HC Deb 24 June 1971 vol 819 cc317-9W
35 and 42. Sir D. Walker-Smith

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) why he will not publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list, by reference to the Parliamentary Register which came into force in February, 1971, and to the revised constituency boundaries promulgated in the Parliamentary Counties (England) Order, 1960, of the 20 English constituencies with the largest, and the 20 English constituencies with the smallest, electorates, indicating in each case the number of electors and the amount by which the said number, respectively, exceeds or falls short of the prescribed electoral quota;

(2) why he will not publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a list, by reference to the Parliamentary Register which came into force in February, 1971, and to the revised constituency boundaries promulgated in the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order, 1969, of electorates of the constituencies in the County of Hertfordshire, specifying in each case the number of electors, and the amount by which the said number, respectively, exceeds or falls short of the prescribed electoral quota.

Mr. Sharples

As promised in reply to a Question by my right hon. and learned Friend on 23rd March, this information was placed in the Library of the House when it became available.—[Vol. 814, c. 100.]

Following is the information:

TABLE 1—HERTFORDSHIRE CONSTITUENCIES
Constituencies in Hertfordshire constituted by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970
Constituency 1971 Parliamentary electorate Electorate relative to electoral quota (64,301)
East Hertfordshire 86,418 +22,117
Hemel Hempstead 81,328 +17,027
Hertford and Stevenage 76,003 +11,702
Hitchin 70,424 +6,123
St. Albans 68,828 +4,527
South Hertfordshire 64,624 +323
South West Hertfordshire 76,404 +12,103
Welwyn and Hatfield 66,532 +2,231
Constituency in Hertfordshire not affected by above-mentioned Order
Constituency 1971 Parliamentary electorate Electorate relative to electoral quota (64,301)
Watford 56,863 −7,438

TABLE 2—LARGEST AND SMALLEST ENGLISH CONSTITUENCIES
(1971 Electoral quota for England—64,301)
* Denotes constituted by the Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970.
A. Largest English Constituencies
Constituency 1971 Parliamentary electorate Excess over electoral quota
*Ormskirk 93,382 29,081
*Meriden 92,400 28,099
*Newton 91,870 27,569
*Wirral 90,504 26,203
*Rother Valley 89,104 24,803
*Brigg and Scunthorpe 88,832 24,531
Wallsend 88,487 24,186
Abingdon 88,107 23,806
Ipswich 87,659 23,358
*Thurrock 87,490 23,189
South Fylde 87,030 22,729
* East Hertfordshire 86,418 22,117
* Horsham and Crawley 86,277 21,976
Maidstone 86,020 21,719
Don Valley 85,705 21,404
*Gravesend 85,556 21,255
*North Norfolk 85,317 21,016
*Basildon 85,306 21,005
*Teesside, Stockton 85,212 20,911
*North Somerset 84,839 20,538
B. Smallest English Constituencies
Constituency 1971 Parliamentary electorate Shortfall below electoral quota
Newcastle upon Tyne, Central 29,461 34,840
Gateshead, West 34,076 30,225
*Liverpool, Scotland Exchange 39,306 24,995
Berwick-upon-Tweed 41,891 22,410
Newcastle upon Tyne, North 42,188 22,113
*Leominster 42,449 21,852
*Northampton, South 43,439 20,862
*Thanet, West 43,483 20,818
*Manchester, Central 43,822 20,479
*Birmingham, Ladywood 43,864 20,437
*Camden, Holborn and St. Pancras South 44,031 20,270
Salford, East 44,516 19,785
*Norwich, North 44,525 19,776
*Camden, St. Pancras North 44,573 19,728
*Wandsworth, Battersea North 45,189 19,112
*Harrow, Central 46,055 18,246
*Thanet, East 46,640 17,661
*City of Westminster, St. Marylebone 46,846 17,455
Manchester, Openshaw 47,087 17,214
*Islington, North 47,093 17,208