A PROPOSAL to redraw the boundary of West Somerset's parliamentary constituency was dubbed "a complete farce" by local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger this week.

The constituency could include three new wards at the next General Election under proposals being considered by the Boundary Commission, with Bishops Lydeard, Milverton and North Deane and Wiveliscombe and West Deane being moved from the Taunton Deane constituency.

And the existing Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency would then lose the wards of Woolavington, Huntspill and North Petherton to Wells.

Taunton Deane - currently held by Liberal Democrat MP Jeremy Browne - would then revert to its former name of Taunton.

The proposals are part of a nationwide shake-up of Parliamentary constituencies being overseen by the Boundary Commission.

The commission's plans, which will see the number of constituencies in England cut from 533 to 502, were published this week and will be open for consultation until early December.

The commission wants to equalise the number of voters in constituencies, although its proposals for the Bridgwater and West Somerset seat - currently held by Tory MP Mr Liddell-Grainger - would include wards from three different district councils within its boundaries.

The trio of wards earmarked to be shifted into the Bridgwater patch are all served by Taunton Deane Borough Council.

Existing wards come under either West Somerset Council or Sedgemoor District Council, and the three wards proposed to be moved into the new Wells constituency are currently served by Sedgemoor .

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he was considering lodging a personal objection against the proposals and branded the changes as a "farce".

He told the Free Press: "There is a real feeling in Parliament that all the commission has done is look at a map and tried to tidy things up and make the boundaries look prettier.

"The whole thing has not been thought through, it's just created a very bizarre jigsaw of England."

He said residents in Wiveliscombe, Milverton and Bishops Lydeard traditionally looked towards the administration centre of Taunton, while his current constituents in North Petherton, Woolavington and Huntspill had very little connection with the Wells area.

"There would be three district councils to deal with in the proposed new Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency, which is crackers," he said.

"It is a complete farce, although Somerset isn't the worst off - some constituency proposals in Devon cross county borders into Cornwall."

The commission said the changes were necessary to rebalance the "large electorate" in Taunton Deane, but, an equally large number of voters in Bridgwater and West Somerset would be balanced out by removing three wards to compensate for the addition of the three new ones.

Overall, the South West region has been allocated 53 constituencies – a reduction of two from the current arrangement.

The commission's proposals leave 14 of the 55 existing constituencies unchanged.

Public consultations are due to close on December 5 and any changes, once agreed, would come into force in 2013.

"It must be stressed that nothing has changed yet and Jeremy is still the MP for people living in Wiveliscombe, Milverton and Bishops Lydeard," Mr Liddell-Grainger said.

Mr Browne was out of the country in his capacity as a Foreign Office Minister and unavailable for comment.

Written submissions should be sent to: Boundary Commission for England, 35 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BQ; or can be emailed to: [email protected]">[email protected].