Assistant Commissioners selected to support the 2023 Boundary Review
The Boundary Commission for England has today published its list of 16 Assistant Commissioners who will assist in the conduct of the 2023 Boundary Review.
Each region has been assigned two Assistant Commissioners to support Commission staff in their review of parliamentary constituencies in England. They are likely to attend public hearings in their designated region, and assist in analysing the responses sent in by the public during the initial and secondary consultations to the initial proposals for new constituency boundaries and names.
The Assistant Commissioners will advise the Commissioners on where, if any, revisions should be made to the initial proposals. The Lead Assistant Commissioner is also responsible for chairing the public hearings in their assigned region.
The new Assistant Commissioners, who were appointed through a process of open competition, are listed below along with their designated regions.
The full biographies for each Assistant Commissioner can be read here.
| Eastern | Jane Kilgannon (Lead)
David Brown QFSM |
| East Midlands | Peter Fish CB (Lead)
Alison Blom-Cooper |
| London | John Feavyour QPM (Lead)
Parjinder Basra |
| North East | Tim Foy OBE (Lead)
Simon Barnes |
| North West | Andy Brennan QPM (Lead)
David Brown QFSM |
| South East | Howard Simmons (Lead)
Simon Tinkler |
| South West | Anita Bickerdike (Lead) |
| West Midlands | Sir David Natzler KCB (Lead)
Ruth Bagley OBE |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Professor Paul Wiles CB (Lead)
Suzanne McCarthy |
We received 219 applications for these positions, and interviewed 46 shortlisted candidates between April and May 2021. The diversity statistics for the selection process were as follows:
Diversity Characteristic
Gender
| Applied | Invited to Interview | Appointed | |
| Female | 35 (16%) | 13 (28%) | 6 (33%) |
| Male | 167 (76%) | 31 (68%) | 12 (67%) |
| Not Declared | 17 (8%) | 2 (4%) | 0 |
Disability
| Applied | Invited to interview | Appointed | |
| Yes | 10 (5%) | 2 (4%) | 0 |
| No | 189 (86%) | 42 (92%) | 18 (100%) |
| Prefer not to say / Not declared | 20 (9%) | 2 (4%) | 0 |
Ethnicity
| Applied | Invited to interview | Appointed | |
| White | 184 (84%) | 38 (82%) | 16 (89%) |
| BAME | 17 (8%) | 5 (11%) | 2 (11%) |
| Prefer not to say / Not declared | 18 (8%) | 3 (7%) | 0 |