The Isle of Wight Local Elections 2026

Nine areas will definitely see their councillor change, as their current representatives are not seeking re election: Bembridge (Cllr Joe Robertson MP), Carisbrooke & Gunville (Cllr Joe Lever), Cowes North (Cllr Richard Quigley MP), Freshwater North & Yarmouth (Cllr Peter Spink), Nettlestone & Seaview (Cllr David Adams), Newchurch, Havenstreet & Ashey (Cllr Clare Mosdell), Pan & Barton (Cllr Geoff Brodie), and Wootton Bridge (Cllr Sarah Redrup). The representative for Ryde South-East, Cllr Warren Drew (Conservative) is seeking a return, but in Bembridge.

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The local elections live results

The Isle of Wight Observer Live Blog

The map above shows the political make-up of the council as of May 6, 2026.

Political Party Power

Reform is the only party fielding a candidate in every division. The Conservatives are contesting 36 seats (not standing in Brading & St Helens, Freshwater South, or Parkhurst - against Cllrs Jonathan Bacon, Becca Cameron, and Andrew Garratt respectively), while the Green Party is fielding 26 candidates, Labour 17, the Liberal Democrats 14, and the Vectis Party two. There are also 25 Independents and five candidates standing under Island Independent Network banner.

39

Reform UK Candidates

17

Labour Candidates

36

Conservative Candidates

14

Liberal Democrat Candidates

26

Green Party Candidates

5

Island Independent Candidates

25

Independent Candidates

2

Vectis Party Candidates

Making your vote count!

Making your vote count!

  • Most divisions have between three and five candidates, but Parkhurst & Hunnyhill is the only two way fight. At the other end of the scale, Ryde South East, Sandown North, and Totland & Colwell will have six candidates, making them the most hotly contested seats on the Island.
  • The nomination papers also reveal some notable shifts in political identity. Two councillors who sit as Empowering Islanders - Cllrs Becca Cameron and Chris Jarman - are standing as Independents, as is Cllr Caroline Gladwin, the Reform UK councillor for Central Rural. Former Tory councillor for Parkhurst and for Newport West, Richard Hollis is also standing as an Independent in Cowes North. In 2019 he lost the seat for the Conservatives to Cllr Richard Quigley, who is standing down following his election as the MP for IW West.

The full table of nominations sets the stage for an interesting and competitive set of IW Council elections. With the emergence of Reform UK as a new political force, shifting party allegiances and a choice of candidates in every division, the next few weeks will give voters plenty to consider.

Listen to the IWObserver Interviews

Reform UK Candidate
James Whelan

Labour Candidate
Steve Reading

Conservative Candidate
Ed Blake

Liberal Democrat Candidate
Andrew Garratt

Green Party Candidate
Claire Critchison

Independent Candidates
Billy Hill and Jonathan Bacon

The full list of nominated candidates

Of the 164 candidates, 70 of them (43 per cent) have decided not to publish their home address, which until 2019 was only allowed under exceptional circumstances. The option is being used in this election by candidates across all political parties except the Vectis Party and some independents. You can see what address details candidates have given by clicking the pale blue button at the bottom of the list below.

Bembridge

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1.  Rowena Katharine Crichton-Stuart – Reform UK
  2. Warren Adam Drew – Conservatives
  3. Mark Rochell – Liberal Democrat

Binstead and Fishbourne

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Ramesh Babu – Conservatives
  2. Ian William Dore – Independent
  3. Alice Walker – The Green Party
  4. Terence Wing – Reform UK

Brading and St Helens

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Jonathan Francis Bacon – Independent
  2. Alexander Buggie – Labour Party
  3. Tara Hill – Reform UK

Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Kim Frances Jeffreys – Conservatives
  2. Vincent Hamilton Speed – Reform UK
  3. Nick Stuart – Liberal Democrat
  4. Ed Surridge – Independent

Carisbrooke and Gunville

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. James Robert Downard – Reform UK
  2. Vix Lowthion – The Green Party
  3. Mark Ian Reen – Conservatives

Central Rural

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Caroline Anne Gladwin – Independent
  2. Julia Ann Laursen – The Green Party
  3. James Whelan – Reform UK
  4. Simon James Richards – Conservatives

Chale, Niton and Shorwell

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Anne Bishop – Conservatives
  2. Claire Leah Critchison – The Green Party
  3. Mark Nigh – Reform UK

Cowes Medina

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Oscar Bicket – Conservatives
  2. Joe Hall – Reform UK
  3. Dan Jeffries-Revert – Green Party
  4. Lora Jane Peacey-Wilcox – Independent
  5. Rachel Shereen Thacker – Independent

Cowes North

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Ian Arnold – Reform UK
  2. Siobhan Michelle Barney – Conservatives
  3. Richard Edmunds Hollis – Independent
  4. Jock Rafferty – Labour Party

Cowes South and Northwood

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Gordon Adam – Reform UK
  2. Wayne Doidge – Labour Party
  3. Monique Louise Gallop – Independent
  4. John Ulysses Anthony Nicholson – Conservatives
  5. Bob Packham – Liberal Democrat

Cowes West and Gurnard

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Paul Andrew Fuller – Independent
  2. Phil Sanders – Conservatives
  3. Sue Whitewood – Reform UK

East Cowes

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  1. Peter Ronald Ball – Conservatives
  2. Karl Love – Independent
  3. Mark Andrew Stone – Reform UK
  4. Christopher Byron Warleigh-Lack – The Green Party

Fairlee and Whippingham

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Sophus Magill – The Green Party
  2. Patricia Margaret Packham – Liberal Democrat
  3. Matt Price – Conservatives
  4. John Wilson – Reform UK

Freshwater North and Yarmouth

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Simon Bevis Ayre – Labour Party
  2. Debbie Conlin – Reform UK
  3. Timothy John Jeffreys – Conservatives
  4. Florence Sarlat – The Green Party
  5. David John Whistance – Independent

Freshwater South

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Becca Cameron – Independent
  2. Greta Farian – Labour Party
  3. Ian Pickering – Reform UK
  4. Peta Adrienne Stevenson – The Green Party

Haylands and Swanmore

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Peter Douglas Cameron Banks – The Green Party
  2. Vanessa Claire Churchman – Conservatives
  3. Simon Peter Haytack – Labour Party
  4. Les Kirkby – Reform UK
  5. Malcolm Ross – Liberal Democrat
  6. Sandy Stephens – Independent

Lake North

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Bob Blezzard – Liberal Democrat
  2. Jenny Hicks – Labour Party
  3. Bill Nigh – Reform UK
  4. Adrian Charles Whittaker – Conservatives

Lake South

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Paul James Brading – Conservatives
  2. Finton Anthony Burns – Labour Party
  3. Harry Eccles – The Green Party
  4. Ros Freeman – Reform UK

Mountjoy and Shide

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  1. Ray Harrington-Vail – Liberal Democrat
  2. Alan Hunter – Labour Party
  3. Martin Peter Oliver – Conservatives
  4. Richard Quinn – Reform UK
  5. Stephen James Rushbrook – The Green Party

Nettlestone and Seaview

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Mouli Akundi – Conservatives
  2. Jules Hayward – Independent
  3. Jennifer Holmes – Reform UK
  4. Janet Mace – The Green Party

Newchurch, Havenstreet and Ashey

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Tony Barry – Reform UK
  2. Anna Maria Beach – Labour Party
  3. Jude Brown – The Green Party
  4. Raj Patel – Conservatives

Newport Central

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Norman Arnold – Liberal Democrat
  2. Stephen Bird – Conservatives
  3. Julie Marie Jones-Evans – Independent
  4. Emerson Maguire – Reform UK

Newport West

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Frank Brown – Reform UK
  2. Chris Mace – The Green Party
  3. Raymond Redrup – Conservatives

Osborne

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  1. Julie Burridge – Liberal Democrat
  2. Stephen Colin Hendry – Conservatives
  3. Michael Paler – Independent
  4. Tracy Cathleen Reardon – Independent
  5. Paul Williams – Reform UK

Pan and Barton

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Martin John Bower – Reform UK
  2. Stephen John Reading – Labour Party
  3. Brian George Tyndall – Conservatives

Parkhurst and Hunnyhill

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Andrew Charles William Garratt – Liberal Democrat
  2. Alan Stay – Reform UK

Ryde Appley and Elmfield

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Ross Caruana – Reform UK
  2. Michael Lilley – Liberal Democrat
  3. Abdul Mateen – Conservatives

Ryde Monktonmead

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Chris Brown – Reform UK
  2. Karen Theresa Lucioni – Island Independent Network
  3. Sue Maddison – Conservatives
  4. Matt Walker – The Green Party

Ryde North West

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Peter Burke – The Green Party
  2. Phil Jordan – Independent
  3. Reuben Burns Loake – Reform UK
  4. Lou Temel – Conservatives

Ryde South East

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Andy Clayton – Conservatives
  2. Richard Eric Collins – The Green Party
  3. Stephen Alexander Neil Double – Labour Party
  4. ■ Jessica Higgins – Island Independent Network
  5. Jen Hughes – Liberal Democrat
  6. Chris Way – Reform UK

Ryde West

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Carol Brown – Conservatives
  2. Ethan Luke Mackay Cass – The Green Party
  3. Owen Potter – Reform UK
  4. ■ Ian Rodney Stephens – Island Independent Network

Sandown North

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Debbie Andre – Independent
  2. Clive James Cheetham – Labour Party
  3. Alex Lightfoot – Independent
  4. Robert Sean Newton – Reform UK
  5. Cinnamon Noakes – The Green Party
  6. Joan Solomon – Conservatives

Sandown South

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Frank Baldry – Reform UK
  2. Emily Brothers – Labour Party
  3. Christie Louise Greenaway – The Green Party
  4. Paddy Lightfoot – Independent
  5. Ian David Ward – Conservatives

Shanklin Central

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Michael Thomas Frank Beston – Conservatives
  2. Robert May – The Green Party
  3. Sarah Jane Morris – Independent
  4. Stephen Charles Reynolds – Reform UK

Shanklin South

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Wendy Cooper – The Green Party
  2. Billy James Richard Hill – Independent
  3. David John Llewellyn – Reform UK
  4. Christopher Thomas Lloyd – Labour and Co-operative Party
  5. Chris Quirk – Local Conservatives

Totland and Colwell

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Michelle Abbott – Local Conservatives
  2. Tom Bignell – Reform UK
  3. Eric James Gray – Liberal Democrat
  4. John Hoath – The Green Party
  5. Chris Jarman – Independent
  6. Paul Geraint Pugh – Labour Party

Ventnor and St Lawrence

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Ed Blake – Local Conservatives
  2. Craig Dabbs – Reform UK
  3. Robin Frederick Jarvis – Labour Party
  4. ■ Linda Jefferies – Island Independent Network
  5. Graham James Mark Perks – Vectis Party

Wootton Bridge

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. Sue Betts – The Green Party
  2. Ed Hopper – Local Conservatives
  3. Linda Pauline Pitcher – Vectis Party
  4. Tony Raffe – Reform UK
  5. Elisa Williams – Independent
  6. Tony Zeid – Liberal Democrat

Wroxall, Lowtherville and Bonchurch

📄 Click here to read the candidate profiles

  1. David Groocock – Local Conservatives
  2. Jonathan Howard Idle – The Green Party
  3. ■ Mark Jefferies – Island Independent Network
  4. Ruby Monteath – Reform UK

Find your local polling station

NOTE: Where an electoral division has more than one polling station the elector will only be registered to vote at one of the polling stations.