THOUSANDS of residents in villages around Andover could become part of a new constituency under a major shake-up of Parliament.

Plans published by the Local Boundary Commission for England could mean MP Kit Malthouse’s North West Hampshire constituency would shrink in size with around 3,500 voters moving to a new Test Valley seat.

Under the proposals areas such as Weyhill, Fyfield, Kimpton, Amport and Penton Mewsey would transfer to a newly-named constituency which is broadly based on the current Romsey and North Southampton seat held by Conservative Caroline Noakes with the addition of the settlements above.

The changes are yet to be confirmed, with MPs voting on the proposals next month.

MP Kit Malthouse said: “North West Hampshire sadly has to change to allow equalisation of constituencies elsewhere in the country. While we will be losing some lovely parts south and west of Andover, we will also gain villages to the north of Basingstoke meaning that the constituency becomes longer and your MP will have even more miles to travel!”

Secretary to the commission, Sam Hartley, said: “The recommendations we have published mark the end of a thorough and consultative process to build the new map of constituencies.

“We’ve travelled the country, taken account of over 35,000 public comments, and heard many impassioned views about how best to reflect local communities in our recommendations, while ensuring that constituencies are all much more equally represented.

“We’re confident that the map we propose is the best match of the legal rules Parliament have set us.

“It’s now up to Parliament to decide whether these boundaries will be used at the next general election.”

Overall, the final recommendations would see the number of MPs cut from 650 to 600.

This would mean England would have 501 seats for the next election, which is down by 32.