Madam,

The term “Gerry-mandering” is derived from the 19th century Massachusetts governor, who distorted the constituency boundaries in this state, to lend electoral advantage to his political party. There was one seat which was so illogically and contrivedly mis-shaped, that many commented on its resemblance to a salamander on the map!

Fast-forward to 2016, and the present parliamentary seats review for Westminster, one can see some interesting shapes in our own backyard of Mid and West Wales. The new Ceredigion seat will now straddle three diverse counties, whilst a new salamander super-constituency further north will stretch from Aberdaron in the west, to Machynlleth in the south, to Denbigh in the north-east.

The contrived nature of these areas on the map can be highlighted by considering how long it would take to travel between these points by public transport.

We are told by the Conservative administration in Westminster that this whole exercise “reduces the cost of politics”; in reality, the result will be reduced representation and voice for Wales, at a critical political time, as the Brexit negotiations begin in earnest.

Additionally, and this is where Governor Gerry comes back in, this will inevitably become a squeeze at constituency-level on the smaller parties (such as Plaid and the Lib Dems), who are already massively disadvantaged by the archiac first-past-the-post voting system. You would think, listening to the two main parties, that the only issue is “fairness” in how their votes stack-up in elections, as if anyone would have the temerity to vote for others. This is deeply undemocratic.

If reducing the cost of politics is the true aim, then wholesale reform of the un-elected, unaccountable House of Lords is surely a better priority? This is now one of the world’s largest and most bloated parliamentary bodies, and gives very little weighting or influence to provincial areas outside of the London bubble, such as those in rural Wales.

Yours etc,

Dr Chris Finlayson, Pen y Cei, Aberystwyth.

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