Braintree district: Plans to merge constituencies scrapped (From Halstead Gazette)
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Braintree district: Plans to merge constituencies scrapped
4:00pm Thursday 31st January 2013 in News
Braintree district: Plans to merge constituencies scrapped
Proposals which would have seen the Witham parliamentary constituency scrapped at the next general election have been shelved.
The changes would have been part of a nationwide plan to reduce the numbers of MPs from 650 to 600.
But MPs in the House of Commons voted against the plans on Tuesday, meaning current constituency boundaries will be kept.
Under proposed changes, Braintree, currently served by Brooks Newmark, and Witham, whose MP is Priti Patel, would have merged to form a single constituency.
Halstead, which is currently part of the Braintree seat, would have instead become part of a separate North West Essex seat.
