THE castle could be taken out of Castle Point as Hadleigh residents “grieve” for their MP.

A consultation about changes to the constituency boundaries is recommending the Hadleigh wards of St James and Victoria be moved from Castle Point to be part of Southend West.

This change would mean Hadleigh Castle would no longer be a part of the Castle Point constituency, with many residents unhappy about the plans.

Hadleigh resident David Hurrell said: “I truly believe that people who are being stitched up with the boundary changes and will be forced to move from Castle Point to Southend West will vote with their feet and not vote in the 2022 elections.

“It will be one of the smallest turnouts at an election.

“We do not want to part of the Southend behemoth.

“We are a rural district and still think of ourselves as a rural district.

“There are fields and woodland that separate us from Southend.

“We are going to be grieving that we are no longer a part of Rebecca Harris’ constituency.”

He also added that while the Conservative government might think that Hadleigh is a Conservative stronghold, it was Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris that they were actually loyal to, not her party.

Mr Hurrell added that the news that the proposals had not changed since the last consultation was not a surprise to him.

The commission noted that there was “significant opposition” to the inclusion of the Castle Point wards in the Southend West constituency but their options were “very limited” and the changes were considered to be the best solution for both constituencies.

MP for Southend West David Amess said: “It has been an enormous honour for me to have represented the constituency of Southend West since 1997 and would be a great privilege if Hadleigh were to be included in the constituency.

“These proposals, of course, have still got to be approved by Parliament.”

The changes could also see Pitsea North West and Pitsea South East, currently part of Basildon and Billericay, being moved to Castle Point.

The changes would add to the difference between parliamentary constituencies and council boundaries.

The changes have been proposed by the Conservative administration and would see the number of seats across the country cut by 50 and boundaries for existing seats redrawn.

In Essex, the commission has proposed reducing the number of constituencies from 18 to 17 and redrawing all boundaries except for in the areas of Chelmsford, Epping Forest and Thurrock.

This is the final recommendation for the boundary changes for the country.