A FORMER Lord Chancellor has called for the Isle of Wight to be given the same treatment as Scottish islands in the radical reforms of parliamentary boundaries that would see it carved up.

Coalition plans to “make every vote count” involve dividing up the electorate equally across the UK. That means about 35,000 of the 110,000 Isle of Wight voters being lumped on to another constituency. The government has vowed there will be only two exceptions, the Scottish island constituencies of Orkney and Shetland, and the Western Isles. Charles Falconer, who held a number of Cabinet posts during Labour’s years in power, said: “Two areas that have been selected for special treatment, Shetland and the Western Isles,” he said.

“Why should two particular constituencies be chosen at random? For example the Isle of Wight is not excluded from this system.”