Catalogue description Records of the Parliamentary Boundary Commissions for England and Wales

Prior to 1944 the revision of boundaries of parliamentary constituencies was carried out by ad hoc commissions appointed for the most part following extensions of the franchise.

The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1944 established four standing Boundary Commissions for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Speaker of the House of Commons was titular chairman of each of the four commissions, but in practice nominated one of the members of each commission to act for him as deputy chairman.

The members of the commissions were the appropriate Registrar General, the Director General of the Ordnance Survey (or the Commissioner of Valuation in Northern Ireland) and two members appointed by the appropriate Secretary of State or the Ministry of Home Affairs in Northern Ireland.

Each commission was required to keep under continuous review the distribution of seats and representation in the House of Commons by an initial general review and periodic reviews of constituencies at three to seven-yearly intervals and to make recommendations for redistribution in accordance with changes in the number of electors.

An initial general redistribution was effected by the Representation of the People Act 1948, but the normal procedure is for the recommendations of the commissions to be given effect through an Order in Council requiring an affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament. These provisions were substantially re-enacted in the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 which also provided that the validity of any Order in Council under the Act should not be called in question in any legal proceedings.

The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958, passed to meet criticism of the constitution and procedure of the commissions, amended the interval between periodic reviews from 'three to seven' to 'ten to fifteen' years, provided for interim reviews of any particular constituency or constituencies, and altered the membership of the commissions. The deputy chairman of each commission was thereafter to be a judge, while the official members became assessors rather than full members, enabling the services of their departments to be used by the commissions.

Since 1958 the members of the English and Welsh commissions have been appointed by the Home Secretary, to whom the commissions report. The secretariat of the English and Welsh commissions has in recent years been provided by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys.

The commissions are now required to submit periodic reports on the whole of the areas with which they are concerned at intervals of not less than ten and not more than fifteen years, and interim reports on any particular constituency or constituencies in which changes in the numbers of electors might occasion redistribution.

The first review took place between 1952 and 1954, the second between 1962 and 1969, and the third (and most recent) between 1975 and 1978. The recommendations of the commissions are normally given effect through an Order in Council requiring an affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament.