There are two obvious impacts to the redrawing of the South Swindon constituency ahead of the general election.

One is a name change – the existing South Swindon constituency will be replaced by the new patch of Swindon South.

The other is that it will put the sitting MP, Sir Robert Buckland, who has long announced his intention to defend the seat he won in 2010 and three subsequent elections, will not be able to vote in the constituency.

And both are the effect of the redrawing of the constituents by the Boundary Commission after a law passed by the government-mandated constituencies of largely the same size between 69,000 and 77,000 voters.

The new Swindon South constituency will lose much of its rural southern areas of Ridgeway Ward, Wichelstowe and Wroughton, and the southern portion of the Chiseldon and Lawn, including the village of Chiseldon itself.

To bring the new Swindon South patch up to an acceptable number, given its loss of 11,000 voters to East Wiltshire, Covingham and Even Swindon will be moved from North Swindon.

It means all of Covingham & Dorcan, and Mannington & Western council wards will now be in the new constituency, which will largely be defined on its northern boundary by the railway lines, in the east by the A419 and in the south by the M4, except for Wichelstowe which will move out.

Because the new patch is much more urban than it had been previously it is now classified as a borough constituency instead of a county constituency  – and the former have the geographical designator after the place name not before.

The change will also have a political effect. The areas that will move out of the constituency regularly elect Conservative councillors, while those areas moving in are more split between Labour councillors and Conservatives -  but there is already a significant majority of Labour councillors - 15 to six Conservatives in those wards which are already in the constituency and will remain so in the new one.

And the new election is shaping up to be a battle between significant figures.

Sir Robert has held two cabinet posts Secretary of State for Justice and then Welsh Secretary, under Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

His Labour opponent, whom current opinion polls tip to take the seat is former MP for Lewisham East Heidi Alexander, who was shadow Health Secretary and then stepped down from parliament to be a Deputy Mayor of London, with responsibility for transport, for three and a half years.

The Green Party’s candidate is Rod Hebden and both the Reform Party and the Liberal Democrats are both expected to name candidates to contest the constituency.