Boundary reviews and polling

Polling district, places and stations

North Northamptonshire is divided into polling districts for the purposes of parliamentary elections and designates polling places for each of those districts.

Under electoral legislation, we must complete a review of all polling districts and polling places every four years. After each election we also review the staff and elector feedback of the location of polling stations to ensure that the premises we use have good access for all electors. The last official review of polling districts, places and stations took place in 2019. The next scheduled review of polling districts and places is expected to take place in 2023. 

• Polling district: A polling district is a geographical area, created by the sub-division of a parliamentary constituency or ward, into smaller areas. Each parish must be in a separate polling district.
• Polling place: A polling place is a geographical area defined by the council within which the polling station is found. There must be one polling place for each polling district. This could be as small as a particular building or as large as the whole polling district itself.
• Polling station: A polling station is the physical location at which polling takes place, and it is the responsibility of the Returning Officer to designate polling stations within the polling place.

Boundary reviews

Principal area boundary reviews

Principal area boundary reviews are reviews of the boundaries between local authorities carried out by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).

Following the recent establishment of two new unitary councils for the Northamptonshire area, it is likely that a boundary review will take place soon. Once this review has been confirmed, a full public consultation will commence. Further details about reviews can be found on the Local Government Boundary Commission website.

Community governance reviews

Community governance reviews (CGR) are carried out by principal councils to put in place or make changes to local community (parish) governance arrangements. CGR’s can be initiated by one of the following:

• a valid petition from electors
• a formal request from a parish council or a local member
• a decision taken by the principal council itself if it feels a review is appropriate 

Any petition must define the area to which the review is to relate, specify one or more recommendations which the petitioners wish that CGR to consider making and be signed by the following number of local government electors:

• Less than 500 electors: 50% of the electors
• 500 - 2,499 electors: At least 250 of the electors
• More than 2,500: At least 10% of the electors

A CGR can consider several issues, including:

• whether to create a new parish
• whether to alter the boundary of an existing parish
• whether to group several parishes together in a grouped parish council

The most recent reviews in North Northamptonshire took place between 2018 and 2020 on the unparished areas of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough. These reviews were undertaken by the previous borough councils as part of the reform of local government in Northamptonshire. The result of the CGR were to establish parishes for the unparished towns of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough.

Parliamentary boundary reviews

North Northamptonshire is currently made up of four parliamentary constituencies; Corby, Daventry (part), Kettering and Wellingborough.

Parliamentary boundary reviews are reviews of the parliamentary constituency boundaries and are carried out by the Boundary Commission for England (BCE), an independent organisation. 

There is currently an ongoing review which will conclude in June 2023, when a formal report will confirm their recommendations for the parliamentary constituencies going forward. Residents are encouraged to review the proposals and provide their opinions on the changes to the boundaries. 

Last updated 11 April 2023