Political and Constitutional Reform

Chris Heaton-Harris Excerpts

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I think that that is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. I am sure that he will reply to the hon. Gentleman’s question as soon as he knows when he will be answering questions in the Scottish Parliament.

[Chris Heaton-Harris (Daventry) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend and I used to represent a region containing 4.2 million people in the European Parliament, and we now represent constituencies with electorates of roughly the same size. Can my right hon. Friend tell us how large he thinks the electorate would be in the ideal seat?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

We estimate, on the basis of calculations that will need to be derived from the electoral register published in early December, that the optimal size will be about 75,000.