DAN Jarvis could face a battle to remain an MP under ‘bonkers’ boundary change proposals which see his Barnsley Central constituency axed and leave Barnsley without any dedicated MPs of its own.
Under the latest radical shake-up of the political map, Barnsley would be served by five MPs but all would have a constituency which includes parts of other boroughs in South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
Mr Jarvis said: “Concerningly, these proposals dilute Barnsley’s parliamentary representation, and if implemented would mean that not a single member of parliament or parliamentary constituency would be purely contained within the Barnsley borough.”
“Regardless of anyone’s party political views that would be bad for Barnsley because it would reduce the town’s voice in Parliament.”
He said Barnsley benefited under the current system in having two MPs whose constituencies are entirely contained within the Barnsley borough boundary.
This would be lost under the proposals. The resulting MPs for Barnsley West and Stocksbridge, and Barnsley East and Hemsworth, would both have responsibility for parts of Sheffield and Wakefield respectively, and a further three MPs would look after parts of Barnsley as well as areas of Doncaster, Rotherham and Kirklees.
“This dilutes the ability of the ‘Barnsley MPs’ to stand up just for Barnsley,” said Mr Jarvis.
Leader of Barnsley Council Sir Steve Houghton called the proposals ‘bonkers’.
“Putting parts of Barnsley in with Wakefield, parts of Barnsley in with Doncaster, parts in Rotherham, parts into Kirkless, parts in with a huge area of Sheffield - it’s bonkers.
“We will be coming forward with alternative proposals.”
He said a borough of Barnsley’s size needs two MPs who can give it its full attention. “Dan Jarvis has done that, and Steph Peacock will do that for us. We do not want Barnsley to be different bits of various MPs’ constituencies.”
He said while his concerns applied whoever the MPs were, he wanted to see Dan Jarvis remain an MP for Barnsley.
“I think he is a terrific MP. We want to keep the Barnsley Central constituency and we want to keep Dan.”
Angela Smith, whose Penistone and Stocksbridge Constituency also disappears under the new boundaries, said the proposals were ‘dreadful’ but doubted whether the government would be able to make them happen.
“Given the chaos of the Tory government and the major issues it should be focusing on, including a Brexit that works for the people of Penistone and Stocksbridge, the government needs to confirm as soon as possible that these partisan and biased boundary changes will not be implemented,” she said.
More on this story in this week's Barnsley Chronicle.
