Whitton is set to be taken out of the Twickenham parliamentary constituency of Munira Wilson.

The area, which is the home to more than 8,000 people, is set to be transferred to the Brentford and Isleworth constituency.

The move comes despite objections from hundreds of residents, Munira Wilson and Richmond Borough Council.

They argued that Whitton clearly has much closer ties to Twickenham than Hounslow, which is at the centre of the Brentford and Isleworth constituency.

Importantly, despite the switch, the area will remain part of Richmond Borough Council and residents will continue to get their services from the authority based at York House, in Twickenham.

However, the area's MP will become Labour's Ruth Cadbury, who is the MP for Brentford & Isleworth.

As a result, it will be the first time that Richmond Borough residents will have a Labour MP to represent them and take up their causes both with the Council and in Parliament.

At the last local elections, all three councillors elected to represent Whitton came from the Lib-Dems.

Changes to Parliamentary boundaries across the country have been ordered by the Government and they are expected – in theory – to create more Conservative MPs.

The proposals, drawn up by the Boundary Commission, are designed to try and equalise the number of people that each MP represents in a range of 69,724-77,062.

Munira Wilson MP, who lives the neighbouring ward of Heathfield, ward, will have gained many Lib-Dem votes from Whitton at the last general election. Removing them could, in theory, give the Conservatives a greater chance of winning the seat at future elections.

The Lib-Dem MP had opposed the change, telling Nub News last year: "I love and live in the area I represent. I do not want to lose any part of this fantastic constituency.

"These proposed changes from the Tories, which I voted against, force Whitton ward out of the Twickenham constituency despite its very close ties to Twickenham.

"It makes no sense to rip out Whitton just to reduce the number of constituents I currently represent and make the Government's arithmetic work.

"I consider myself a Whitton resident, although I live in Heathfield ward - this proposal splits my home town in two."

She added: "Whilst most people are focused on recovery from the pandemic, the Government is playing politics with constituency boundaries.

"The arbitrary rules for constituency sizes given by the Conservatives to the Boundary Commission do not focus on what is best for local communities, the ties that bind them together and into a local area."

The results of the local council elections in May suggest that, despite the changes, the Tories – who have just one councillor - will struggle to win Twickenham in the near future.

Boundary Commission documents have revealed that Conservatives in the borough suggested alternative changes to the Twickenham constituency.

The Twickenham Conservative Association proposed transferring St Margaret's & North Twickenham ward to

the Brentford & Isleworth constituency instead of Whitton.

Lib-Dem councillor for St Margarets & North Twickenham, Alexander Ehmann, condemned what he called a 'sneaky move'.

In a tweet to residents in the area, he wrote: "Sneaky attempt to try and shove St Margarets & North Twickenham Ward into Brentford & Isleworth Constituency. That's right, Conservatives tried to move YOU into a Labour constituency without a word about their plans."

In another proposed change, several parts of Chiswick are to move from the Brentford & Isleworth constituency to a new seat called Hammersmith & Chiswick.

* A final four week consultation is due to be held on the proposals, which are due to come into effect in the summer of 2023. People can make representations between now and December 5 via www.bcereviews.org.uk