The proposed changes included having a total of 600 seats rather than 650, as agreed by Parliament in 2011 to meet a reformist aim of the 2010–2015 coalition agreement.
Part II of the Act (henceforth referred to as 'PVSaCA') deals with the amendments to the manner in which House of Commons constituencies are formed by the individual boundary commissions.
Following a debate in the House of Lords on 14 January 2013, the Opposition tabled and voted for an amendment to legislation to postpone the date by which the Review ends, which they passed and sent back to the Commons, on a relatively small 69-vote majority.
[7] The Review had been required for completion by October 2013 under the principles of Section 3 of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (themselves loosening previous requirements by instead calling for periodic reviews every eight to twelve years) as left intact by Part 2 of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011.
They are: The four commissions adopted consistent procedures for developing their boundary proposals, starting with simultaneous announcements in March 2011 which began the review process.
In each part of the UK, the relevant commission first published "Provisional Proposals", accessible on the Web and viewable at local council offices.
The English commission began its public consultations on 11 October 2011 in Manchester, and concluded on 17/18 November in Darlington, and Exeter.
[16] The quota does not apply if the area of a constituency is larger than 12,000 square kilometres (4,630 sq mi) (new Schedule 2, Rule 4(2)).
[17] The English Commission outlined that it was "focused on getting all constituencies within the statutory range, rather than as close as possible to the electoral quota figure itself".
Amongst the proposals, Prime Minister David Cameron (Witney) and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband (Doncaster North) would have seen their seats remain intact with no changes.
The so-called Devonwall constituency, sharing wards between neighbouring Devon and Cornwall, was suggested as "Bideford and Bude".
[20][21][22] The official response of the Democratic Unionist Party criticised the proposals as having "the stench of gerrymander" and having "a disproportionately negative impact upon Unionism".
[23] The Ulster Unionist Party identified "particular disquiet" in specific towns as a result of the provisional proposals but accepted that there was "limited room for manoeuvre".
[25] Cardiff had its representation cut by one, the Isle of Anglesey was joined with Bangor and Bethesda in a new seat styled "Menai ac Ynys Môn", and Merthyr Tydfil was brought into a new constituency named "Heads of the Valley".
[26] Unlike in the initial proposals, the Commission split (or divided) some electoral wards between seats,[27] specifically in Tewkesbury and Gloucester.
On 16 October 2012, the Northern Irish Commission confirmed alterations to their proposed Antrim, Fermanagh and Tyrone seats.
[38] Labour MP for Preston, Mark Hendrick, labelled the proposals "gerrymandering to curry political persuasion".
[42] In August 2012 the House of Lords Reform Bill 2012 was dropped by the Government, after disagreements between members of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
In response, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed that he would instruct his MPs to vote against the Sixth Periodic Review,[citation needed] although David Cameron vowed to pass the necessary orders regardless.
[43][44] On 30 October, an amendment to the Electoral Registration and Administration Bill was tabled by Labour and Liberal Democrat peers which would postpone the Sixth Periodic Review until 2018.