Boundary Review sees Ballymena move to South Antrim
BALLYMENA is to be tied with much of its traditional County Antrim hinterland in a major change to Boundary Commission proposals for revised Northern Ireland Westminster constituencies, it has been revealed.
The market town is the fulcrum of the DUP’s Paisley dynasty and is likely to be linked with Antrim
town after a fierce lobbying campaign designed to preserve connections between the two largely unionist centres, new recommendations from the Commission showed.
The coalition plans to reduce the number of Northern Ireland MPs from 18 to 16 but that ambition may
never be realised after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he would block the changes when David Cameron indicated he could not deliver on reform plans for the House of Lords.
Former DUP leader Ian Paisley Snr was MP for North Antrim, with Ballymena as its heartland, from 1970 and his son Ian Paisley Jnr has been the incumbent since 2010.
The Commission has decided to reconfigure the Mid Antrim and South Antrim constituencies and to
rename the former as East Antrim.
Ballymena will become part of South Antrim, instead of being linked with parts of coastal Antrim.
The Commission has also recommended renaming the North Antrim constituency as Coleraine and North Antrim.
The review of constituencies was launched in March 2011 and was ordered by the coalition Government
to shrink the size of parliament.
The three member Commission in Northern Ireland is led by deputy chairman and retired deputy High Court Judge Mr Justice Richard McLaughlin.
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Weather for Ballymena
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
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