Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many new voters were added to the electoral register after the General Election 2017 was announced; and whether the change in the number of people registered to vote will affect the work of the Electoral Commission in its review of parliamentary constituencies.

The Electoral Commission intends to publish data on the number of new electors added to the register at the election in due course.

The Government's manifesto re-affirms the commitment to deliver equal and updated boundaries and reduce the size of the House of Commons.

Following laws already passed by Parliament, which provided that the current Boundary Review should be based on the electoral registers from 2015, the independent and impartial Boundary Commissions are consulting on their proposals to deliver the boundary changes, and they will submit their final proposals to Parliament in autumn 2018. These reforms will ensure fair and equal representation for the voting public across the United Kingdom.

Equalising the size of constituencies in the Boundary Review will ensure everyone’s vote will carry equal weight. Without such boundary reforms, MPs could end up representing constituencies based on data that is over 20 years’ old, disregarding significant changes in demographics, house building and migration.