Boundary Review and the Organization and Identity of the Peterborough Divisional Labour Party

Abstract

The subdivision of larger territories into electoral districts is designed to enable representation for district populations in the national legislative body. This article establishes that spatial-type reforms such as the redrawing of electoral district boundaries can have profound and long-lasting, but often overlooked, organizational and ideational effects on local parties. The effects of constituency redrawing (the 1917–18 Boundary Commission and Review) are examined via a case study of the interwar Peterborough Divisional Labour Party in relation to three areas: (1) the structural organization of the local party, (2) the selection and retention of parliamentary candidates and party organizers, and (3) the local framing of national policy. The analysis argues that the boundary review and its creation of an enlarged parliamentary constituency consisting of Peterborough and the Soke of Peterborough produced political and organizational challenges that the party never fully resolved. Labour attempted but struggled to represent the interests of all the area’s constituents – even the electoral victory of 1929 demonstrates the effects of campaign dynamism rather than rural breakthrough. It is important that parties consider these potential impacts when deciding how to respond to spatial–institutional change.