Painswick, Bisley, Hardwicke and Minchinhampton will all join the new ‘North Cotswolds’ constituency. Chalford will remain in the Stroud constituency, following opposition to earlier proposals from the Boundary Commission that it be moved to the North Cotswolds. The map shows the new boundaries.

Pete Kennedy, the Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Stroud Constituency, said: “Instead of dividing up communities along artificial boundaries, the Green Party would like to see changes to the voting system, so that the number of MPs each party wins is based on the percentage of the vote they receive. 

“Under these recommendations from the Boundary Commission, neighbouring communities in Stroud District, like Kingswood and Wotton-under-Edge, are being separated to give each constituency the same number of voters at a General Election.

“The Conservatives say this will make elections fairer, but these proposals do nothing to fix the democratic deficit in our voting system. There will still be ‘safe seats’ like the previous Cotswolds Constituency, where MPs can get away with doing very little because the voting system makes it almost impossible to vote them out; and ‘marginal constituencies’ where people feel forced to choose between the least-worst of two parties, when neither represents their views.

“People across our communities are always telling me that we need to change the voting system because they are fed up of choosing between Labour and the Conservatives to run the country. The only way we can get fair votes, and better MPs, is by replacing our out-of-date voting system with Proportional Representation.”

Catherine Braun, Green Party Councillor for Wotton-under-Edge and Leader of Stroud District Council, said: “I’m disappointed that the Kingswood ward, comprising Kingswood, Alderley, Hillesley and Tresham, will be moving into the new South Cotswolds constituency, despite the strong representations that we and many others made to the Boundary Commission. Kingswood ward will be the only part of our district moving into the South Cotswolds and it will be at the most westerly tip of the new constituency. I know that the local parishes will seek to make the best of this outcome, and as Leader of the Council I will continue to work with all the MPs that represent our district. 

“I’m also disappointed that the Government continues to resist calls for a fairer voting system. People need to know that their votes will count at a General Election, whichever party they choose to vote for. A recent survey showed that the public supports a move to Proportional Representation by a margin of more than two to one. A fairer voting system would also help to restore trust in politics, and bring in a more collaborative form of government, where the national interest always comes first, instead of narrow party political interests.”

Of the 43 countries in Europe, 40 use some form of proportional representation.

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1. Stroud District Green Party (SDGP) strongly believes that constituencies should be based as far as possible on natural similarity of area and existing community connections. The current proposed Cotswold Constituency completely fails in this regard, linking together a vast sprawling area of communities with no historic or current connections or similarity of geography. Numbers have trumped common sense which is not acceptable.

2. SDGP therefore strongly object to the inclusion of Bisley, Chalford, Hardwicke, Minchinhampton and Painswick with Upton Wards in the Cotswold Constituency. All of these communities have important current links to the Greater Stroud area and associated services of health facilities, transport hubs, schools, college, retail, leisure and District Council facilities (or to Gloucester e.g. in the case of the Parishes of Upton St Leonards, Hardwicke and Hunts Grove). It makes no sense to remove them from the Stroud Constituency which they are an integral part of and to include them in a Cotswold Constituency to which they have few or any connections. A Cotswold wide MP would have very little understanding of the very different Stroud communities with their different histories, valley topography and service connections. They are all intrinsically linked to the ‘Five Valleys’ that make-up Stroud.

3. SDGP consider it appropriate that Wotton-under Edge and Kingswood Wards are included in the Stroud Constituency as in the current proposals. They are part of Stroud District and look towards Stroud for services as well as other service centres in the Stroud Constituency including their neighbouring towns of Cam and Dursley.

4. SDGP recognises that in order to follow natural and community divisions, the use of ward boundaries in some rural areas has insufficient granularity. We therefore recommend the option in specific circumstances of crossing ward boundaries and using either parish or polling district boundaries. In this context Standish and Painswick Parishes have a stronger connection to Stroud than some other parts of the wards they are in.

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