THE fight to keep the Island as a single parliamentary constituency intensified this week after a top government minister said it was 'almost certain’ part of the Isle of Wight will be coupled with the mainland.
In an interview with the County Press this week, Mark Harper, the minister for political and constitutional reform, reiterated comments made by Prime Minister David Cameron, who spoke in favour of dividing up the Island, linking part with a mainland seat.
The government wants to make all UK parliamentary constituencies of roughly similar size to ensure all votes count equally across the country.
Due to the Island’s size, it would mean more than 30,000 residents would be attached to one or more mainland seats.
Mr Harper, MP for Forest of Dean, said the Island’s electorate of around 110,000 was too small for two MPs and too large for one.
But the minister acknowledged the 'very good case’ put forward by the Island’s MP, Andrew Turner, that the Island should be an exception. He said he would be delighted to visit the Isle of Wight to speak to voters.
Like Mr Cameron, Mr Harper felt the Island was different to Scottish islands, which have already been granted exceptions under the proposed boundary changes, because it was geographically closer to the mainland.
He said: "They are the only two exceptions we have made across the whole of the UK. We haven’t, for example, made an exception for Anglesey, which is often compared to the Isle of Wight."
The minister went on to dismiss fears a mainland-based MP would not focus on Island issues.
He said: "It would seem to me that an MP who had half his constituency on the IW and half on the mainland would make it their business to work with the existing MP to understand local issues, to get involved in Island business and community events and spread their time between the mainland and the Island.
"I have no doubt that an MP would be perfectly capable of doing that as they do in other parts of the UK where there are already MPs who represent mainland and island constituencies."
Reporter: martinn@iwcpmail.co.uk