Political map in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth could be re-drawn

With the number of Scottish MPs dropping from 59 to 52, the public are asked for their views on changing the constituencies.

The Boundary Commission has proposed two new constituencies: Cumbernauld and Coatbridge North, and East Dunbartonshire and Kilsyth, which would mark an end to 35 years of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth sharing a constituency.

Boundary Commission secretary Hugh Buchanan said: “There are strict numerical limits on the number of electorate that can be in each constituency, and the proposals also avoid breaking up local authority wards across more than one constituency. So we would have Cumbernauld and Coatbridge North containing six whole wards of North Lanarkshire, with Ward One being wholly contained within East Dunbartonshire and Kilsyth.”

However the proposals have not been welcomed by local politicians. Gregg McClymont, MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth, and Kirkintilloch East, said: “I’m not very happy. Cumbernauld and Kilsyth have been together in the same constituency for 35 years. Plenty of ties have built up in that time and it seems like a backward step to break them up now.”

And the SNP’s MSP Jamie Hepburn, who represents Cumbernauld and Kilsyth at the Scottish Parliament, said: “People in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, and the surrounding communities, will be rightly concerned at these proposals, which ride roughshod over the historic and traditional identities of the two towns.

“Keeping certain communities together within particular boundaries is not just for sentimental reasons, but for very practical reasons it is the best way to deal with shared social, economic and environmental issues.

“I am opposed to these proposals and I will make my objections to them absolutely clear in my submission to the Boundary Commission.”