THE four Bolton and Bury constituencies which lost their Tory MPs in the Labour General Election landslide are to be twinned with seats held by the Conservatives.

Shadow Leader of the Commons Gillian Shephard announced that by the end of this month all 180 former Tory seats lost on May 1 will be paired with a sitting Tory MP.

They will address the annual meeting, attend constituency functions, receive visitors to Westminster and send regular reports to rank and file activists about what is happening at Westminster.

The aim is to keep a close link between Parliament Party and grass roots workers in the country.

The twinned seats will be Bolton West, lost by ex Home Office Minister Tom Sackville; Bolton North East lost by Robert Wilson; Bury North lost by ex Social Security Minister Alistair Burt; and Bury South lost by David Sumberg.

Local Government Shadow Minister Sir Norman Fowler has also announced a review of the Tory policy on local councils' spending.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.