PROPOSALS to leave Westminster constituencies in the South of Scotland largely unchanged have been welcomed.
Veteran politician David Mundell said “people want stability and this is what is being offered”.
The Boundary Commission is currently reviewing constituencies and Scotland will lose two of its 59 seats under the proposals.
The MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale said: “What people generally want is stability.
“They don’t want any great upheaval.”
Under the proposals, now open to public consultation, Mr Mundell’s constituency remains “largely the same”.
If the suggested changes are finally approved, he will gain what he called “rural parts of Dumfries” while “the town parts” will go to Dumfries and Galloway.
The sitting Member there is the current secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack.
He said: “The aim of the review is to ensure fair and equal representation for the voting public across the United Kingdom.
“I think it is sensible that there are only limited changes to the well-established constituency of Dumfries and Galloway, and my thanks go to the Boundary Commission for their work on this.”
Previously, the Boundary Commission was unable to split wards, but now it can.
According to Mr Mundell, this enables “a greater logic” to be applied to its proposals.
“People don’t get exercised about one constituency or another unless a change proposes running a boundary from Annan to Carluke. That happened last time and didn’t make sense,” he said.
“These proposals are about rebalancing and I think they are right.”
Under the plans for his own constituency, Mr Mundell also gains around 1500 people from Carnwath, just north of Biggar.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland welcomes comments in opposition or support of the proposals on its consultation site. The eight-week consultation opened on October 14. www.bcs2023review.com
