Isle of Wight

[greenhert]

The Isle of Wight constituency has existed as a single constituency since the Great Reform Act of 1832, although from 1832-85 Newport was represented separately. Attempts to split the Isle of Wight constituency back into two constituencies have been successfully resisted so far.

The Isle of Wight is separated from the mainland and specifically the county of Hampshire by the Solent. Since 1983 it has been the largest constituency in the UK in terms of electorate, approximately 113,000 as of 2020. The Isle of Wight has many attractive landmarks, including Osborne House, Queen Victoria's favourite summer residence, and Carisbrooke Castle, where King Charles I was imprisoned during the English Civil War. Several famous poets and writers of the 19th century lived on the Isle of Wight, including Alfred (Lord) Tennyson, John Keats and Charles Dickens when he was writing David Copperfield. The Isle of Wight's demographics are similar to those of the South East but the geographical disconnection from the mainland means low social mobility levels and few good job opportunities on the island.

The Isle of Wight is a safe Conservative seat at present but its political history is fascinating. In 1974, Stephen Ross won it for the Liberals, partly due to a scandal involving the then Conservative MP Mark Woodnutt and a boat-building company. Mr Ross narrowly held on against future Conservative MPs Dudley Fishburn and Virginia Bottomley in 1979 and 1983 despite their best efforts; he retired in 1987 and Barry Field won the seat for the Conservatives. Mr Field retired in 1997 and Peter Brand won the seat for the Liberal Democrats then, having narrowly failed to unseat Mr Field in 1992. The Liberal Democrat administration on the Isle of Wight proved particularly unpopular and this contributed to Dr Brand's defeat by Andrew Turner, who was also the Conservative candidate in 1997. Mr Turner's political career was rather chequered; in 2015 four former chairmen of the Isle of Wight Conservative Association called for his resignation as MP and his agent, David Walter, resigned a week before the election; the Liberal Democrats nevertheless collapsed spectacularly with UKIP taking second place and the Greens' Vix Lowthion third. In 2017, after claiming homosexuality "was not normal" when speaking to a group of schoolchildren, he stood down at the general election later that year and the seat's current Conservative MP, Bob Seely (whose great-great-uncle Jack was MP for this seat from 1900-06 and again from 1923-24) succeeded him. In 2017 and 2019 this seat was a top Green Party target but Ms Lowthion only managed third place in 2017, and in 2019 her vote share actually fell by 2.1% despite the Liberal Democrats standing down for her as part of the Unite to Remain alliance; unusually in 2019 the Labour vote actually increased by 1.3%, even though Labour have never been competitive on the Isle of Wight at any level.

[lackeroftalent]

The River Solent ceased to be at the end of the last Ice Age, so yes Solent Strait or just The Solent.

[carlton43]

Apr 19, 2020 20:48:14 GMT @barnabymarder said:

That's a relief, it would have been sad if instead of going to sea in my sister's boat I'd only been on a river.

It was at one time the mouth of the Rhine Estuary and would have been a bit of both.

[Devil Wincarnate]

Apr 19, 2020 15:37:38 GMT lackeroftalent said:

The River Solent ceased to be at the end of the last Ice Age, so yes Solent Strait or just The Solent.

Yep, and the River Solent was only part of what is now the Solent.

All the natural harbours on that stretch of the coast, from Poole to Pompey, are also flooded river estuaries.

[IceAgeComing]

There was a lot of talk of there being an Independent Conservative candidate had Turner not stood down in 2017 and had he been adopted as Conservative candidate which would have potentially made things very interesting - by the end he didn't have a great deal of personal popularity either generally or in the party so an Independent would have done well but the party will have people that always vote for them. While I seriously doubt this particular scenario would have happened (since you'd have had tactical voting for the Independent to get Turner out) but hypothetically if you split the Tory vote exactly in two they'd only be a little bit ahead of Labour and you'd have the chance of a weird result.

Seely seems to be pretty popular on the Island; my family (life-long Labour supporters which probably makes them entirely unrepresentative of the general population) like him and while they disagree with his politics and wouldn't vote for him he's seen as being a good constituency MP. Been rather vocal about the ferries issue and has suggested the renationalisation of Wightlink or government control of fares which seems like a very un-Conservative policy but one which there's plenty of support for back home for obvious reasons.

[neilm]

Isn't the IoW ferry the most expensive in the world, per mile? Or something like that.

[matureleft]

Apr 19, 2020 14:06:59 GMT greenhert said:

The Isle of Wight constituency has existed as a single constituency since the Great Reform Act of 1832, although from 1832-85 Newport was represented separately. Attempts to split the Isle of Wight constituency back into two constituencies have been successfully resisted so far.

The Isle of Wight is separated from the mainland and specifically the county of Hampshire by the Solent. Since 1983 it has been the largest constituency in the UK in terms of electorate, approximately 113,000 as of 2020. The Isle of Wight has many attractive landmarks, including Osborne House, Queen Victoria's favourite summer residence, and Carisbrooke Castle, where King Charles I was imprisoned during the English Civil War. Several famous poets and writers of the 19th century lived on the Isle of Wight, including Alfred (Lord) Tennyson, John Keats and Charles Dickens when he was writing David Copperfield. The Isle of Wight's demographics are similar to those of the South East but the geographical disconnection from the mainland means low social mobility levels and few good job opportunities on the island.

The Isle of Wight is a safe Conservative seat at present but its political history is fascinating. In 1974, Stephen Ross won it for the Liberals, partly due to a scandal involving the then Conservative MP Mark Woodnutt and a boat-building company. Mr Ross narrowly held on against future Conservative MPs Dudley Fishburn and Virginia Bottomley in 1979 and 1983 despite their best efforts; he retired in 1987 and Barry Field won the seat for the Conservatives. Mr Field retired in 1997 and Peter Brand won the seat for the Liberal Democrats then, having narrowly failed to unseat Mr Field in 1992. The Liberal Democrat administration on the Isle of Wight proved particularly unpopular and this contributed to Dr Brand's defeat by Andrew Turner, who was also the Conservative candidate in 1997. Mr Turner's political career was rather chequered; in 2015 four former chairmen of the Isle of Wight Conservative Association called for his resignation as MP and his agent, David Walter, resigned a week before the election; the Liberal Democrats nevertheless collapsed spectacularly with UKIP taking second place and the Greens' Vix Lowthion third. In 2017, after claiming homosexuality "was not normal" when speaking to a group of schoolchildren, he stood down at the general election later that year and the seat's current Conservative MP, Bob Seely (whose great-great-uncle Jack was MP for this seat from 1900-06 and again from 1923-24) succeeded him. In 2017 and 2019 this seat was a top Green Party target but Ms Lowthion only managed third place in 2017, and in 2019 her vote share actually fell by 2.1% despite the Liberal Democrats standing down for her as part of the Unite to Remain alliance; unusually in 2019 the Labour vote actually increased by 1.3%, even though Labour have never been competitive on the Isle of Wight at any level.

I've noted this in these profiles before, but not commented. While nobody would claim great Labour strength on the island there has been a pretty consistent small Labour presence in local government for the last 20 years at least, and the most recent General Election results have demonstrated a fair amount of latent support after a pretty long squeeze to produce the Tory/Lib Dem marginal it has been.

I can also see no reference to the two-seat proposal that seems very likely to happen.

[carlton43]

Jun 10, 2020 10:23:15 GMT matureleft said:

Apr 19, 2020 14:06:59 GMT greenhert said:

The Isle of Wight constituency has existed as a single constituency since the Great Reform Act of 1832, although from 1832-85 Newport was represented separately. Attempts to split the Isle of Wight constituency back into two constituencies have been successfully resisted so far.

The Isle of Wight is separated from the mainland and specifically the county of Hampshire by the Solent. Since 1983 it has been the largest constituency in the UK in terms of electorate, approximately 113,000 as of 2020. The Isle of Wight has many attractive landmarks, including Osborne House, Queen Victoria's favourite summer residence, and Carisbrooke Castle, where King Charles I was imprisoned during the English Civil War. Several famous poets and writers of the 19th century lived on the Isle of Wight, including Alfred (Lord) Tennyson, John Keats and Charles Dickens when he was writing David Copperfield. The Isle of Wight's demographics are similar to those of the South East but the geographical disconnection from the mainland means low social mobility levels and few good job opportunities on the island.

The Isle of Wight is a safe Conservative seat at present but its political history is fascinating. In 1974, Stephen Ross won it for the Liberals, partly due to a scandal involving the then Conservative MP Mark Woodnutt and a boat-building company. Mr Ross narrowly held on against future Conservative MPs Dudley Fishburn and Virginia Bottomley in 1979 and 1983 despite their best efforts; he retired in 1987 and Barry Field won the seat for the Conservatives. Mr Field retired in 1997 and Peter Brand won the seat for the Liberal Democrats then, having narrowly failed to unseat Mr Field in 1992. The Liberal Democrat administration on the Isle of Wight proved particularly unpopular and this contributed to Dr Brand's defeat by Andrew Turner, who was also the Conservative candidate in 1997. Mr Turner's political career was rather chequered; in 2015 four former chairmen of the Isle of Wight Conservative Association called for his resignation as MP and his agent, David Walter, resigned a week before the election; the Liberal Democrats nevertheless collapsed spectacularly with UKIP taking second place and the Greens' Vix Lowthion third. In 2017, after claiming homosexuality "was not normal" when speaking to a group of schoolchildren, he stood down at the general election later that year and the seat's current Conservative MP, Bob Seely (whose great-great-uncle Jack was MP for this seat from 1900-06 and again from 1923-24) succeeded him. In 2017 and 2019 this seat was a top Green Party target but Ms Lowthion only managed third place in 2017, and in 2019 her vote share actually fell by 2.1% despite the Liberal Democrats standing down for her as part of the Unite to Remain alliance; unusually in 2019 the Labour vote actually increased by 1.3%, even though Labour have never been competitive on the Isle of Wight at any level.

I've noted this in these profiles before, but not commented. While nobody would claim great Labour strength on the island there has been a pretty consistent small Labour presence in local government for the last 20 years at least, and the most recent General Election results have demonstrated a fair amount of latent support after a pretty long squeeze to produce the Tory/Lib Dem marginal it has been.

I can also see no reference to the two-seat proposal that seems very likely to happen.

It is 10-years since LDs were in second place and 19-years since they were close.  They couldn't be bothered to stand in 2019 (in a seat they have held within memory?) as a favour to a flaccid no contest from a weak Green Party (all mouth and promises but a 3rd place on only 15%!) candidate. And Labour were within 6% in 1945 on a straight fight and in a very good year in a straight fight could gain a good vote. It was wrong to assert Labour have NEVER been competitive because they have.

[timrollpickering]

Apr 19, 2020 14:06:59 GMT greenhert said:

The Isle of Wight constituency has existed as a single constituency since the Great Reform Act of 1832, although from 1832-85 Newport was represented separately.

Not sure that's true given the way boroughs and counties interacted - surely Newport was part of the Isle of Wight seat as well?

and his agent, David Walter, resigned a week before the election;

Can the agent actually do that or are they locked in? I've seen all manner of contradictory claims on this over the years.

[therealriga]

Apr 19, 2020 14:06:59 GMT greenhert said:

Since 1983 it has been the largest constituency in the UK in terms of electorate, 

How big was Milton Keynes' electorate before being split at the 1992 election? SW MK did get some voters from Buckingham, but the unified MK seat can't have been far behind IOW.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

The review worked on the basis of the electorate on 13 December 1988, which was 103,259 in Milton Keynes constituency (and 72,252 in Buckingham).

[therealriga]

Jun 26, 2020 14:02:45 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

The review worked on the basis of the electorate on 13 December 1988, which was 103,259 in Milton Keynes constituency (and 72,252 in Buckingham).

Yes, just found the answer here :https://books.google.lv/books?id=N89RAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=MILTON+KEYNES+ELECTORATE+BEFORE+BEING+SPLIT&source=bl&ots=mBb0DD-h5D&sig=ACfU3U1ioTaj7AcKV2INL_UVPR6EIXSsIw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjF2rSx0p_qAhWVrIsKHcvCCmkQ6AEwCnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=MILTON%20KEYNES%20ELECTORATE%20BEFORE%20BEING%20SPLIT&f=false

Forgot to turn caps lock off, but it's exactly as you said. Since Milton Keynes had 103k and IOW had 98,649 in 1987 and 99,839 in 1992, the claim that IOW has had the largest electorate since 1983 isn't true.

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Stats update :
Owner-occupied - 70.1%, 217/650
Private rented - 17.4%, 188/650
Social rented - 10.7%, 556/650
White - 97.3%, 196/650
Black - 0.2%, 518/650
Asian - 1.1%, 486/650
Managerial & professional - 28.1%
Routine & Semi-routine - 28.8%
Degree level - 22.6%, 413/650
No qualifications - 24.3%, 281/650
Students - 5.7%,543/650
Age 65+ - 23.8%,25/650

[nyx]

The Isle of Wight has for a long time been one of the most populous constituencies in the country, with various proposals by boundary reviews to split the island. There was briefly a proposal around ten years ago to create a constituency partially on the Island and partially on the mainland, but after backlash it was decided in the abortive 2011 boundary review to create two constituencies for the Isle of Wight, a decision which carried over to subsequent boundary reviews too. Statistically the Isle of Wight deserves around 1.52 constituencies, so it only just "deserves" a second constituency. The 2023 Boundary Commission's Revised Proposals for the Isle of Wight, which will almost certainly become the final constituency borders, divide the Isle of Wight into two seats, one in the east and one in the west.

Isle of Wight West will have slightly fewer electors out of the two seats, 54911. This seat contains the rural and sparsely populated area of the Isle of Wight known as West Wight, and in fact much of it is covered by the Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It also contains the county town of Newport, and five miles north of Newport are the twin towns of Cowes and East Cowes, well known for yachting and the latter for having contained Queen Victoria's summer home of Osborne House. The most easily accessible "big city" to this constituency is Southampton: a car ferry goes from East Cowes to Southampton, and a fast passenger catamaran goes from Cowes to Southampton, with the very frequent #1 bus service going straight from near the ferry terminal in Cowes to Newport, as an option for commuters to Southampton. There is also a car ferry from Yarmouth at the western end of the Island, to the small town of Lymington on the mainland in the New Forest.

Isle of Wight East has slightly more electors at 56805 and is a bit more densely populated, having only around two thirds of the area of Isle of Wight West. Its biggest town is Ryde, which is the joint largest town on the Island (both Ryde and Newport have around 25000 people). Ryde has two passenger ferry connections to the city of Portsmouth on the mainland, a catamaran and a hovercraft (the latter of which is a bit more awkward as it doesn't arrive in the centre of Portsmouth so you have to walk or get a bus). There's also a car ferry to Portsmouth from Fishbourne, a hamlet three miles west of Ryde, and indeed in general for this constituency Portsmouth would be the more accessible of the two big cities nearby on the mainland. Aside from Ryde, the Sandown Bay area has quite a few people, which is an urban area covering a few miles along the coast, containing the towns of Sandown and Shankin and villages of Lake and Yaverland. If it were counted as one unit its population is around 25000, rivalling Ryde and Newport in size. The Isle of Wight's railway line, using former London Underground trains, provides good transport from Sandown Bay to Ryde (and thereby Portsmouth by ferry), much cheaper and quicker than the buses. There are also a variety of villages in this constituency, and also the coastal town of Ventnor, which has an interesting microclimate thanks to the hill immediately north of it and is thus able to grow a lot of tropical plants.

Politically, it seems unlikely that either of the two new constituencies will vote significantly left of the other, though it's hard to know given the amount of independents in local elections. The Tories seldom get much more than 50% in either general elections or local elections, so whilst they haven't been in much danger since the collapse of the Lib Dem vote, neither can really be classified as a safe seat in the event of an election where the Tories do badly overall. Labour looks well positioned to cement a position as the main opposition party to the Tories at parliamentary level in both of these seats, after they built up a substantial lead over the Greens for third place in the last election. Despite it being the less populous of the two seats, I would say Isle of Wight West would have to be seen as the "successor seat" to the current Isle of Wight constituency given that the county town is there and that the current MP lives in that seat, as do the Labour and Green candidates from the last election. I would be very surprised if Bob Seely doesn't stand there; he's also overall a popular MP so could well hang onto the seat even in the event of heavy Tory losses elsewhere. 

Isle of Wight East being the "new seat", it'll be interesting to see who stands there in the next election. I think Labour could well select Emily Brothers, a councillor on Sandown Town Council who was the Labour parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam in the 2015 general election, and who is also transgender and blind. Despite living on the Isle of Wight (having moved from London several years ago), she sought the Labour nomination in the City of Chester (!) by election this year, so clearly has parliamentary ambitions. Another possibility might be former Portsmouth North Labour MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry, who now lives on the Isle of Wight and unsuccessfully ran for the Lake South seat on the Isle of Wight Council last year. I can't think of any obvious candidate for the Conservatives but one must surely exist. Out of the two seats, even though neither is significantly left or right of the other, I think this one is probably the one more likely to flip simply thanks to not having the strong incumbent of Bob Seely, and also thanks to the Green Party seeming slightly weaker here than in the other seat, thus cementing Labour a bit more as the anti Conservative option.

[nyx]

I added up the 2021 Council election results by the new seats.

Isle of Wight East:
Conservative 7669 (37.3%)
Independent 4845 (23.6%)
Labour 2722 (13.3%)
Our Island 1427 (6.9%)
Island Independent Network 1327 (6.5%)
Green 1162 (5.7%)
Vectis Party 886 (4.3%)
Liberal Democrat 501 (2.4%)
Turnout: 20539/56805 = 36.2%

Isle of Wight West:
Conservative 8156 (40.0%)
Independent 5136 (25.2%)
Green 3379 (16.6%)
Labour 2038 (10.0%)
Liberal Democrat 1638 (8.1%)
Turnout: 20347/54911 = 37.1%

There's actually quite a lot more variation than I expected- the Conservative presence being the same in both seats doesn't surprise me, but the difference in Labour vs Green support in each side of the Island wasn't a thing I expected to this extent. Would be interesting to see 2019 general election estimated results on the new boundaries, based on the local election results; I tried but it's pretty hard given the number of independents. But I do think those local election results could perhaps reinforce a feeling among local Greens that it's only worth seriously contesting the West constituency.

[Deleted]

Nov 19, 2022 15:23:00 GMT nyx said:

Isle of Wight East being the "new seat", it'll be interesting to see who stands there in the next election. I think Labour could well select Emily Brothers, a councillor on Sandown Town Council who was the Labour parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam in the 2015 general election, and who is also transgender and blind. Despite living on the Isle of Wight (having moved from London several years ago), she sought the Labour nomination in the City of Chester (!) by election this year, so clearly has parliamentary ambitions. Another possibility might be former Portsmouth North Labour MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry, who now lives on the Isle of Wight and unsuccessfully ran for the Lake South seat on the Isle of Wight Council last year. I can't think of any obvious candidate for the Conservatives but one must surely exist. Out of the two seats, even though neither is significantly left or right of the other, I think this one is probably the one more likely to flip simply thanks to not having the strong incumbent of Bob Seely, and also thanks to the Green Party seeming slightly weaker here than in the other seat, thus cementing Labour a bit more as the anti Conservative option.

Someone's created a rather fulsome Wikipedia page for her! Which seems rather OTT.
I'm always suspicious when an aspiring but not-yet-made-it politician who (to be frank) has done nothing to merit such a bio, is randomly on there.

[nyx]

Nov 22, 2022 14:48:22 GMT @johnyorks said:

Nov 19, 2022 15:23:00 GMT nyx said:

Isle of Wight East being the "new seat", it'll be interesting to see who stands there in the next election. I think Labour could well select Emily Brothers, a councillor on Sandown Town Council who was the Labour parliamentary candidate for Sutton and Cheam in the 2015 general election, and who is also transgender and blind. Despite living on the Isle of Wight (having moved from London several years ago), she sought the Labour nomination in the City of Chester (!) by election this year, so clearly has parliamentary ambitions. Another possibility might be former Portsmouth North Labour MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry, who now lives on the Isle of Wight and unsuccessfully ran for the Lake South seat on the Isle of Wight Council last year. I can't think of any obvious candidate for the Conservatives but one must surely exist. Out of the two seats, even though neither is significantly left or right of the other, I think this one is probably the one more likely to flip simply thanks to not having the strong incumbent of Bob Seely, and also thanks to the Green Party seeming slightly weaker here than in the other seat, thus cementing Labour a bit more as the anti Conservative option.

Someone's created an rather fulsome Wikipedia page fir her! Which seems rather OTT.
I'm always suspicious when an aspiring but not-yet-made-it politician who (to be frank) has done nothing to merit such a bio, is randomly on there.

I suspect "first transgender major party PPC" was enough of an thing in the media that it prompted editors to create such an article, even if she never got elected to anything substantial. It's had several editors contributing to it so doesn't seem to be the work of just one person who knows her or anything, but at the same time the existence of said article certainly isn't necessarily a sign she'll make it in the future! 

Incidentally it's occurred to me who probably has a good shot at the Conservative nomination for this seat... David Pugh, the Conservative leader of the Isle of Wight Council from 2007 to 2013 (aged only 27 when he took office), who lost his own Shanklin South seat to an independent in the 2013 election. His leadership was considered something of a disaster by many and he left politics for a few years, only to make a return in 2018 to become Chairman of the Isle of Wight Conservatives, prompting one Conservative councillor to quit the party in protest. Pugh still serves in that role now though so clearly has influence. If he does end up as the Tory candidate for Isle of Wight East it would be a rather massive own goal by the party and make the seat more likely to be competitive.

And it turns out the Greens have already picked their candidates; their candidate for the East constituency is town councillor Cameron Palin who was in the East constituency in the initial proposals but since got drawn into the West one in the revised proposals. Doubt they'll go and pick someone else as a result of said redrawing though. Vix Lowthion is indeed standing in West.

[Deleted]

Nov 22, 2022 15:31:55 GMT nyx said:

Nov 22, 2022 14:48:22 GMT @johnyorks said:

Someone's created an rather fulsome Wikipedia page fir her! Which seems rather OTT.
I'm always suspicious when an aspiring but not-yet-made-it politician who (to be frank) has done nothing to merit such a bio, is randomly on there.

I suspect "first transgender major party PPC" was enough of an thing in the media that it prompted editors to create such an article, even if she never got elected to anything substantial. It's had several editors contributing to it so doesn't seem to be the work of just one person who knows her or anything, but at the same time the existence of said article certainly isn't necessarily a sign she'll make it in the future! 

Incidentally it's occurred to me who probably has a good shot at the Conservative nomination for this seat... David Pugh, the Conservative leader of the Isle of Wight Council from 2007 to 2013 (aged only 27 when he took office), who lost his own Shanklin South seat to an independent in the 2013 election. His leadership was considered something of a disaster by many and he left politics for a few years, only to make a return in 2018 to become Chairman of the Isle of Wight Conservatives, prompting one Conservative councillor to quit the party in protest. Pugh still serves in that role now though so clearly has influence. If he does end up as the Tory candidate for Isle of Wight East it would be a rather massive own goal by the party and make the seat more likely to be competitive.

And it turns out the Greens have already picked their candidates; their candidate for the East constituency is town councillor Cameron Palin who was in the East constituency in the initial proposals but since got drawn into the West one in the revised proposals. Doubt they'll go and pick someone else as a result of said redrawing though. Vix Lowthion is indeed standing in West.

Oh good grief. He has an even longer Wiki bio! 
Maybe it's over-enthusiastic Isle of Wight locals creating them.

[johnloony]

Nov 22, 2022 15:31:55 GMT nyx said:

Nov 22, 2022 14:48:22 GMT @johnyorks said:

Someone's created an rather fulsome Wikipedia page fir her! Which seems rather OTT.
I'm always suspicious when an aspiring but not-yet-made-it politician who (to be frank) has done nothing to merit such a bio, is randomly on there.

I suspect "first transgender major party PPC" was enough of an thing in the media that it prompted editors to create such an article, even if she never got elected to anything substantial. It's had several editors contributing to it so doesn't seem to be the work of just one person who knows her or anything, but at the same time the existence of said article certainly isn't necessarily a sign she'll make it in the future! 

Incidentally it's occurred to me who probably has a good shot at the Conservative nomination for this seat... David Pugh, the Conservative leader of the Isle of Wight Council from 2007 to 2013 (aged only 27 when he took office), who lost his own Shanklin South seat to an independent in the 2013 election. His leadership was considered something of a disaster by many and he left politics for a few years, only to make a return in 2018 to become Chairman of the Isle of Wight Conservatives, prompting one Conservative councillor to quit the party in protest. Pugh still serves in that role now though so clearly has influence. If he does end up as the Tory candidate for Isle of Wight East it would be a rather massive own goal by the party and make the seat more likely to be competitive.

And it turns out the Greens have already picked their candidates; their candidate for the East constituency is town councillor Cameron Palin who was in the East constituency in the initial proposals but since got drawn into the West one in the revised proposals. Doubt they'll go and pick someone else as a result of said redrawing though. Vix Lowthion is indeed standing in West.

I think the Lib Dems had a trans parliamentary candidate in about 1992, but I can’t remember exactly who/where

[owainsutton]

Jun 26, 2020 12:40:47 GMT timrollpickering said:

Apr 19, 2020 14:06:59 GMT greenhert said:

The Isle of Wight constituency has existed as a single constituency since the Great Reform Act of 1832, although from 1832-85 Newport was represented separately.

Not sure that's true given the way boroughs and counties interacted - surely Newport was part of the Isle of Wight seat as well?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newport_(Isle_of_Wight)_(UK_Parliament_constituency)