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Post by timrollpickering on Apr 5, 2016 20:44:42 GMT
Worth noting is that back in the days of the initial and first reviews, the average electorate of Scottish and Welsh seats was the same as in England. Different rates of population growth has led to an imbalance (corrected in Scotland) which was later justified on the basis of the fact of 'non-devolution'. That's why Northern Irish seats were boosted after the suspension of Stormont. Well actually they were boosted because of horse trading as part of a deal with the UU to keep the Callaghan government afloat the late 1970s. Stormont was first suspended in 1972 and then abolished in 1973 by the previous Conservative Government. It was abolished but the initial intention was the restoration of devolution in some other form. By the late 1970s there was a growing move towards total integration, led by Enoch Powell who also spearheaded the drive for more seats (which ultimately ended his own parliamentary career). By the way one thing I noticed on Callaghan Night is that the term "Ulster Unionist" was used not for what we now call the UUP (though then was also called the OUP) but rather for the whole of Unionism including the DUP and UUUP. It's a usage little seen these days - indeed when Ed Balls used it early on election night I thought he was showing his ignorance. Later when seeing the clips I thought he somehow knew more about the Northern Irish ballot boxes than Morley & Outwood's! Now I realise he was possibly the last to use the old definition.
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