Maria Eagle and Luciana Berger
TWO Liverpool MPs were left fighting over a single constituency today, after a boundary shake-up culled one city seat – and axed another in Wirral.
Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood) and Luciana Berger (Liverpool Wavertree) were pitched into a head-to-head battle after the long-awaited review by the independent Boundary Commission.
Intriguingly, the new seat will be called Liverpool Wavertree, but will contain more of Ms Eagle's current constituency – giving both Labour MPs a claim on it, in a rapid-fire consultation to end in December.
Last night, both camps signalled a determination to remain a Liverpool MP, in a battle to be echoed across the country, where a total of 50 seats will disappear by 2015 – the year of the next scheduled election.
Ms Berger, a rising star elected only last year, said: "I certainly hope to be the candidate for the new Liverpool Wavertree constituency at the next general election."
And a source close to Ms Eagle, asked if a challenge was likely, replied: "Maria is undecided at the moment, but that's likely to be what happens. Maria enjoys representing Liverpool – and she is from Liverpool."
The alternative is for Labour's transport spokeswoman, an MP since 1997, to challenge for a new Huyton and Halewood seat – taking in half of George Howarth's Knowsley – but Ms Eagle is thought to be very reluctant to do so.
Meanwhile, the shake-up – demanded by David Cameron to end alleged Labour bias in the current set-up – will also scrap one seat in Wirral, where the electorates are small.
