The Local Government Boundary Commission has released its final report recommending a new political map for Durham County Council.
The recommendations include reducing the number of County Councillors by 28, from the current 126 to 98, including a reduction by one for Ferryhill, although its boundary, and Chilton’s, are two of the few set to remain relatively stable.
Chilton is also set to keep its allocation of one County Councillor.
The commission’s review of the county’s electoral map was precipitated by what it describes as ‘electoral inequality’ – that some councillors across the county currently represent many more or fewer electors than others.
The commission aims to create ‘electoral equality’, where the number of electors per councillor is as even as possible, ideally within 10% of being exactly equal.
It has concluded that the best way to do so is to ensure that ‘the divisions in County Durham are in the best possible places to help the Council carry out its responsibilities effectively’ and ‘the number of electors represented by each councillor is approximately the same across the county’.
To that end, it has concluded that ‘County Durham should be represented by 98 councillors, 28 fewer than there are now’; the county ‘should have 51 divisions, 12 fewer than there are now’, and that ‘the boundaries of nearly all divisions should change.’
The commission rejected proposals to bring Kirk Merrington and North Close into a Spennymoor or Tudhoe division as it ‘would be difficult to achieve while ensuring good electoral equality’.
The full report can be read by searching for County Durham here.
The recommendations are set to go before parliament in January with the new arrangements to apply at the May 2025 local elections if approved.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
