ient counties were superseded for most practical purposes by the
administrative counties created by the Local Government Act of 1888. The
ancient division, however, besides being maintained in general speech
and usage, forms the basis on which the system of distribution of
parliamentary representation now in force was constructed. The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 made a new division of the country into
county and borough constituencies. All the English counties, with the
exception of Rutland, are divided into two or more constituencies, each
returning one member, the number of English county parliamentary areas
being 234. In Wales eight smaller or less populous counties form each
one parliamentary constituency, while the four larger are divided, the
number of Welsh county parliamentary areas being 19. The number of
county areas for parliamentary purposes in England and Wales is thus
253, and the total number of their representatives is the same. Outside
the county constituencies are the parliamentary boroughs. Of these there
are 135 in England, one of them, Monmouth district, being made up of
three contributory boroughs, while many are divided into several
constituencies, the number of borough parliamentary areas in England
being 205, of which 61 are in the metropolis. Of the 205 borough
constituencies, 184 return each one member, and 21 return each two
members, so that the total number of English borough members is 226.
Besides the county and borough members there are in England five
university members, namely, two for Oxford, two for Cambridge and one
for London. In Wales there are 10 borough parliamentary areas, all of
which, except Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea town division, consist of
groups of several contributory boroughs. Each Welsh borough constituency
returns one member, except Merthyr Tydfil, which returns two, so that
there are eleven Welsh borough members.

The administrative counties, created in 1888, number 62, each having a
county council. They sometimes coincide in area with the ancient
counties of the same name, but generally differ, in a greater or less
degree, for the following reasons--(1) in some cases an ancient county
comprises (approximately) two or more administrative counties, in the
formation of which names of some ancient divisions were preserved,
thus:--

_Ancient County._ _Administrative County._

Cambridgeshire / Cambridge.
\ Isle of Ely.