Wards revamp 'to cut councillors'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/wales_politics/8314473.stm

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Around 200 local councillors in Wales could be axed under proposals to change electoral boundaries.

The boundary commission wants to see "electoral parity" or councillors elected by a similar number of voters.

There are currently more than 1,260 councillors in Wales but these would reduce by around a sixth.

The draft reports for Denbighshire, Neath Port Talbot and Newport are the first to be published and could lead to each losing up to 10 councillors.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales said it believed it was completely unfair that in some places, councillors were elected by more than 3,000 voters, while in other wards, it could be just over 1,000.

Commission chair Paul Wood, said: "The situation where some councillors are representing far fewer electors than others in their council area cannot be fair.

"To simply insist that what already exists must always stay the same will only continue the unfairness that exists in many parts of Wales and is not good for democracy."