Cabinet heavyweights to lose seats at Westminster as constituencies are cut

Gordon Brown is among three cabinet ministers whose constituencies are to be disbanded at the next general election under radical boundary changes in Scotland.

The Boundary Commission for Scotland will report tomorrow that it wants to cut the number of seats represented at Westminster from 72 to 59. The loss of 13 seats has been triggered by the creation of the Scottish Parliament and a need to bring Scottish seats, many of which are too small, into line with the rest of the UK.

The Chancellor, the Northern Ireland Secretary, John Reid, and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Alistair Darling, will see their seats divided among neighbouring constituencies.

The Chancellor's constituency, Dunfermline East, will be split between Dunfermline West, held by Rachel Squire, and Kirkcaldy, held by the Defence minister Lewis Moonie. It is likely that all three cabinet ministers will be found alternative seats left vacant by the retirement of sitting MPs.

The Scotland Act says the Boundaries Commission study also applies to Scottish Parliament constituencies, reducing the number of members from 129 to 102. A leaked copy of its provisional recommendations, seen by The Independent, shows that the Western Isles County constituency has been spared. The seat's name will change to the Gaelic, Nah-Eileanan An Iar, but "should remain unchanged" in every other respect.

Mr Reid's Hamilton North and Bellshill constituency could be the victim of radical surgery to the central belt as the average constituency size in Scotland increases. His seat would become absorbed by a sole Hamilton constituency that could lead him into battle with Bill Tynan, MP for Hamilton South.

For Mr Brown, the area now covered by Fife Council will have four seats, creating a new Dunfermline and West Fife seats and a Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath seat. The Chancellor's seat does not include Dunfermline but skirts around the town, stretching to Rosyth and North Queensferry.