Brighton and Hove’s constituencies are remaining largely untouched under national changes to parliamentary constituencies announced today.
Hove is to be renamed Hove and Portslade, and Brighton Kemptown is gaining a handful of streets from Brighton Pavilion in the Hanover area to even out the numbers of people living in each constituency.
But other than that, nothing is changing.
In its report, the Boundary Commission said its previous suggestion that the whole of the Hanover and Elm Grove ward switch to Brighton Kemptown and the whole of Queen’s Park ward switch to Brighton Pavilion was opposed in both areas.
Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle then proposed moving roads in the Pankhurst Estate and Hanover’s top triangle into Brighton Kemptown.
Another of Mr Russell-Moyle’s proposals, to rename the constituency Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, was not accepted.
The report said: “On their site visit, the Assistant Commissioners noted that the Queen’s Park Road represented a ridge line between two distinct communities within the Hanover and Elm Grove ward.
“Although the polling district boundaries we have used to divide this ward do generally follow the ridge line, we are aware that a small number of residential roads to the west of Queen’s Park Road, between Elm Grove and Pankhurst Avenue, are proposed in the Brighton Kemptown constituency. We would invite representations from residents of these streets as to whether aligning our proposed boundary to the Queen’s Park Road would better reflect community ties.
“We also invite representations on the name of the Brighton Kemptown constituency, specifically as to whether including a reference to Peacehaven would better represent the constituency.
“We are content that sufficiently persuasive evidence has been provided for us to support revising the name of Hove and Brighton West to Hove and Portslade.”
Mr Russell-Moyle said: “”I’m pleased the commission had not changed the external boundaries of the three constituencies.
“I’m pleased the commission have accepted the arguments from people of Kemptown that St James’s Street and Queen’s Park are integral part of our community and kept them in Kemptown constituency.
“I welcome the inclusion of Pankhurst estate and will support the call for the boundary along the Queen’s Park road as they have indicated is an option.
“It’s right that the recognise Hove constituency as Hove and Portslade but I’m disappointed they didn’t recognise Peacehaven in our name (the only part of the three constituencies not in the city council boundaries).
“They have, however, opened up a final round of consultation asking if we should be called Brighton, Kemptown and Peacehaven and I will be joining the people of Peacehaven to call for it to be recognised in the name and a place on the political map.
“The only questions that remains is how the new ward boundaries are reflected in the constituencies with three wards shared between Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven and Brighton Pavilion and one ward shared between Brighton Pavilion and Hove and Portslade.
“In the final round of consultations I would propose that the Saunders Estate and Bates Estate are included in Kemptown constituency as they will now be part of Moulsecoomb and Bevendean ward and Coldean, Stanmer and the University of Sussex join the University of Brighton at Falmer and North Moulsecoomb in Kemptown as part of the new Coldean and Stanmer wards making the north of the constituency co-terminus with the new wards and reduce confusion.”
