One Step beyond..

The boundaries commission review of Holyrood constituencies is on the horizon, and with it a  faint hope that this might address the anomalies of ward boundaries not matching parliament boundaries but am not holding my breath – and why does this matter ? After all, isnt it only political parties that are concerned by this, as party branch organisation struggles to match the local with the city with the national ? No, as public and voluntary sector organisations would much rather see coherence and a clear path from the local to the national.. but the boundary commission always goes by population, not natural communities and isn’t concerned with administrative convenience,  and in Glasgow, always works from the west to the east - so how that might translate.. I know that my own ward of Partick West is the size of a small constituency in itself – the largest populated ward in the city at 25,000 plus and only set to grow given the potential for future development in this property hotspot as the riverside development hasnt finished. so one would speculate that the western part of the current Kelvin constituency (Scotstoun, Whiteinch) would be absorbed into Anniesland, as housing in Drumchapel has changed from high density to low density with associated population changes (ie; front and back doors instead of flats). Surely the anomaly of a constituency crossing the river will be addressed and the absurdity of Shettleston including Govanhill will be sorted ? Again, because of population, there will probably be two geographically large East End constituencies.  Overall, I would imagine Glasgow will lose one seat, with the least amount of change being south of the river. And us councillors will still be left with a mismatch between our parliamentary colleagues and our wards, heigh ho…