The Local Government Boundary commission for England (LGBCE) are responsible for conducting reviews of local government areas.
The LGBCE are independent of central and local government and political parties. They are directly accountable to Parliament through a committee of MPs chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
The LGBCE have now completed the Electoral Review of Wirral. The LGBCE reviewed:
- the number of councillors
- the names, and boundaries of wards
- electoral equality figures for each ward
The intention of the review is to ensure, so far as possible, that each elected councillor represents the same number of electors.
Wirral currently has:
- 66 councillors
- 22 wards
- 103 polling districts
It has reviewed Wirral Council to make sure that each Councillor represents an equal number of electors, within a desired 10% tolerance from the average, and that ward arrangements will help the council work effectively.
The Commission has published final recommendations for changes in Wirral Council. It says residents should be represented by 65 councillors.
This is one less Councillor than the current arrangements.
There will be 21 three-Councillor wards, and one two-Councillor ward. Some ward boundaries will change.
Publishing the recommendations Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Local Boundary Commission England, said:
“We are very grateful to people in Wirral. We looked at all the views they gave us. They helped us improve our earlier proposals. We believe the new arrangements will deliver electoral fairness while maintaining local ties.”
93 people and organisations made comments to help decide the new wards. Changes in response to what local people said include:
- West Kirby and Thurstaston and Hoylake and Meols wards have been revised to ensure all West Kirby town is included in a single ward. As a result, Hoylake and Meols ward will now have two councillors instead of three.
- Minor boundary changes were made to Birkenhead and Tranmere, Bromborough and Port Sunlight, Oxton, Prenton, and Rock Ferry and New Ferry wards based on local evidence.
The recommendations only become law once they have received parliamentary approval. The formal document (a draft Order) to start that process will be laid in Parliament in the coming weeks. The draft Order will provide for the new electoral arrangements for Wirral Council which will come into effect for the local elections on May 6th, 2027.
The final recommendations can be found at Wirral | LGBCE
Please note that this is the Local Government Boundary Commissions final decision and there are no further opportunities to consult on these recommendations.