European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002

Section 1.

SCHEDULE 1 Electoral regions in England

Electoral regions

1 The electoral regions for England are those listed in the Table below.

2 (1) A reference in the Table to a local government or administrative area is a reference to that area as it is for the time being.

(2) But where an area specified in column (2) of the Table is altered, the alteration does not have effect for the purposes of this Act until the first general election of MEPs at which the poll in the United Kingdom takes place after the alteration comes into force for all other purposes.

Number of MEPs for each region

3 The number of MEPs to be elected for each electoral region in England is the number specified in column (3) of the Table.

4 (1) Each registration officer is to notify the Secretary of State, by 28th May in each pre-election year, of the number of persons whose names appear, on 1st May in that year, in any relevant register maintained by him.

(2) As soon as possible after 1st May in each pre-election year the Secretary of State must—

(a) consider, in relation to each electoral region in England, the number of persons whose names appear on that date in (or in part of) any relevant register which relates to the region,

(b) consider whether the ratio of such persons to MEPs is as nearly as possible the same for every such region, and

(c) make by order such amendments of column (3) of the Table as he considers necessary to ensure that result.

(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) there is to be disregarded any person who—

(a) is registered only for the purposes of local government elections, and

(b) is a citizen of the European Union but not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.

(4) An order under sub-paragraph (2) must not alter the total number of MEPs to be elected for the electoral regions in England.

(5) In this paragraph “pre-election year” means any year after 2002 which immediately precedes a year in which general elections would be held in accordance with Article 10(2) of the Act annexed to Council Decision 76/787.

(6) For the purposes of this paragraph the relevant registers are—

(a) a register of parliamentary electors;

(b) a register of local government electors;

(c) a register of peers maintained under section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (c. 50) (peers resident outside the United Kingdom);

(d) a register maintained under regulation 5 of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001 (S.I.2001/1184) (citizens of the European Union other than Commonwealth and Republic of Ireland citizens).

TABLE

(1)	(2)	(3)
Name of Region	Area Included	Number of MEPs
East Midlands	County of Derby	6
	County of Derbyshire
	County of Leicester
	County of Leicestershire
	County of Lincolnshire
	County of Northamptonshire
	County of Nottingham
	County of Nottinghamshire
	County of Rutland
Eastern	County of Bedfordshire	8
	County of Cambridgeshire
	County of Essex
	County of Hertfordshire
	County of Luton
	County of Norfolk
	County of Peterborough
	County of Southend-on-Sea
	County of Suffolk
	County of Thurrock
London	Greater London	10
North East	County of Darlington	4
	County of Durham
	County of Hartlepool
	County of Middlesbrough
	County of Northumberland
	County of Redcar and Cleveland
	County of Stockton-on-Tees
	County of Tyne and Wear
North West	County of Blackburn with Darwen	10
	County of Blackpool
	County of Cheshire
	County of Cumbria
	County of Greater Manchester
	County of Halton
	County of Lancashire
	County of Merseyside
	County of Warrington
South East	County of Berkshire	11
	County of Brighton and Hove
	County of Buckinghamshire
	County of East Sussex
	County of Hampshire
	County of Isle of Wight
	County of Kent
	County of the Medway Towns
	County of Milton Keynes
	County of Oxfordshire
	County of Portsmouth
	County of Southampton
	County of Surrey
	County of West Sussex
South West	County of Bath and North East Somerset	7
	County of Bournemouth
	County of the City of Bristol
	County of Cornwall
	County of Devon
	County of Dorset
	County of Gloucestershire
	County of North Somerset
	County of Plymouth
	County of Poole
	County of Somerset
	County of South Gloucestershire
	County of Swindon
	County of Torbay
	County of Wiltshire
	Isles of Scilly
West Midlands	County of Herefordshire	8
	County of Shropshire
	County of Staffordshire
	County of Stoke-on-Trent
	County of Telford and Wrekin
	County of Warwickshire
	County of West Midlands
	County of Worcestershire
Yorkshire and the Humber	County of the City of Kingston upon Hull	7
	County of the East Riding of Yorkshire
	County of North East Lincolnshire
	County of North Lincolnshire
	County of North Yorkshire
	County of South Yorkshire
	County of West Yorkshire
	County of York