Somerset residents have only a few weeks to give their final thoughts on proposals for how the county will be carved up at the next general election.

The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has so far held two rounds of public consultation on its proposals to redraw the parliamentary constituency boundaries ahead of the next general election, which must be held by January 2025.

The previous round, which concluded on April 4, drew significant feedback from Somerset residents, as well as prompting disagreements between two of the county's Conservative MPs.

The BCE has now published its final proposals, which are out for a third round of public consultation until December 5 before being presented to parliament in the new year.

The area covered by Somerset County Council is currently divided into five constituencies – Bridgwater and West Somerset, Somerton and Frome, Taunton Deane, Wells and Yeovil.

Four of these seats currently have Conservative MPs, with David Warburton representing Somerton and Frome as an independent, having had the whip withdrawn in April following allegations of sexual assault.

Under the proposals, the total number of seats in the House of Commons will remain at 650 – but the number of constituencies in England will increase from 533 to 543.

The new boundaries are designed to make representation more equal, with each of the new seats having a population of between 69,724 and 77,062 people.

Here's how the new Somerset seats will look:

BRIDGWATER – expected constituents: 71,418

To create this new seat, Bridgwater will be separate from its current West Somerset neighbours, and will join up with Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge and other coastal settlements from the current Wells seat.

The new boundary essentially follows the western boundaries of the Sedgemoor district – with eastern settlements like Axbridge and Cheddar moving into the neighbouring Wells and Mendip Hills seat.

The new boundaries alsdo mean Bridgwater's MP will no longer have the Hinkley Point C power station in their constituency, since that will become part of Tiverton and Minehead – a decision which one local councillor branded "a bit mad".

Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has enjoyed a large majority since his seat was created in 2010, having previously represented the Bridgwater constituency since 2001.

But the new seat could become quite a battleground, given Labour's historic strong presence within Bridgwater itself and the Liberal Democrats' recent gains in North Petherton and Burnham-on-Sea.

FROME – expected constituents: 70,202

The existing Somerton and Frome seat – held by Mr Warburton since 2015 – is one of the largest seats in Somerset, covering around 900 square miles.

The new Frome constituency takes the eastern extreme of the current seat, including Frome and Bruton while losing some of the villages east of Shepton Mallet.

It also includes Midsomer Norton and Radstock, which currently form part of the North East Somerset seat held by former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg since 2010.

This means the new Frome constituency straddles two local authority areas – Bath and North East Somerset and the new Somerset unitary – which could lead to disagreements down the line.

While Mr Warburton has enjoyed a large majority since being elected, pockets of Labour support near Radstock, coupled with strong showings by both the Lib Dems and Greens in Frome, could come into play.

The Lib Dems and Greens have both already selected their prospective parliamentary candidates for the next general election, in the form of current councillors Sarah Dyke and Martin Dimery respectively.

GLASTONBURY AND SOMERTON – expected population: 69,990

The new Glastonbury and Somerton seat is being created out of the majority of the existing Somerton and Frome seat, including the towns of Castle Cary, Langport, Somerton and Wincanton (but not Bruton).

It will also include the town of Glastonbury, the neighbouring village of Street, and the Ham Hill tourist attraction – much to the chagrin of Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh, who said the change "makes no sense".

On the basis of the unitary election results in May, the seat could be another potential battleground, with the Conservatives retaining support in Wincanton while losing ground to the Lib Dems in the western half of the proposed constituency.

But with the Green party still retaining strong pockets of support – especially in Glastonbury – this may end up being a constituency where many of the more left-leaning parties end up competing for the same votes.

TAUNTON – expected constituents: 76,049

The existing Taunton Deane constituency has been held by Defra minister Rebecca Pow since 2015, though her majority did fall slightly at the last general election.

The proposed Taunton seat will retain Somerset's county town, as well as Wellington and the surrounding villages – along with Norton Fitzwarren and Staplegrove, where significant new housing for Taunton is proposed.

However, it will lose Wiveliscombe and settlements like Bishops Lydeard at the southern end of the Quantock Hills to the neighbouring Tiverton and Minehead seat.

The Lib Dems have traditionally polled well in local elections in this area, winning most of the Taunton seats at the local elections in May and also doing well in the rural areas, including Somerset's portion of the Blackdown Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

With these new boundaries depriving the Conservatives of several of the more rural parishes, the Lib Dems may see this as a viable target seat at the next election – and have re-selected Gideon Amos, who contested the seat in 2019, as their prospective parliamentary candidate.

TIVERTON AND MINEHEAD – expected constituents: 70,829

This is perhaps the most controversial of the new Somerset seats, since it includes a sizeable chunk of Devon.

The constituency combines the western, more rural end of the current Bridgwater and West Somerset seat – including Minehead, Watchet and Williton – together with most of the Exmoor National Park and the entirety of the Quantock Hills AONB.

On top of this, it includes Tiverton and the surrounding villages, which are currently part of the Tiverton and Honiton constituency – which the Lib Dems captured in a by-election in June following the resignation of Neil Parish.

Since this new seat would be predominantly rural, the Tories may feel confident of holding onto it – but the fact that it is covered by two different local authorities in two counties (Somerset and Mid Devon) may create political headaches for the winning candidate.

WELLS AND MENDIP HILLS – expected constituents: 69,843

James Heappey has held the Wells seat since 2015 – but the new Wells constituency will bear little resemblance to the current one.

While it still includes Axbridge, Cheddar, Shepton Mallet and Wells itself, the new constituency loses the coastal towns of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge to the new Bridgwater seat.

Interestingly, the new constituency also includes Yatton and other settlements which currently form the eastern part of the Weston-super-Mare seat held by John Penrose since 2005.

While the seat remains largely rural with an ageing population (characteristics which would traditionally point towards a Tory victory), the Lib Dems won heavily in this area at the May local elections – so things could get very interesting once a general election is called.

YEOVIL – expected constituents: 76,056

For the most part, the boundaries of the new Yeovil seat are the same as the current Yeovil constituency, which has been represented by Marcus Fysh since 2015.

However, the new Yeovil constituency will not include the villages between Podimore and the northern edge of Yeovil itself, which will become part of the new Glastonbury and Somerton seat.

The Yeovil seat will include the largest population areas within the current South Somerset district – including Yeovil, Chard, Crewkerne and Ilminster, though Castle Cary and Wincanton do not feature.

While Mr Fysh increased his majority in 2019, the Lib Dems control the district council and have strong support within the Yeovil area on the new unitary – so the next contest may end up being a little closer.

BCE secretary Tim Bowden said: " Last year we published our initial proposals for new constituency boundaries – our first go at what the map should look like.

"We are delighted with the huge number of comments from members of the public on our initial proposals, many which included valuable evidence about local communities.

"This is the culmination of months of analysis and we have revised nearly half of our initial proposals based on what people have told us.

"We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to.

"However, we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we submit our final recommendations to parliament next year.

"This is our final consultation and I encourage you to participate in the 2023 boundary review."

To view the proposed constituency boundaries in more detail and to leave your feedback, visit www.bcereviews.org.uk before December 5.

The BCE will take any feedback on board when it writes its final report to the Speaker of the House of Commons (Lindsay Hoyle MP), which he will receive before July 1, 2023.

If a general election is called before this date, it will be staged on the existing constituency boundaries, with the new boundaries being adopted for any subsequent general election.