their seats as a result of changes in electoral districts recommended by the Boundaries Commission, The Royal Gazette has learned.

The changes appear to favour the Progressive Labour Party in Government-held Hamilton West and favour the United Bermuda Party in Hamilton East, where two Opposition MPs sit, sources said.

A copy of the report of the Boundaries Commission, which has yet to be tabled in Parliament, was made available to The Royal Gazette yesterday.

The report shows that 183 voters in the Claytown area are being moved to Hamilton West from Hamilton East. Sources in both parties agreed that Claytown was a solidly PLP neighbourhood.

At the same time, 40 voters in Tucker's Town are being moved from Hamilton West to Hamilton East. Again, sources agreed these would be mainly UBP voters.

In what were already two marginal constituencies, the changes are not good news for Transport Minister Wayne Furbert and Mr. Maxwell Burgess of the UBP.

Nor do they hearten Ms Renee Webb and Rev. Trevor Woolridge of the PLP.

"The numbers have changed drastically,'' one source said. Another change could improve the UBP's chances in Pembroke East Central, while the effect of shifts in marginal Warwick Parish are more difficult to measure.

In Pembroke, 122 voters are being moved from the Langton Hill area of Pembroke West Central to Pembroke East Central. Most voters in Langton Hill are thought to favour the governing party, and a UBP source declared Pembroke East Central "very winnable'' as a result of the change.

The PLP's Mr. David Allen had a 206-vote cushion over Mr. Lawson Mapp, the nearest UBP challenger, in 1993.

The UBP took both seats there in 1985, with candidates Mr. Mapp and Mr. Robert Barritt.

In Pembroke West Central, the UBP votes lost as a result of the change are likely offset by another shift recommended by the Boundaries Commission, by which 137 voters will move to Pembroke West Central from the UBP stronghold of Pembroke West.

The leaders of the two parties said that when all the changes are taken into account, there should be little net effect.

"It's six of one and half a dozen of the other,'' said Premier David Saul.

"All these things basically even out.'' And Dr. Saul played down the effects of the changes in Hamilton Parish, saying that incumbents like Mr. Furbert and Mr. Burgess always had an advantage.

Opposition Leader Mr. Frederick Wade predicted a PLP sweep of Hamilton Parish and said the changes "haven't hurt the PLP, from what I can gather''.

In the 1993 general election, Mr. Furbert and Mr. Burgess ousted PLP incumbents Mr. Eugene Blakeney and Mr. Julian Hall by a 50-vote margin.

In Hamilton East, first-time candidate Ms Webb and Mr. Woolridge defeated incumbent Mr. Gilbert Darrell of the NLP. The margin of victory over UBP candidates Mr. Francis Furbert and Mr. Wendell Hollis was 84 votes and 91 votes.

The report is coming to Parliament just inside the seven-year deadline set by the Constitution. The previous report was submitted on November 19, 1987.

The commission is supposed to make the number of voters in each constituency as equal as possible, without moving voters from one parish to another.

The PLP, which customarily files a minority report, believes Bermuda should move to single-seat constituencies of equal size, without regard to parish boundaries. Under the arrangement recommended by the Boundaries Commission, the smallest constituency is Paget East, with 1,343 voters, while the largest is Warwick East, with 2,645 voters.

In Warwick, 241 voters are moving to Warwick West from Warwick East, while another 201 voters are moving the other way.

Boundary changes in Southampton, Smith's Parish, Devonshire and St. George's are expected to have little or no bearing on elections there.

The Commission, headed by Sir Frank Blackman, had Sir Clifford Hammett as the judicial member. Representing Government were Dr. Saul and Mr. Burgess, while Mr. Walter Roberts MP and Mr. Eugene Cox MP represented the Opposition.