Speaking following the publication of the Boundary Commission’s Final Recommendations Report, Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey said:

“In March we stated that the Boundary Commission’s new Revised proposals were a major improvement on its Provisional proposals and represented the major revision which we called for.

“They took greater account of special geographical considerations such as the border and also local ties, and largely resolved the issues which we highlighted regarding the need to better reflect community identity and restore local ties in a number of areas.

“The Revised proposals - which the Boundary Commission has endorsed today - have much greater regard to the boundaries of the existing 18 constituencies than was the case with the Commission’s Provisional proposals; would move significantly fewer electors and also shared a significant degree of common ground with the Ulster Unionist Party’s proposals and we were content to give them our broad support.

“We highlighted the rather bizarre and unwieldy configuration of the proposed Mid Down constituency which stretches right across the county from Banbridge in the west to Newtownards in the north east and are disappointed the Commission did not adopt our proposal to reconfiguring Mid Down and South Down into an East Down and a West Down arrangement. 

“It is shameful that Londonderry will be the only one of Northern Ireland’s six counties not to feature in the name of a Parliamentary Constituency. Londonderry is a name that has existed in parliament since 1801 and reflects the historic ties between London and the North West. It could and should have been retained.

"Finally, we utterly reject any claims that that these Final Recommendations are in any way a benefit to unionists. In the reduction form 18 seats to 17 it is a Unionist seat that has disappeared as the old South Antrim and Lagan Valley seats are effectively merged into one.  Quite how the loss of a seat benefits unionism is a mystery to me and for others to explain.”