'We are forgotten': Parliamentary boundary changes in Northamptonshire leave people feeling ignored

Voters in parts of Northamptonshire have been left feeling confused and overlooked after changes to parliamentary boundaries have lumped them into a constituency with other communities more than 30 miles away.

People in Isham, Wilby and even parts of Wellingborough itself will be voting for an MP for Daventry come July 4 after being moved from the Wellingborough and Rushden constituency.

The Boundary Commission published changes to the makeup of UK seats in 2023 in order to standardise the number of people each MP represents. This has seen certain towns and villages up and down the country jumping constituencies since they last went to the polls in 2019.

Kris Longden, 28, who lives in the village of Wilby, three miles south-west of Wellingborough town centre, said the area has got nothing to do with Daventry.

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"I actually didn’t realise until I went on a website that tells you your candidates, so I don’t think it was publicised very well that the constituency borders have changed," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"I thought the website had bugged out. I don’t know where Daventry is.

"I feel like they’re going to target areas for improvements that are kind of in the more populated or centralised areas, to be on the fringe is like we will be forgotten about."

However, he did stress that he wasn't sure if it would make much of a difference and was unsure if local issues would have been represented well enough whether in Wellingborough or Daventry.

Over in Isham, a village between Kettering and Wellingborough, residents shared similar concerns that their next MP wouldn't understand the area and be able to champion local issues for them.

One lady, who has lived in the area for 24 years, said on her doorstep: "They only talk about Daventry- it seems they’re not interested in this part of the world.

"Isham has always been under Wellingborough and it should be kept that way."

Another riled-up resident said: "They have got MPs standing for Wellingborough but us here have to to vote for Daventry- now that’s not right.

"I can’t see the point. MPs need to be local."

Both women were concerned that local issues would be swept under the rug by the incoming member of parliament. Their biggest worries lay with the long-promised Isham bypass and whether it would come to fruition without a trusted voice campaigning for them.

Friends Gordon Kelly and Michael Lamb have both lived in the Redhill Grange estate on the northern edge of Wellingborough for more than 20 and 30 years respectively. They said they are voting for Reform UK this election based on national issues such as pensions and immigration and are angry with the Conservative government.

Though their minds are already made up, they also take issue with their homes being moved over to the Daventry constituency and questioned why the change had been made.

Mr Lamb said: "Who the hell lives in Daventry who knows about Wellingborough? If there’s any money it’s going to go to Daventry, it won’t come to us."

Mr Kelly also added: " It’s a long way away. We don’t know Daventry and they don’t know us.

"Corby gets the best of the money, then Kettering, we’re right down at the bottom. We are forgotten anyway, but they’re not going to bother with us over there."

However, some changes made in the commission have moved certain communities closer together under the new borders. For example, most of Irthlingborough up to Bypass Road has now been moved into the Wellingborough and Rushden seat from Corby and East Northants.

Anthony Yabugbe, who moved into the area over a year ago, stressed the importance of having an MP who understands local issues.

He said he had cast his vote on "fundamental issues" such as waiting times in the NHS and immigration, but also said that local roads were "terrible" and need to be addressed.

He told the LDRS : "I think representation is very important because that’s what directly impacts you. An MP with local knowledge will definitely push for things for the community- it's very important.

"You need to be able to impact on the grassroots level before you get to the national level."

The boundary commission requires every constituency to have an electorate that is no smaller than 69,724, and no larger than 77,062 – within five per cent of the ‘electoral quota’. One in ten seats had no changes to their boundaries, however 585 areas had some form of change with brand new constituencies being created in some circumstances.

You can find more information on the changes to all seven Northamptonshire constituencies here.

Candidates standing in Wellingborough and Rushden:

• Jeremy Spencer Brittin - Social Democratic Party

• David Philip Goss - The Conservative Party

• Ben Habib - Reform UK

• Gen Kitchen - Labour Party

• Paul Michael Mannion - The Green Party

• Christopher Francis Townsend - Liberal Democrats

Candidates standing in Daventry:

• Stuart Andrew - The Conservative Party

• Scott Ewen Cameron - Reform UK

• Jonathan William Harris - Liberal Democrats

• Marianne Kimani - Labour Party

• Clare Patricia Slater - The Green Party