Boundary battle 'not rule breaking'

JOHNNY MERCER SAYS CLAIMS ARE MERELY A ‘SMEAR’ BY ACTIVISTS

- CARL EVE

A BATTLE of the boundaries has erupted as Conservative minister Johnny Mercer denied he had broken Commons rules by sending campaign material to constituents of a neighbouring MP.

According to The Mirror the Veterans’ minister sent letters – on Commons headed notepaper – to people living in the Peverell part of Plymouth which is about to come into the Plymouth Moor View constituency following the redrawing of the boundaries ahead of the July General Election.

Last week The Herald reported how the boundary shake-up was brought about by the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) which, in 2022, carried out a review of constituencies. The BCE proposed a tweaking of the border running through Peverell to ensure there were roughly equal number of voters in each constituency.

Initially, the BCE proposed that Keyham should be moved into the Plymouth Moor View constituency, but this was shelved after Labour candidate for Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard, argued Keyham and Ford should be represented by the same MP because of the tragedy experienced by both communities when a gunman killed five people and injured two more in 2021.