Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

The Minister said that I am just plain wrong. Can he therefore explain the purpose of new paragraph 4(2) in substitute Schedule 2 to the 1986 Act: "““A constituency does not have to comply with rule 2(1)(a) if … it has an area of more than 12,000 square kilometres””." Paragraph 2(1)(a) provides, of course, that it need be, "““no less than 95% of the United Kingdom electoral quota””." My understanding of that is that in the highlands at least one constituency, if not the existing constituency of his right honourable friend, would be exempt from that rule, and on previous voting patterns it is likely that it would be a Liberal Democrat constituency.