Island MP Andrew Turner. Image: Isle of Wight Photo Agency.
Following a vote today in the House of Commons it has been confirmed that there will be just one MP for the Isle of Wight at the next General Election due in 2015.
The Government lost the vote which supported the change by 46 votes after the Liberal Democrats withdrew their support.
The Commons voted to accept amendments made to the Bill by the House of Lords which mean the revised boundaries will not come into force until at least 2018.
Mr Turner, the Island’s MP commented:
“This is not unexpected after the volte-face by the LibDems, but it means that plans to reduce the number of MPs will not now be in place for the next election. The move would have saved around £13.5m every year, but Nick Clegg MP, who originally enthusiastically supported the plans, decided to order his Lib Dem MPs to vote against them because he lost the vote on changing the House of Lords. That took very creative interpretation of the coalition agreement on his part – but it is in the nature of coalitions that there are differences of opinion and policy.
“However, locally our cross-party campaign against the Island having a cross-Solent seat is still a victory. When the changes do come in, and it is expected that they will be brought in before the election expected in 2020, the Island will have two MPs. We will go from being the largest constituency in the UK to being split into two of the smallest. We all worked together against the madness of a cross-Solent seat and were very well supported by the Island’s independent media. It was a great campaign – the results will just come a little later!”
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