Council profile

Isle of Wight

Data through 26 October 2026

Unitary authority · South East · 39 seats in 39 wards · All seats elected every four years · Next election 3 May 2029

Reform UK run Isle of Wight Council as a minority administration. The council has 39 councillors in 39 wards. Seats by party: Reform 19, Other 11, Lib Dem 4, Green 2, Conservative 2, Labour 1. The next election is on 3 May 2029.

The government withdrew its plan to reorganise councils in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton on 7 September 2026. Elections due in May 2027 will go ahead on existing council boundaries. Source

Seats by party

Reform UK (Minority)
39 seats - 20 for a majority
19
1
2
4
2
11
Reform 19Labour 1Conservative 2Lib Dem 4Green 2Other 11
Seat changes since the 7 May 2026 election No change since the election.
Vote share at the 7 May 2026 election (39 seats, all wards)
ShareSeats won
Reform31.9%19
Other24.5%11
Conservative18.8%2
Green12.5%2
Lib Dem8.4%4
Labour3.8%1

2026 election results for Isle of Wight, ward by ward

Next election
3 May 2029
all 39 seats up, then every four years
Largest party
Reform 19
1 short of the 20 needed for a majority
Closest result
Reform won by 1 vote over Conservative, 7 May 2026
Latest by-election
Reform hold, 2 October 2025 (8 since 2021)
Constituencies
2024Now
Voted Leave in 2016
62%
GB 52%

Who holds each ward

BembridgeBinstead & FishbourneBrading & St HelensBrighstone, Calbourne & ShalfleetCarisbrooke & GunvilleCentral RuralChale, Niton & ShorwellCowes MedinaCowes NorthCowes South & NorthwoodCowes West & GurnardEast CowesFairlee & WhippinghamFreshwater North & YarmouthFreshwater SouthHaylands & SwanmoreLake NorthLake SouthMountjoy & ShideNettlestone & SeaviewNewchurch, Havenstreet & AsheyNewport CentralNewport WestOsbornePan & BartonParkhurst & HunnyhillRyde Appley & ElmfieldRyde MonktonmeadRyde North WestRyde South EastRyde WestSandown NorthSandown SouthShanklin CentralShanklin SouthTotland & ColwellVentnor & St LawrenceWootton BridgeWroxall, Lowtherville & Bonchurch
LabourConservativeLib DemReformGreenIndependentOther

Coloured by the party holding most of the ward's seats today; where seats are split evenly, by the party with the higher share at the last election.

Councillors and last results

Select a ward for its full results, candidates and last by-election.

Ward and councillorsLast election
Bembridge
Mark Rochell
7 May 2026
Lib Dem 37.9% lead 5.9 pts
Binstead & Fishbourne
Ian Dore
7 May 2026
Independent 57.9% lead 37.6 pts
Brading & St Helens
Jonathan Bacon
7 May 2026
Independent 63.3% lead 32.5 pts
Brighstone, Calbourne & Shalfleet
Nick Stuart
7 May 2026
Lib Dem 54.5% lead 22.4 pts
Carisbrooke & Gunville
Vix Lowthion
7 May 2026
Green 46.5% lead 13.7 pts
Central Rural
James Whelan
7 May 2026
Reform 42.3% lead 16.6 pts
Chale, Niton & Shorwell
Claire Critchison
7 May 2026
Green 51.7% lead 19.9 pts
Cowes Medina
Lora Peacey-Wilcox
7 May 2026
Independent 44.7% lead 16.2 pts
Cowes North
Jock Rafferty
7 May 2026
Labour 35.6% lead 6.1 pts
Cowes South & Northwood
Gordon Adam
7 May 2026
Reform 30.8% lead 2.3 pts
Cowes West & Gurnard
Paul Fuller
7 May 2026
Independent 75.5% lead 57.8 pts
East Cowes
Karl Love
7 May 2026
Independent 57.3% lead 33.7 pts
Fairlee & Whippingham
Matthew Price
7 May 2026
Conservative 49.0% lead 18.1 pts
Freshwater North & Yarmouth
Debbie Conlin
7 May 2026
Reform 33.9% lead 1.4 pts
Freshwater South
Becca Cameron
7 May 2026
Independent 63.8% lead 36.2 pts
Haylands & Swanmore
Les Kirkby
7 May 2026
Reform 40.8% lead 21.9 pts
Lake North
Bill Nigh
7 May 2026
Reform 39.1% lead 3.1 pts
Lake South
Ros Freeman
7 May 2026
Reform 41.5% lead 6.9 pts
Mountjoy & Shide
Richard Quinn
7 May 2026
Reform 36.0% lead 11.8 pts
Nettlestone & Seaview
Jules Hayward
7 May 2026
Independent 44.2% lead 14.2 pts
Newchurch, Havenstreet & Ashey
Tony Barry
7 May 2026
Reform 45.2% lead 17.1 pts
Newport Central
Julie Jones-Evans
7 May 2026
Independent 48.3% lead 21.7 pts
Newport West
Frank Brown
7 May 2026
Reform 39.6% lead 6.0 pts
Osborne
Paul Williams
7 May 2026
Reform 34.2% lead 10.4 pts
Pan & Barton
Martin Bower
7 May 2026
Reform 46.2% lead 3.6 pts
Parkhurst & Hunnyhill
Andrew Garratt
7 May 2026
Lib Dem 61.2% lead 22.4 pts
Ryde Appley & Elmfield
Michael Lilley
7 May 2026
Lib Dem 60.4% lead 28.0 pts
Ryde Monktonmead
Karen Lucioni
7 May 2026
Independent Network 36.0% lead 4.5 pts
Ryde North West
Reuben Loake
7 May 2026
Reform 34.4% lead 5.4 pts
Ryde South East
Chris Way
7 May 2026
Reform 41.3% lead 13.0 pts
Ryde West
Owen Potter
7 May 2026
Reform 37.0% lead 8.4 pts
Sandown North
Robert Newton
7 May 2026
Reform 38.5% lead 8.6 pts
Sandown South
Frank Baldry
7 May 2026
Reform 36.5% lead 9.1 pts
Shanklin Central
Stephen Reynolds
7 May 2026
Reform 29.6% lead 0.1 pts
Shanklin South
David Llewellyn
7 May 2026
Reform 37.2% lead 7.6 pts
Totland & Colwell
Chris Jarman
7 May 2026
Independent 51.6% lead 24.3 pts
Ventnor & St Lawrence
Ed Blake
7 May 2026
Conservative 45.6% lead 23.4 pts
Wootton Bridge
Tony Raffe
7 May 2026
Reform 38.1% lead 15.2 pts
Wroxall, Lowtherville & Bonchurch
Mark Jefferies
7 May 2026
Independent Network 45.8% lead 21.8 pts

Every council by-election since 2021

8 by-elections since July 2021, 4 of them gains.

DateWardResultWinner's share
2 October 2025Lake NorthReform hold37.0%
10 July 2025Wroxall Lowtherville & BonchurchLocal party gain from Independent
1 May 2025Freshwater SouthIndependent hold
1 May 2025Lake NorthReform hold36.1%
1 May 2025Central RuralReform gain from Conservative39.8%
22 December 2023VentnorConservative hold
24 August 2023Wootton BridgeLib Dem gain from Local party
25 November 2022Brighstone CalbourneLib Dem gain from Conservative

Parliamentary constituencies

ConstituencyShare of council2024 winnerProjected now
Isle of Wight East51%ConservativeConservative 37%
Isle of Wight West49%LabourLabour 29%

Share of the council: the proportion of its census neighbourhoods (2021 LSOAs) in each seat. The projection is PollCheck's demographic model at current polling, not a forecast.

Who lives in Isle of Wight

140,451 residents in 64,768 households

Voted Leave in 2016
62% 10 above GB
Degree or higher
27% 7 below GB
No qualifications
18% same as GB
Own their home
68% 7 above GB
Rent from a council or housing association
11% 6 below GB
Rent privately
21% 1 above GB
Aged 15 to 34
22% 9 below GB
Aged 65 and over
34% 12 above GB

GB figure. 2021 Census (Scotland: 2022): age as a share of residents aged 15 and over, qualifications of residents aged 16 and over, housing as a share of households. Leave: 2016 EU referendum, Electoral Commission results by counting area.

Councils most like this one

Closest on the measures above: the 2016 Leave vote, age, qualifications and housing. Maps show which party holds each ward.

Sources and method

Seat totals and control: PollCheck council control tracker. Councillors: Open Council Data (CC BY-SA 4.0). Election results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), with some vote counts from DCLEAPIL, Leman (2025) (CC BY-SA 4.0), and corrections checked against councils' official declarations. Ward boundaries: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Census: Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland.

Councillor lists and DCLEAPIL-derived vote counts on this page are available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

In wards electing more than one councillor, a party's share counts only its leading candidate (the Rallings and Thrasher method). Independents count individually. The lead is the gap between the top two parties' shares.