Thursday, October 19, 2017

CAN WE MAKE A CASE TO KEEP BRIGG'S NAME ALIVE?


If Boundary Commission proposals now on the table win approval next year as seems likely, Brigg will no longer be included in the name of a Parliamentary seat.
The Brigg Parliamentary Constituency was created back in 1885.
And although our town has since been linked with larger ones like Scunthorpe, Cleethorpes and latterly Goole, 'Brigg' has still being mentioned in the title and therefore heard in the House of Commons.
However, the current proposals earmark Brigg for inclusion in a new seat which will carry the names 'Grimsby' and 'Barton' in its title without any mention of Brigg.
The powers-that-be review constituencies from time to time, in an effort to equalise the number of voters.
The plans involve dividing up the current Brigg & Goole Constituency.
As was rightly suggested to us the other day, this topic is not going to prompt much discussion in our town's pubs.
But with the growth of the web and social media and people relying more and more on internet searches for their information,  'Brigg' searches will not be helped by a reduction in Parliamentary references.
We've just looked up where Brigg is likely to end up.
Our proposed constituency is Great Grimsby North and Barton.
The Boundary Commission for England says its  revised proposals, published on 17 October 2017, set out the new constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber.
"You have until 11 December 2017 to tell us what you think of them," it says.
The Great Grimsby North and Barton Constituencey, if approved, will involve parts of North East Lincolnshire including Immingham, Barton and nearby villages, Brigg & Wolds and Broughton & Appleby.
Find out more through this link..
The first MP for the Brigg Constituency was Sir Henry Meysey-Thompson in 1885.
Famous names who followed included Sir Berkeley Sheffield and David (later Lord) Quibell.
Long-serving Lance Mallalieu was the last Brigg MP, the seat being abolished in favour of Brigg & Scunthorpe in 1974.
That was replaced by Brigg & Cleethorpes in 1993.
Brigg & Goole was then created for 1997.
It seems unlikely that the Boundary Commission's current proposals to include Brigg in a new seat will be rejected.
However, couldn't a case be made - even at this late stage - for Brigg to be made part of the title?
Andrew Percy, pictured below in the Angel Suite, is the current MP for Brigg & Goole.