List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). Each represents a single geographic area called a constituency. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in parliament as at the 2005 general election.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - House of Commons - Members of Parliament - Constituency - 2005 general election

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Constituencies were long based on boroughs and traditional counties, but are now unique divisions of administrative counties, consisting of several wards. Some constituencies may cross the border between administrative counties, usually in urban areas where each metropolitan or London borough is considered a separate county. The boundaries are subject to regular review by an independent Boundary Commission, usually once every 10 to 15 years. Periodically, constituencies are abolished or created anew by these reviews.

Related Topics:
Borough - Traditional counties - Administrative counties - Wards - Metropolitan - London borough - Boundary Commission

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The previous parliament contained representatives from 659 constituencies. Most of the current constituency boundaries were last reviewed in the early 1990s, and are therefore based on administrative boundaries prior to the last series of local government boundary changes. However, a Boundary Commission for Scotland review in February 2005 resulted in the reorganisation of most Scottish constituencies to adjust for the historic over-representation of Scotland. This reduced the number of constituencies in Scotland by 13, from 72 down to the current 59.

Related Topics:
1990s - Local government - February 2005 - Scottish

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