The boundary commissions of England, Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland have published their proposals for redrawing constituency borders to create a smaller House Of Commons.
As expected the Labour Party would lose the most MPs.
Still working from 2015 voter data, the proposals do not vary from those made under David Cameron’s Coalition Government.
Among the constituencies that would be lost would be Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North seat.
Critics say that the proposals are undemocratic and gerrymandering by the Tories.
A University of Plymouth study found that Labour would have had 30 fewer seats if the proposals had been active in the last election.
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Cat Smith said it amounted to “an undemocratic power grab”.
She added: “with no plans to reduce the number of ministers, the government is weakening the role of parliament and creating unprecedented levels of executive dominance at the expense of backbenchers, when parliament is meant to be taking back control.
“Cutting the number of MPs by 50 as we prepare to leave the European Union is further proof this government is clamouring to tighten its grip on power.
“With the workload of MPs set to rise after Brexit, with thousands of pieces of important legislation expected to come through parliament, it would be utterly ludicrous to go ahead with these boundary changes.”
The number of MPs would be reduced from 650 to 600. The proposal may still be defeated in the House of Commons, though the DUP are now believed to be on the Government’s side on the proposals which would jeopardise the narrow lead that the Labour Party has opened over the Tories in recent opinion polls.
Under the published plans, English seats would be cut from 533 to 510, Scotland’s from 59 to 53, Wales’ 40 to 29 and Northern Ireland would lose just one of its 19 seats.
As well as removing the Labour Leader’s Islington North seat which Corbyn has held since 1983, Boris Johnson’s majority would be damaged as his Uxbridge and Ruislip South constituency would lose Tory-leaning Yiewsley and gain Labour-leaning Northolt.
Hard Brexiteer David Davis could also face losing his majority under redrawn boundaries so Theresa May could face a rebellion from her own party despite the proposals being a Coalition plan conjured up under David Cameron.
The Electoral Reform Society warned of another danger for democracy: if the Tory Government retains all its ministers, that would mean if MPs are reduced to 600, for the first time ever 23% of all MPs would be forced to vote with the Government.
The boundary restructure was meant to happen while the Coalition Government was in power but the Liberal Democrats withdrew their support in 2013, having failed to get concessions on House of Lords reform from the Tories.
