Proposals from Boundary Commission for England to change several parliamentary constituency boundaries may have an effect on Cumbria.

Under the changes, the county would have six MPs — but Westmorland and Lonsdale would be replaced by Morecambe and South Lakeland, incorporating parts of Lancashire, while Penrith and the Border would be replaced by Westmorland and Eden.

In addition, Windermere and Coniston would become part of Copeland and the Western Lakes. Dalston and Brugh-by-Sands would become part of the Workington constituency, which would extend to the boundaries of Carlisle.

A map of the changes can be viewed online.

The chair of Dalston Parish Council, Cllr Ann Byers, was not pleased with the proposals.

She said: “We would be in Allerdale — it’s come as a surprise.

“To be honest, I presume the majority of people here won’t have seen it yet, it’s very new. We will have to wait and see what their reaction will be.

“Personally, I would like to stay within Carlisle. We’re pretty near Carlisle, it’s only five miles.

“It’s done on population, but whilst they’re doing that ,why don’t they reduce the number of MPs? Why do we need 650?

“You watch Prime Minister’s Questions and they never answer a question. We had Question Time here with David Dimbleby, and I asked him after why he never got politicians to answer a question.

“He said we would be there all day on one politician on one question!”

The proposed changes have come at the same time as local government in Cumbria could also be shaken up.

There are currently proposals to create either one or two unitary authorities in the county, as opposed to the current two-tier set-up.

Mrs Byers added: “With all this local government reorganisation going on, we just don’t know what’s going to happen.

“The councils can’t agree on that, so we’ve got no chance. I just wish they would take the politics out of it.”

Carlisle’s former MP, Eric Martlew, questioned the need for the changes.

He said: “My view is that it’s unnecessary. It creates anomalies and it will cause disruption among sitting MPs, and it takes ministers' minds off running the country.

“If you’re going to equalise it, then I suppose there’s nothing else you can do — but whenever you do this, it throws up anomalies.

“The one I can think of is Carlisle Racecourse is going to be in Workington! And Dalston — I worked there for any years, and it’s effectively a suburb of Carlisle.

“It’s all well and good putting Whitehaven and Windermere together, but you try getting from Whitehaven to Windermere.”

Mr Martlew also felt it could signal an early general election in 2023.

Elsewhere in Cumbria, the main impact could potentially be seen in the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency, a Liberal Democrat stronghold held by former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron MP, which will be split up and mixed with parts of the Penrith and the Border constituency, a safe seat for the Conservative Party, held by Dr Neil Hudson MP.

The proposal of borders would also see Windermere and Ambleside — currently in Westmorland and Lonsdale — become part of a ‘Copeland and the Western Lakes’ constituency.

Westmoreland and Lonsdale has long been a Liberal Democrat stronghold, but the changes would carve up the seat and put the party’s chances of holding it in the future under threat.

The area’s MP, Tim Farron, said: “Only someone who has never been to Cumbria would draw up boundaries that put Windermere in with Whitehaven and Kirkby Lonsdale in with Alston!

“But however ridiculous these proposals are, they are only draft proposals and whatever seats eventually do get agreed, we will fight and fight to win. We’ve won Westmorland five times against the odds so far, so we’ll do it again.”

Trudy Harrison, MP for Copeland, said: “I shall be meeting with ministers to discuss the opportunities particularly around agriculture and tourism, transport and digital connectivity with immediate effect. However, the boundaries are far from set in stone.

“There will now begin an eight-week written consultation period on the initial proposals which will close at the beginning of August. There will be a secondary consultation period of six weeks which will include public hearings in the early part of next year. The Commission will then decide whether to revise it initial proposals.”

The changes have been proposed by the Boundary Commission for England, an indepedent and impartial non‑departmental public body. The group periodically reviews the boundaries of all Parliamentary constituencies in England, and is currently conducting a review on the basis of legislative rules updated by Parliament in 2020.

In its review of the North West, the commission allocated the region 73 constituencies — two fewer than the current figure.

Just 10 constituencies would remain unchanged, while three would change to realign with new local government ward boundaries.

The review reads: “As it has not always been possible to allocate whole numbers of constituencies to individual counties, we have grouped some county council and unitary authority areas into sub-regions. The number of constituencies allocated to each sub-region is determined by the combined electorate of the local authorities they contain.

“Consequently, it has been necessary to propose some constituencies that cross county or unitary authority boundaries, although we have sought to keep such crossings to a minimum.

“It has been necessary to propose a constituency which crosses the county boundary between Cumbria and Lancashire. We are therefore proposing that the existing Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency would extend north across the county boundary into the District of South Lakeland.”

The new rules that require every recommended constituency must have an electorate that is no smaller than 69,724 and no larger than 77,062.

The final recommendations will not be made until 2023.

On Tuesday, an eight-week consultation with the public, giving residents the chance to have their say, which can be filled out online.