Louie French has expressed his support for the Boundary Commission’s proposals for the Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency and welcomes that the Commission listened to his request to keep the Old Bexley name in the constituency title.
The Boundary Commission 2023 Review is reviewing all Parliamentary constituencies in England to equalise the size of constituencies and the number of electorates to adjust to population changes, whilst taking into account local ties and geographical considerations.
For Old Bexley and Sidcup, the proposal is to maintain most of the current boundary of the constituency except to realign the constituency boundaries with the local government ward boundaries used for Bexley Council elections. This will increase the size of the new constituency by taking in some additional parts of Falconwood and Welling ward and East Wickham ward which are currently within the Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Louie has praised the proposals for strengthening community links by unifying Welling and for aligning Parliamentary and Council boundaries which will provide clarity for constituents and facilitate better joint working.
As a result of these changes, the Boundary Commission originally proposed a new constituency name of Sidcup and Welling rather than Old Bexley and Sidcup. In response to their original proposals, Louie expressed concern that this proposed name does not include Old Bexley which is affectionately known locally with a rich and distinctive history. Louie suggested Old Bexley, Sidcup & Welling instead and will continue to advocate for the inclusion of Welling in the constituency title given the distinct nature of Welling, its strong community feel and the length of the High Street which is one of the longest in London at almost 1 mile long.
The Boundary Commission are now running a final consultation on the revised proposals until 5th December 2022. You can submit your views on the proposals here. You can view Louie's submission to the final consultation in the below file.
Commenting, Louie said:
“I welcome that the Boundary Commission has listened to my request to keep the affectionately known Old Bexley name in the constituency title. Given the rich history and strongly recognisable features of Old Bexley, it would be a great shame and cause confusion to lose Old Bexley from the constituency name.”
“More widely, I welcome that the proposals strengthen community links by unifying Welling which is particularly important given the distinct nature of Welling and its strong community feel, as well as aligning the Parliamentary boundaries with the Bexley Council ward boundaries.”
“As someone who grew up in Blackfen and Welling, I am delighted that under the proposals the Old Bexley and Sidcup constituency would include Danson Park, Welling United FC and unify Welling High Street which is one of the longest High Streets in London!”
