Frequently Asked Questions
 What is the Boundary Commission?
There are four Boundary Commissions, one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Commissions are permanent bodies. The Speaker of the House of Commons, is the Chairman of each of the four Commissions. There are three other members of the Northern Ireland Commission. The Deputy Chairman, who presides over Commission meetings, is a High Court Judge appointed by the Lord Chief Justice. The Commission's two other members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
What is the role of the Commission?
The role of the Commission is to keep under continuous review the number, names and boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies. The Commission must submit Periodical Reports to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland every 8 to 12 years. The number of constituencies which the Commission can recommend cannot be greater than 18 or less than 16. There are currently 18 constituencies each returning a single Member of Parliament to the House of Commons in London and six members to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast.
What are?
Local government wards are the building-blocks of local government district (district council) areas, district electoral areas and Parliamentary constituencies. There are 582 wards in Northern Ireland. They vary in size of electorate from around 500 voters in some rural areas to almost 4,000 voters in Belfast. The number, names and boundaries of wards are reviewed every 10 to 15 years by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner. The Boundary Commission are obliged to avoid dividing wards between constituencies when making recommendations, though they have the power to do in certain circumstances. See Rules for Redistribution of Seats.
District electoral areas (DEAs) are groups of five, six or seven wards, grouped together for the purpose of electing local representatives (councillors) to district councils using the Proportional Representation single transferable method of voting. There are 101 DEAs in Northern Ireland. Boundaries of DEAs are recommended by the District Electoral Areas Commissioner, appointed for this purpose by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Boundary Commission recognise that DEAs can often represent a community of interest and strive to avoid dividing them between Parliamentary constituencies when formulating their recommendations.
Local government districts (LGDs) are the areas controlled by district councils. There are currently 26 LGDs in Northern Ireland. The boundaries of LGDs are recommended by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner. The Boundary Commission recognise that LGD boundaries can often be expressive of local ties and local communities, and strive to avoid dividing them between Parliamentary constituencies. As with DEAs, however, it is inevitable that a number of LGDs are divided between Parliamentary constituencies.
Each Parliamentary constituency returns to Parliament at Westminster a single member, elected by the Simple Majority ('First Past the Post') electoral system. The Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland may recommend that Northern Ireland be divided into 16, 17 or 18 constituencies. See below, How many constituencies? and Rules for Redistribution of Seats.
What determines constituency boundaries?
In making recommendations, the Commission have to give effect to the Rules for Redistribution of Seats contained in Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986. The Rules require that the Commission try to avoid splitting local government wards between constituencies, and keep constituencies as close to the electoral quota as practicable having regard to geographical, size, shape and accessibility considerations as well as inconveniences attendant on alterations.
What is the Electoral Quota?
The electoral quota is determined by dividing the total Northern Ireland electorate, as it stands on the enumeration date, by the number of existing constituencies. On the last Review enumeration date, 16 May 2003, the total Northern Ireland electorate stood at 1,097,450 and the number of existing constituencies was 18. The Electoral Quota for the last Review was therefore 60,969.
Is there consultation?
Yes. The Commission caused three public Local Inquiries to be held during their last Review.
How many constituencies?
The Commission may recommend that Northern Ireland be divided into 16, 17 or 18 constituencies. They are of the opinion that they would be justified in recommending a number of constituencies other than 17 only to reduce or alleviate difficulties experienced in applying the Rules for Redistribution of Seats on the basis of 17 seats. In their last Report the Commission recommended the retention of 18 constituencies.
Will the Commission be reviewing Local Government Boundaries?
No. This is the responsibility of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner.
Local Government Boundaries Commissioner for Northern Ireland (LGBC)
Local Government Reform Division
Must the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland accept Recommendations?
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is required to lay the Commission's Report and Recommendations before Parliament together with an Order in Council to give effect to the Recommendations. If modifications are proposed by the Secretary of State reasons for doing so have to be given. The Parliamentary Constituencies (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 gave effect to the Commission’s last recommendations without modification.
When will boundaries next be reviewed?
The Commission must review constituency boundaries at intervals of between 8 and 12 years from the date of submission of their last Periodical Review Report but may conduct Interim Reviews in the intervening period where it is felt that considerations warrant this.
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