Know Your Boundaries

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Discover the new constituency of Hammersmith

It's all change for our area in the upcoming general election, as Hammersmith and Fulham disappears and Hammersmith becomes a new constituency in its own right.

The constituency will see Shepherd's Bush leave its current parliamentary constituency of Ealing, Acton & Shepherd's Bush and join the newly created constituency of Hammersmith.

That means the new constituency will include most residents living in the W12, W6 and W14 postcodes in an area running from Lillie Road in the south to Wormwood Scrubs in the north.

The Boundary Commission, which continually reviews constituency borders to reflect population changes, says Shepherd's Bush is actually returning to where it was before.

" Previously, the Shepherd's Bush area had historically been located in a constituency called Hammersmith. The boundaries of this constituency, over a period of many years, were very similar to the boundaries of the new Hammersmith constituency,” said a spokesperson.

During a review in the early 1990s, this all changed when the Commission created a new constituency that crossed borough boundaries, and Ealing, Acton & Shepherd's Bush was born.

Following another review in late 2001, the Boundary Commission paired the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham with neighbouring Kensington and Chelsea and out of this created three new parliamentary constituencies, one of which is Hammersmith.

We asked the Commission to explain why the Hammersmith seat has no reference to Shepherd's Bush in its name. A spokesperson explained: " The Commission's policy on the naming of constituencies is that when a constituency's boundaries have been redrawn to the extent that the existing name is no longer appropriate, an alternative name is sought.

" Also, it is the Commission's policy that, where possible, a constituency name should reflect the name of the borough wholly or principally contained in the constituency (or the district or unitary authority outside of London).

" As the new constituency is wholly contained within the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, that which could be called the area of Hammersmith is contained within the constituency, and in view that the Shepherd's Bush area had historically been located in the constituency called Hammersmith, it was considered that the name Hammersmith was an appropriate name for the new constituency."

The new Hammersmith constituency comprises ten wards: Addison, Askew, Avonmore and Brook Green, College Park and Old Oak, Fulham Reach, Hammersmith Broadway, North End, Ravenscourt Park, Shepherd's Bush Green, Wormholt and White City.

The changes affect the parliamentary constituency only and borough boundaries will remain the same.

February 4, 2010