Stanion and Stanion. However, we did also receive some opposition to the split of the Corby Rural ward between constituencies, with those in opposition concerned that the ward had closer ties with Corby than with Kettering.
Having considered the evidence received, our Assistant Commissioners investigated alternative configurations to constituencies in Northamptonshire and visited the area to observe the evidence received. They recognised that many of the villages surrounding Wellingborough wanted to be included in that constituency, but that it was not possible to include all of them, as doing so would result in a constituency over the permitted electorate range. They therefore investigated alternative configurations. They considered that it was not possible to include all of the Irchester and Earls Barton wards in the Wellingborough constituency, as doing so had significant consequences on both the proposed Daventry and South Northamptonshire constituencies. We noted that including either of these wards in the Wellingborough constituency still required both the Daventry and South Northamptonshire constituencies to be modified, both of which had been broadly supported.
The Assistant Commissioners were persuaded to include all of the Finedon ward in the Wellingborough constituency, noting that the ward had strong community ties with the town. Consequently, accepting this proposal required revisions to the Kettering, and Corby and East Northamptonshire constituencies. They proposed including part of the Irthlingborough ward in the Wellingborough constituency, which allowed for the Raunds ward to be returned to the Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency. In order to bring the constituencies within the permitted electorate range they proposed dividing the Corby Rural ward in the manner outlined above. They recognised that, while the split of this ward had received some opposition, it enabled the best reflection of the statutory factors across the east of the county. We accepted their recommendations and proposed reconfigured constituencies of Corby and East Northamptonshire, Kettering, and Wellingborough in our revised proposals.
In Northampton, our Assistant Commissioners were persuaded to revise the initially proposed Northampton North and Northampton South constituencies. Having visited the area, they considered that the statutory factors were better reflected by including the wards of Billing and Rectory Farm, and Riverside in the Northampton South constituency and the wards of Abington and Phippsville, Castle, and Dallington Spencer in the Northampton North constituency. The Assistant Commissioners considered that this pattern better reflected community ties and the boundaries of the existing constituencies.
In response to the consultation on our revised proposals, we received some support for our configuration of constituencies across the county. However, we also received some opposition to our revised proposals, including a counter proposal for the proposed constituencies of Corby and East Northamptonshire, Daventry, Kettering, and Wellingborough. We also received some opposition to our proposal to split the wards of Corby Rural and Irthlingborough between constituencies. In terms of the Corby Rural wards, respondents considered that the villages in this ward had community ties with Corby. The representations received in regard to the Irthlingborough ward considered that our proposed ward split divided the Crow Hill area from the remainder of Irthlingborough.
The above counter proposal suggested that all of the Corby Rural ward could be retained in the Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency, subject to a number of consequential changes. These included splitting the Earls Barton, Irthlingborough and Thrapston wards between constituencies. This counter proposal also required modifications to the proposed constituencies of Daventry, Northampton South, and South Northamptonshire. This counter proposal sought to resolve concerns that the parishes of Wellingborough and Irchester were divided and that we had divided the Corby Rural community under our revised proposals. However, as set out above, resolving these issues required changes to nearly all the constituencies in the county.
We also received another counter proposal that suggested splitting the Earls Barton ward between constituencies. This counter proposal only suggested that the polling district WGB be included in the Wellingborough constituency. The reason for this proposal was to incorporate new housing on the edge of Wellingborough town in the constituency of the same name. Some representations were also received that proposed we rename the Wellingborough constituency as Wellingborough and Rushden in order to reflect the two main conurbations included in the constituency.
In the area of Northampton town, we received some support for our revised proposals, with respondents considering that they better reflected community ties. However, we also received some opposition to our Northampton North and Northampton South constituencies, with respondents urging us to revert to our initial proposals for both constituencies. Proponents of this pattern considered that the wards of Billing and Rectory Farm, and Riverside were divided from other parts of the Northampton South constituency. Furthermore, some respondents considered that the revised proposals divided the town centre of Northampton between constituencies.
We have again considered the evidence received in relation to our proposed constituencies in Northamptonshire. We recognised that we had received some opposition to our revised proposals and therefore investigated the alternatives.
We considered that the counter proposal that sought to include the Corby Rural ward in the Corby and East Northamptonshire constituency had merit, particularly in terms of reflecting community ties in the Corby area, and reflected the boundaries of the parish of Irthlingborough. However, we also considered that this counter proposal was likely to break community ties, particularly the splitting of the Thrapston ward, which is currently part of the Corby constituency. We also considered that including all of the Irchester ward in the South Northamptonshire constituency was likely to break community ties. We acknowledge that this ward was split under our revised proposals, however, evidence received during the consultations has suggested the ward shares community ties with Wellingborough.
We also again investigated alternatives that would resolve concerns received during the consultation on the revised proposals. However, our investigations identified that other configurations would divide communities or result in reverting to the initial proposals. We are not persuaded that reverting to our initial proposals in this part of the county would better reflect the statutory factors. Therefore, having considered the evidence received, we are not minded to modify our revised proposals in this part of the county. However, we are minded to modify the Wellingborough constituency to Wellingborough and Rushden in order to reflect the different areas comprising the constituency.
We recognised that both support and opposition had been received in regards to our proposed Northampton North and Northampton South constituencies. We therefore visited the area to observe both the initial and revised proposals. Having visited the area, we considered that both the Castle, and Abington and Phippsville wards were an integral part of the city centre and shared community ties with the wards to the north. We also considered the boundary of the River Nene in this part of the city to be clear. We observed that the Billing and Rectory Farm, and Riverside Park wards were similar in character and did share community ties with each other and also with the Talavera ward to the north. We also observed that, in this part of the city, the River Nene was easily traversed along the A45 (Nene Valley Way).
We also visited the Dallington Spencer ward given the evidence in representations that the ward shared community ties with Duston East. We considered that the ward shared community ties with both the Castle and Duston East wards, though the A428 (Harlestone Road) provided for a clear boundary between the Dallington Spencer and Duston East wards, including the part of the boundary that does not follow the road. We specifically observed this boundary. Furthermore, we investigated other configurations of constituencies, including the transfer of the Dallington Spencer and River Park wards to the Northampton South constituency. We noted that this configuration of constituencies required a ward to be split to ensure both constituencies would be within the permitted electorate range. We considered it was not appropriate to split the Castle ward and considered whether it was possible to include the three southern polling districts of the Abington and Phippsville ward, bound by the A4500 (Wellingborough Road). Having visited the area we noted that splitting the ward along this boundary would divide a clear retail area and was likely to break community ties.
Having considered the evidence received and visited the area, we have decided to retain our revised proposals for Northampton North and Northampton South as part of our final recommendations. We note the evidence received that this pattern may break community ties but consider this is unavoidable across the city in formulating a pattern of constituencies that are within the permitted electorate range. We note that both the initial and revised proposals to some extent reflect the existing pattern of constituencies, with the revised proposals transferring fewer electors from the existing pattern. We therefore consider our revised proposals better reflect the statutory factors.
Our final recommendations for Northamptonshire are therefore for constituencies of: Corby and East Northamptonshire; Daventry; Kettering; Northampton North; Northampton South; South Northamptonshire; and Wellingborough and Rushden. The areas covered by these constituencies are listed in Volume two and shown on the maps in Volume three of this report.
