§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 12 May 1999,Official Report, column 318, what was the basis for his statement relating to rural representation in the House. [84666]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 18 May 1999]: The Boundary Commission defines as county constituencies those that are "primarily rural". 170 county constituencies are held by Labour, compared with 135 by the Conservatives and 32 by the Liberal Democrats.