Mann ‘delighted’ at boundary vote

Beckingham, Walkeringham, Saundby, North and South Wheatley, Bole, Sturton-le-Steeple and North Leverton will all remain within Mr Mann’s parliamentary constituency.

It follows last week’s vote when the Government’s proposal for an overhaul of constituency boundaries was defeated.

In the House of Commons after Liberal Democrat politicians opposed their Conservative coalition partners.

MPs voted by 334 to 292 to accept changes made by peers, meaning the planned constituency shake-up will be postponed until 2018 at the earliest.

In 2011, Parliament had agreed in principle to reduce the number of MPs and redraw the electoral map to make constituencies roughly the same size in terms of voters.

The number of MPs sitting in Parliament would have been reduced from 650 to 600 as a result. But arguments prompted by last year’s Tory decision to drop plans for elections to the House of Lords have resulted in the Lib Dems blocking the move.

The proposed changes would have seen both Beckingham and Sturton wards would have become part of the Sherwood Parliamentary constituency.

Mr Mann said he was committed to continuing to work on local issues and ensuring that local views are represented.

He said: “Should I be elected to Parliament again in 2015, I am delighted that I will continue to represent the people of Beckingham and Sturton.”

“There are many current issues such as wind farms and rural employment that require long term support and action and I am committed to continuing to work on these local concerns and ensuring that local views are represented and heard at local and national levels.”

If the review had proceeded as planned, then political analysts believed it would have helped the Tories win up to 20 extra seats in the 2015 general election.