Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008

I take this opportunity to congratulate the chief commissioner, Richard Mackenzie, and the other staff in the commission on their work in bringing forward the review of the parliamentary boundaries in Northern Ireland. Arriving at the final recommendations is an exhaustive process which takes considerable time, especially if you consider that the provisional recommendations were announced in April 2004 and the review was announced in 2003. During this exercise there has been good co-operation with the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, the Valuation and Lands Agency, the Statistics and Research Agency and, of course, the Ordnance Survey. I particularly welcome the recommendation to retain the 18 parliamentary seats in Northern Ireland. Of course, some difficulties arose from the postponement in the appointment of a local government boundaries commissioner and the uncertainties about the proposed restructuring of local government in Northern Ireland. Therefore, I particularly welcome the Northern Ireland Assembly’s recent agreement to the review of public administration resulting in the rationalisation of the current 26 local councils to 11. It is difficult to comment on the 12 constituencies in which the changes have been made. I do not intend to do that, but I refer to Belfast, which has undergone some demographic changes over a number of years. It is important, however, that the natural boundaries of Belfast are reflected in the boundaries of the constituency. I welcome the fact that the commissioner has taken into account that the system is to be built on the wards. Finally, my noble friend Lord Morrow and I welcome the revisions, and so support the order.