§ Q2. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Prime Minister if he will introduce legislation to remove the present bias in the drawing of electoral boundaries in favour of rural and middle-class areas.
§ The Prime MinisterI have nothing to add to the Answer which I gave on 3rd June to a similar Question by my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. HamiltonHas my right hon. Friend considered some of the suggestions that the Boundary Commission has produced in this matter? Is he aware that some of them are completely inexplicable? May I give an example? Is my right hon. Friend aware that for the Bromley borough, a middle-class Tory borough with an electorate of 207,000, it is suggested that there should be four Members of Parliament, while for Southwark, a predominantly Labour borough with a 208,000 electorate, it is suggested that there should be three? In Bexley, with an electorate of 151,000, is he aware that three Members are suggested and again that is a predominantly middle-class Tory area? Will my right hon. Friend give an assurance in view of this—
§ Mr. SpeakerPerhaps the Prime Minister could answer as to how far he is aware of these matters.
§ The Prime MinisterYes, Sir. I think I was aware. I seem to remember my hon. Friend quoting these figures before, so I am broadly aware of the point, but the review of the Boundary Commission is an interim report and is not yet incorporated in a general review of the whole country. Still less has Parliament been asked to pronounce on these matters. When we have a little more experience of the working of the Boundary Commission—this is the first work it has done under the 1958 Act—we can see whether the quotas have been going wrong. My impression, particularly in view of something the Commission indicated, was that it is working more towards rather more equal quotas now than in the past.
§ Mr. GoodhartIs the Prime Minister aware that in the Borough of Bromley, which has been referred to, local Labour parties have not objected to the Commission's proposals although it was perfectly open to them to do so?
§ The Prime MinisterI do not know whether the local Labour Party, the Conservative Party or any other party has objected. The point before us is the question of equality, or reasonable equality, of electoral districts. In the past they have not been all that equal, but I think there are signs that they are going to be more equal in future.