Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986

Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986[a]
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to consolidate the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Acts 1949 to 1979 and certain related enactments.
Citation1986 c. 56
Territorial extent United Kingdom[b]
Dates
Royal assent7 November 1986
Commencement7 February 1987[c]
Other legislation
AmendsRepresentation of the People Act 1948
Repeals/revokes
Amended by
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (c. 56) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is the current legislation defining the constitution and work of the four parliamentary Boundary Commissions in the UK. A copy of the current text of the legislation, incorporating all current amendments, is available from the legislation section of the Boundary Commission for Scotland website.[1]

Provisions

The act consolidated earlier legislation, namely the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 66), the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz. 2. c. 26) and the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1979.

Amendment

The act has been amended by the Boundary Commissions Act 1992, and by various other statutes, and remains in force. In February 2011, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 received royal assent, which substantially amended the act. The changes affected the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which provides for a review to be laid before Parliament that contains 50 fewer constituencies and less variation in electorates. It also provides for more frequent boundary reviews and a small reduction in the length of the consultation period.

Notes

  1. ^ Section 9(1).
  2. ^ Section 9(3).
  3. ^ Section 9(2)

References

  1. ^ "Boundary Commission for Scotland – Legislation". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.