SCOTLAND is set to have two fewer representatives at Westminster despite the planned changes being previously described as “outrageous”.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland published its final recommendations for UK Parliament constituencies in Scotland, with two MP seats set to be cut from the allocation north of the border.
Wales will also lose eight MPs through the shake-up, with England gaining 10 overall.
Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle laid the Commission’s report before the UK Parliament on Wednesday morning.
Scotland currently has 59 MPs, but this will be cut to 57 when the changes are approved by the UK Government.
Two seats - Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Orkney and Shetland - are protected under legislation. Of the remaining 55 seats, only eight remain unchanged.
The SNP have criticised the reduction in the number of seats and the "broken Westminster system".
Once the changes are approved, the boundary changes will come into effect ahead of the next General Election.
Lord Matthews, Deputy Chair of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, said: “The Commission would like to thank all those who participated in our 2023 Review by responding to our consultations and providing feedback to enable us to develop our final recommendations.
“We listened carefully to comments made on our proposals during the 2023 Review and made a number of changes to boundaries and to constituency names.
“We believe our final recommendations meet the requirements of the legislation governing the review and within those constraints fairly reflect the views expressed to us during our consultations.”
Within four months, the UK Government is required to submit an Order to the Privy Council to sign off on the changes suggested by all four boundary commissions from nations across the UK.
Westminster cannot make any changes to the recommendations unless asked to do so by the relevant Commission, and once the Order has been signed off, the changes will take effect ahead of the next General Election.
The two seats that will be lost are taken from two council area groupings.
First, Glasgow City, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire, will lose one seat from the current 10.
The Glasgow Central constituency will disappear, with parts broken up and divided up into other city constituencies.
As will Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Highland and Moray Council areas, which currently have 10 seats but will be reduced to nine.
Moray, Douglas Ross's constituency, will be cut in two, while the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch seat will also disappear, being divided across two surrounding constituencies and reducing the total number of seats to nine.
The eight constituencies that will remain unchanged are Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Central Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Midlothian, North Ayrshire and Arran, and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.
The largest constituency area following the changes will be Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, previously Ross, Skye and Lochaber, the seat currently held by former Westminster group leader Ian Blackford, at 11,798 square kilometres.
The smallest constituency will be Glasgow West, previously Glasgow North, at 19 square kilometers.
Glenrothes and Mid Fife will become the constituency with the lowest number of electors at 69,734.
Stirling and Strathallan will become the constituency with the largest electors with 77,008. Previously Linlithgow and East Falkirk had the highest number of voters with 83,593.
Deidre Brock MP, the SNP's House of Commons Business spokesperson, said: “Independence and full powers for the Scottish Parliament will always deliver far better outcomes for the economy and living standards in Scotland than a diminishing number of seats in a broken Westminster system.
"In 2014, the UK government promised the Scottish people a leading voice at UK-level if we voted no.
"Since then, we've had a hard Brexit imposed on us against our will, had our devolution powers attacked, and now see a further reduction in the number of Scottish MPs being elected to represent their constituents.
"At the next election, voting SNP has never been so important. Only the SNP are offering a real alternative through independence - and will deliver a team of MPs who will stand up for the people of Scotland at every possible opportunity."
