Hove and Portslade MP slams planned constituency name change

The constituency of Hove could potentially be renamed Hove and Brighton West under new plans put forward by The Boundary Commission for England.

The commission is an independent advisory board, and it has published its initial proposals for new constituency boundaries.

Labour MP for Hove Peter Kyle told the Argus: "I'll be contacting the boundary commission regarding the nonsensical proposed new name for the constituency.

"It fails to recognise the realities of life in Hove, Portslade and Hangleton.

"Regarding the overall changes, I'm working with colleagues to ensure fairness is delivered for voters across the country.

Mr Kyle has held the parliamentary seat for Hove since 2015, winning the most recent election with a majority of 58.3 per cent of the vote.

Hove and Portslade will become Hove and Brighton West with the new changes

The commission has said it is considering local ties, geographic factors, local government boundaries, existing constituencies, and minimising disruption caused by the proposed change.

The Mayor of Brighton and Hove and councillor, Alan Robins, said: "They can call it whatever they like, but it will always be Portslade as far as I am concerned. Brighton West, I don't know where they get that idea.

"If it is not moving, it won't include any Brighton wards, so why you would call it Brighton West, I don't know. That's it really."

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The proposed changes to the constituency are only provisional at this time. They are open for an eight-week public consultation period.

The Boundary Commission is not due to make its final recommendations to Parliament until July 2023.

The broader South East region will also be affected by the proposed changes by the commission. The number of constituencies will increase from 84 to 91.

Councillor Peter Atkinson

Portslade North ward councillor Peter Atkinson said: "It’s a total and utter nonsense and an insult to the residents of Portslade.

"The constituency is just called Hove at the moment but we have always said it should be Hove and Portslade.

"But to call it Hove and West Brighton is just totally ludicrous."

The conservative councillor for Wish ward Robert Nemeth said: “The parliamentary constituency of Hove should simply be renamed 'Hove and Portslade' as it contains those two towns in their entirety.

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"I can only assume that the suggestion of Hove and Brighton West is an administrative error as the proposed constituency does not contain any of Brighton.

"I'll be calling for this error to be picked up in the next stage of the process."