ABSTRACT
Prior to the 1997 general election, the number of seats in parliament was increased from 651 to 659, as a result of constituency boundary changes. Over the past 40 years, the number of parliamentary seats has increased by ten per cent. If the number of parliamentary representatives is compared with the total population of the country, it can be seen that there is a wide discrepancy in the representativeness of differing legislatures. In Ireland, for example, there are 166 Members of Parliament, each representing 24,000 citizens. By contrast, in Australia, there are 147 Members, each representing 122,000 citizens. In the United Kingdom, there are 659 Members of Parliament, each representing approximately 89,000 citizens.
