Local electoral arrangements finalised for Preston City Council

The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its final recommendations for new electoral arrangements for Preston City Council.

Today's publication follows public consultation on its draft proposals last year and draws new boundaries for each council ward across Preston.

The Final Recommendations

The Commission's final recommendations propose that Preston should be represented by 48 city councillors in the future: nine fewer than the current arrangement. The recommendations also propose that those councillors should represent sixteen three-councillor wards.

Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said,

"We are extremely grateful to people across Preston who took part in the review. The Commission has looked at all the evidence that was put forward during the consultation.

"We believe these recommendations deliver electoral fairness for voters as well as reflecting community ties throughout Preston."

In response to local feedback during consultation, the Commission has changed the names of two of the wards it proposed in August 2017. As such, the proposed Tulketh ward is renamed Cadley ward as part of the final recommendations and Moor Park ward becomes Plungington ward.

Elsewhere in Preston, the Commission has amended its proposed boundary between the City Centre ward and Fishwick and Frenchwood ward so that the area between Bushell Place and Berwick Road will be part of the City Centre ward. The Commission was persuaded that the boundary would reflect local community identities.

Full details of the final recommendations are available on the Commission's website.

What happens next

The proposed new arrangements must now be implemented by Parliament. A draft Order - the legal document which brings into force the recommendations - will be laid in Parliament in the coming months. The draft Order provides for the new electoral arrangements to come into force at the council elections in 2019.

Background information

• The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is responsible for reviewing local authority electoral arrangements, for example defining boundaries for local elections and the number of councillors to be elected and - separately - for conducting reviews of local government external boundaries and structure.

• The electoral review of Preston City Council is a separate undertaking from the review of parliamentary constituency boundaries which is being carried out by a separate body (Boundary Commission for England) under different rules and legislation.

• Full details of the Commission's final recommendations (including maps) can be viewed on The Local Government Boundary Commission website.

Map of new ward boundaries

You can download a copy of the Wards, Polling Districts and Polling Stations map (PDF) [5MB] .