Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986

The Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 (c. 56) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is the current^[update] legislation defining the constitution and work of the four parliamentary Boundary Commissions in the UK. A copy of the current text of the legislation, incorporating all current amendments, is available from the legislation section of the Boundary Commission for Scotland website.^[1]

Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986^[a]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Acts 1949 to 1979 and certain related enactments.
Citation	1986 c. 56
Territorial extent	United Kingdom[b]
Dates
Royal assent	7 November 1986
Commencement	7 February 1987[c]
Other legislation
Amends	Representation of the People Act 1948
Repeals/revokes	House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958 House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1979
Amended by	Boundary Commissions Act 1992 Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

Provisions

The act consolidated earlier legislation, namely the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 66), the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1958 (6 & 7 Eliz. 2. c. 26) and the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1979.

Amendment

The act has been amended by the Boundary Commissions Act 1992, and by various other statutes, and remains in force. In February 2011, the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 received royal assent, which substantially amended the act. The changes affected the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which provides for a review to be laid before Parliament that contains 50 fewer constituencies and less variation in electorates. It also provides for more frequent boundary reviews and a small reduction in the length of the consultation period.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. Section 9(1).
2. Section 9(3).
3. Section 9(2)