Cumbria's MP constituencies could be redrawn in new plans
- Published
Plans that could see Cumbria's political constituencies redrawn have been published.
The Boundary Commission England said the aim was to make Parliament fairer by giving each MP a roughly similar number of voters.
The county would still have six MPs but one of the constituencies would include part of South Lakeland and North Lancashire.
Meanwhile, Copeland would be combined with parts of the Lake District.
The aim is to make sure each seat represents between 60,000 and 75,000 people, the same number in each area.
Analysis by Bob Cooper, BBC Radio Cumbria political reporter
Cumbria will still have six MPs but one seat will include part of Lancashire in a Morecambe and South Lakeland constituency.
Another will be called Copeland and the Western Lakes, which will go from Whitehaven on the coast to Bowness on Windermere.
The Lib Dem stronghold of Westmorland and Lonsdale will be carved up, with some joining Barrow, some packaged with Morecambe and the rest pairing up with Penrith and the Eden Valley.
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It is not the first time there have been proposed changes to political boundaries, the idea of Windermere being put with Whitehaven has been proposed previously and then scrapped.
Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron branded the proposals as "particularly silly".
He said: "It looks like whoever drew these lines on a map didn't look at any contour lines and probably has never been to Cumbria, they're probably sat in an office in London.
"The very idea you can put Windermere in with Whitehaven, where the only road link literally is the Hardknott Pass is quite laughable really."
He urged people to get involved in the consultation, which runs until Tuesday 2 August.
"To be fair to the Boundary Commission, on past record when they've received peoples submissions, suggestions and alternatives, the evidence is that the Boundary Commission listens," he said.
"If I was a betting man I would wager that these would not be the final proposals."
If approved, the changes would be introduced in time for the 2023 general election.
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- Published10 September 2018
