Local MP welcomes Lib Dem victory
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The Lib Dem defeat of Tory plans to reduce the number of Highland MPs to just two by the Liberal Democrats has been hailed as good news by Danny Alexander, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.
MPs voted by 334 to 292 yesterday to delay the planned shake up of boundaries which would have reduced the Highlands' representation to two vast constituencies – North and South – until at least 2018.
If they'd gone ahead it would have meant splitting up parts of Nairnshire and Strathspey.
Welcoming the news Mr Alexander said: "This is good news for the Highlands. We will no longer have the number of constituencies in our area reduced, and I am delighted that local people can be confident that Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey will be kept together in a single constituency. Liberal Democrats have done the right thing to prevent these changes taking place."
Liberal Democrats had warned they would not support the move after the Conservatives backed out of the Coalition agreement on House of Lords reform last year.