While the rest of the world focuses on battling the pandemic, or foreign aid, MPs are mainly concerned with one issue today: their jobs. The Boundary Commission will, late tonight, publish their 2023 boundary review, which will redraw almost every constituency in the UK. While the South East IS set to gain a number of seats, the North East, North West and Midlands face a cut of six in total. Today MPs have been invited to learn the fate of their areas, under embargo:

• In the North East, it sounds like the expected two-seat-cull will happen up around the Sunderland, Blyth Valley and Northumberland area, rather than the Durham/Teesside area.
• In the North West, Cumbria has to lose a seat and this is set to result in a new seat crossing the Cumbria/Lancashire boundary. Defence secretary Ben Wallace’s seat in Preston is set to be massively squeezed
• In the West Midlands, co-conspirators were eager to see whether Jess Phillips, or even Zarah Sultana, may be at threat of losing her seat. Sadly it looks like Zarah’s wafer-thin majority isn’t going anywhere. Most of the changes are set to take place in the Black Country.

The picture will emerge more clearly in the next few hours. Guido hears many MPs are scared of talking to their colleagues about the proposals, fearing they accidentally brag that their seat is fine in front of someone set to lose theirs. Welsh and Scottish MPs are particularly relaxed – their proposals aren’t being published until September…