Seat change will spark key battle

Droitwich councillor Peter Pinfield. (s)

A DROITWICH Labour councillor has claimed the proposed new ‘Bromsgrove and Droitwich’ parliamentary constituency will be a key battleground at the next general election.

Coun Peter Pinfield spoke to The Standard after members of Wychavon District Council, including the ruling Conservative group, supported Government plans for the new seat.

Spa voters could be part of the new constituency in a radical redrawing of the electoral map by the Boundary Commission which is reviewing the number of MPs in the House of Commons.

The body is proposing Droitwich will be included in the constituency, removing it from the Mid-Worcestershire polling area to which it has been part of since 1997.

The town could take its place the new area at the next election, expected in 2015, if the Boundary Commission’s review is implemented.

The potential change has been welcomed by the town’s Labour Party according to Coun Pinfield who said returning to Bromsgrove would be like ‘finding a long lost friend’.

“Droitwich has over the past thirty years rather been like a ‘pass the parcel’ game and we have seen ourselves alongside Redditch, Worcester City, as part of the then Bromsgrove and Redditch constituency and of course of late we have been part of Mid-Worcestershire.

“Bromsgrove like our town has had many changes, both our communities have grown exponentially over those thirty plus years.

“Many of our residents work within the West Midlands conurbation and maintain those links with their families and relatives.

“Politically I think it makes the newly created constituency more susceptible to a change of MP, but the next general election will be fought on issues that the country has not faced for a generation.

“The new Bromsgrove and Droitwich constituency will be one of the keenly fought seats and a marker for what the next Government will look like,” he added.

The changes have been described as the ‘biggest in more than 50 years’ were unveiled in September as part of a bid by the coalition Government to reduce the number of MPs in the House of Commons from 650 to 600 by the next election.

A further consultation on the proposals is expected to be held before a final report is put before MPs later this year.