As a geographical entity distinct from the mainland, the Isle of Wight has always fought to have its identity recognised. The Isle of Wight is currently a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county and local government is controlled by unitary authority. Prior to the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the island was the highest populated Westminster constituency in the country.

Political history Historically, the island was part of the historic county of Hampshire, previously called Southamptonshire.

Historic boroughs of the Island The island's most ancient borough was Newtown on the large natural harbour on the island's north-western coast. A French raid in 1377, that destroyed much of the town as well as other Island settlements, sealed its permanent decline. By the middle of the sixteenth century, it was a small settlement long eclipsed by the more easily defended town of Newport. Elizabeth I breathed some life into the town by awarding two parliamentary seats but this ultimately made it one of the most notorious of the Rotten Boroughs. By the time of the Great Reform Act that abolished the seats, it had just fourteen houses and twenty-three voters. The Act also disenfranchised the borough of Yarmouth and replaced the four lost seats with the first MP for the whole Isle of Wight. Newport retained its two seats until the Second Reform Act 1867 which reduced its representation to one MP. Newport lost its separate representation entirely as a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. Schedule 1, Part 1. Boroughs to cease as such.

Local governance Often thought of as part of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight was briefly included in that county when the first county councils were created in 1888. However, a "Home Rule" campaign led to a separate Isle of Wight County Council being established in 1890, and the island has remained independent of mainland local government ever since. The island was, however, part of the "Assize county" of Hampshire.Mogg, Edward. "Circuits of the judges" in Paterson's Roads. Eighteenth Edition. London. 1831. p 712. Like inhabitants of many islands, Islanders are fiercely jealous of their real (or perceived) independence, and confusion over the Island's separate status is a perennial source of friction.

It was planned to merge the county back into Hampshire as a district in the 1974 local government reform, but a last minute change led to it retaining its county council. However, since there was no provision made in the Local Government Act 1972 for unitary authorities, the Island had to retain a two-tier structure, with a county council and two boroughs, Medina and South Wight.

The borough councils were merged with the county council on 1 April 1995 to form a single unitary authority, the Isle of Wight Council, as recommended by the Local Government Commission for England. The only significant present-day administrative link with Hampshire is the police service, which is joint between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

House of Commons representation

From the 2024 general election onwards, the Isle of Wight has been split into two constituencies; Isle of Wight East and Isle of Wight West. Prior to this, the Isle of Wight formed a single constituency.

The constituency was traditionally a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Between 1974 and 1987, the seat was a Liberal seat, then becoming Conservative until 1997 when the Liberal Democrats won on a reduced Conservative vote. The seat reverted to the Conservatives in 2001, and has remained Conservative since, with the Liberal Democrats falling to fifth place in 2015, when UKIP came second. The Labour Party came second in 2017, with the Liberal Democrats and UKIP both losing their deposits.

2024 general election Isle of Wight East elected a new Conservative MP (Joe Robertson), while the incumbent Conservative MP Bob Seely lost election in Isle of Wight West to Richard Quigley (Labour).

2019 general election

The Isle of Wight reelected Conservative incumbent Bob Seely as MP in the 2019 General Election.

2017 general election The sitting MP Andrew Turner stepped down at the 2017 United Kingdom general election held on 8 June after a controversy regarding remarks he made about homosexuality. He was replaced as the Conservative candidate by Bob Seely, an Isle of Wight councillor and former soldier who went on to be elected as the MP.

2015 general election Six candidates stood for the Isle of Wight constituency in the 2015 United Kingdom general election which was held on 7 May 2015., Isle of Wight Council

2010 general election Eleven candidates stood for the Isle of Wight constituency in the 2010 United Kingdom general election which was held on 6 May 2010.Statement of Persons Nominated , Isle of Wight Council

2005 general election Five candidates contested the Isle of Wight constituency in the 2005 United Kingdom general election held on 5 May 2005.

The election was expected to be a close race between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, but the high Conservative vote even surprised the successful candidate. The simultaneous local elections resulted in a Conservative landslide, and the high turnout and popular Conservative vote in the parliamentary election was likely to be a local sign of dissatisfaction with the incumbent, largely Liberal Democrat Council, as well as reflecting on the national issues. The Labour Party continued to buck the national trend and increased the Labour vote to the highest for over 30 years, whilst the UKIP, did not manage to make the breakthrough expected by some, and only slightly increased their vote share.

Local government

After the 2017 local council elections, the Conservatives gained a majority of seats on the Isle of Wight Council. The Island Independents were the ruling group on the council between 2013 and January 2017, when the resignation of the council leader Jonathan Bacon led to a Conservative minority administration led by Dave Stewart. The council had previously been Conservative controlled between 2005 and 2013.

2017 local council elections

The local council elections were held on 4 May 2017.

Party Cllrs Gain/Loss Conservative Party 25 +10  Independents 11 -9 Liberal Democrats 2 +1 Green 1 +1 Labour Party 1 -1 UK Independence Party 0 -2 Total 40 -

2013 local council elections

The local council elections were held on 2 May 2013.

Party Cllrs Gain/Loss  Independents 20 +11 Conservative Party 15 -9 Labour Party 2 +1 UK Independence Party 2 +2 Liberal Democrats 1 -3  OthersThose individuals who chose not to state a political affiliation, or be named as 'independents' on the ballot. 0 -2 Total 40 -

2009 local council elections

The local council elections were held on 4 June 2009, the same date as the European Parliament elections. Following a review by the Boundary Commission for England the number of councillors was reduced from 48 to 40, consisting of 38 single member constituencies and 1 double member constituency.

Party 2005 Cllrs 2005 Cllrs, restatedThe number of councillors received in 2005 multiplied by 0.833 to reflect the reduced number of councillors. No attempt has been made to account for altered boundaries and geographic distribution of support. Gain/Loss 2009 Cllrs Conservative Party 35 29 -5 24 Independents 5 4 +3 7 Liberal Democrats 5 4 +1 5 Labour Party 2 2 -1 1  Others 1 1 +2 3 Total 48 40 - 40

2005 local council elections

The local council elections were held on 5 May 2005, the same date as the general election of that year.

PartyCllrsGain/Loss Conservatives35 +23 Liberal Democrats5 -14 Independents5 -6 Labour2 -3 Others1 0 Total 48 -

A local referendum on the issue of a directly elected mayor of the Isle of Wight was held at the same time as the local elections - this failed to pass, with 37,097 against to 28,786 for.

Historical results Prior to 1995, these results are for Isle of Wight County Council.

Election YearIncumbent Party/Parties1973Independent1977Conservatives1981Liberals1985Liberal/Social Democrats1989Liberal Democrats1993Liberal Democrats1995Liberal Democrats1998No Overall Control (Liberal Democrats largest grouping)2001No Overall Control; Island First (Liberal Democrats and Independents) controlling group.2005Conservative Party2009Conservative Party2013Island Independents2017Conservative Party

EU referendum The Isle of Wight voted 62% to leave the European Union in the 2016 EU referendum, compared with 52% nationally.

United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016 Isle of Wight Choice Votes % Leave the European Union 49,173 61.91% Remain a member of the European Union 30,207 38.03% Valid votes 79,380 99.94% Invalid or blank votes 50 0.06% Total votes 79,430 100.00% Registered voters and turnout 109,844 72.31% Source:

European parliamentary representation The Isle of Wight was a part of the South East England region for the purposes of European Parliamentary elections.

2019 European parliamentary elections The following results are exclusively for the Isle of Wight; results are collated regionally prior to MEPs being assigned under the closed list proportional representation system. PartyVotesPercentage ShareSE England ShareSE England MEPs Brexit Party19,39246.6736.074 Green Party6,85516.4913.521 Liberal Democrats6,55715.5525.753 Conservatives3,5778.6010.251 Labour2,4815.977.271 UK Independence1,2923.102.220 Change UK1,1072.664.170 UK EU1270.300.30 Jason McMahon520.120.140 David Round500.120.10 Socialist (GB)390.90.140 Michael Tuberville220.050.60

2014 European parliamentary elections The results of the 2014 European Parliament election on the Isle of Wight were as follows.EU Results iwight.com

PartyVotesPercentage ShareSE England ShareSE England MEPs UK Independence14,53340.9332.144 Conservatives9,33526.2930.953 Green Party3,85410.859.051 Labour3,70810.4414.661 Liberal Democrats1,9695.558.041 An Independence from Europe8412.371.93 English Democrats3410.960.76 BNP2940.830.72 Christian Peoples2370.670.64 Peace1390.390.43 Socialist (GB)770.220.23 Roman Party520.150.13 YOURVoice490.140.12 Liberty GB420.120.11 Harmony Party350.100.08 Rejected Ballots94

Turnout on the Isle of Wight was 35,600 out of an electorate of 111,879 (31.82%)

2009 European parliamentary elections The results of the 2009 European election on the Isle of Wight were as follows.

The following results are exclusively for the Isle of Wight; results are collated regionally prior to MEPs being assigned under the closed list proportional representation system.

PartyVotesPercentage ShareSE England ShareSE England MEPs Conservatives14,12232.334.84 UK Independence9,56321.918.82 Green5,38012.311.61 Liberal Democrats5,11211.714.12 Labour2,6076.08.21 British National Party2,2235.14.4 English Democrats1,1482.62.2 Christian Party736 1.71.5 No2EU4611.10.9 United Kingdom First3800.90.7 Socialist Labour Party3430.80.7 Jury Team2740.60.6 Libertas2470.60.7 The Peace Party2010.50.4 The Roman Party1010.20.2 Rejected Ballots8111.9

Turnout on the Isle of Wight was 43,709 on an electorate of 109,796 (39.81%)

2004 European parliamentary elections The results of the 2004 European election on the Isle of Wight were as follows.

The following results are exclusively for the Isle of Wight; results are collated regionally prior to MEPs being assigned under the closed list proportional representation system.

PartyVotesPercentage ShareSE England ShareSE England MEPs Conservatives11,34132.4%35.2%4 UK Independence9,91328.4%19.5%2 Liberal Democrats4,23412.1%15.3%2 Labour3,4799.9%13.7%1 Green2,7457.8%7.9%1 Senior Citizens1,2373.5%1.9% British National Party9182.6%2.9% English Democrats523 1.5%1.3% Peace151 0.4%0.6% Christian Alliance140 0.4%0.5% ProLife Alliance103 0.3%0.3% Respect100 0.3%0.6% Independent - Rhodes810.2%0.3%

Regionally, turnout was 36.5% on an electorate of 6,087,103.

Local political issues

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