‘Very confusing’: Brownswood residents urged to fight boundary changes that could see them represented by politicians in two different boroughs

An election count in Hackney. Photograph: Julia Gregory

Voters are concerned proposed boundary changes could end up being “very confusing”.

Laura Necchi-Ghiri said people in the north Hackney ward of Brownswood ward could end up with councillors based in Hackney but an MP who represents Tottenham.

She is urging voters to have their say in a Boundary Commission consultation that is due to end this month.

The plan to overhaul electoral boundaries is designed to even out the numbers of voters in parliamentary constituencies and will increase the number of MPs from 533 to 543.

Nechhi-Ghiri said it would see voters in Brownswood moved from Hackney North and Stoke Newington, where Diane Abbott is the Labour MP, to neighbouring Tottenham, represented by David Lammy, also Labour.

She said this could pave the way to confusion and leave residents asking politicians from two different boroughs to take up their concerns.

She explained: “This means that despite paying council tax in Hackney, and electing local councillors in Hackney, for the purposes of general elections the residents of Brownswood and Woodberry Down wards will be voting for candidates standing in Tottenham – something that many residents feel is very confusing.”

She said another option of moving Brownswood ward into the Islington North constituency, where Jeremy Corbyn has been MP since 1983, “appears to have been taken off the table”.

She said this “at least offered a link for Brownswood residents with a constituency with which they share local shops, businesses and amenities such as the local library”.

The Boundary Commission said it has changed nearly half of its initial proposals after feedback from 45,000 people in the first two stages of the consultation.

It said: “The number of electors within each constituency currently varies widely due to population changes since the last boundary review.

“The 2023 Boundary Review will rebalance the number of electors each MP represents, resulting in significant change to the existing constituency map.”

The closing date for views is Monday 5 December and final recommendations will be submitted to Parliament by July next year.

Voters can submit their views here.