With just a week until the 2021 Isle of Wight council election, a letter signed by 35 candidates calls on Chairman of Island Conservatives, David Pugh, to publicly explain why he has claimed “Isle of Wight council elections are more like Westminster, with a choice between the main political parties”.
The letter, published below in full, argues that “many strong Independent candidates win here without the support of a political party”.
As reported by News OnTheWight yesterday (Wednesday), in their election literature the Island Conservatives are trying to frame the upcoming election as generally them vs Labour.
Answer in public
In the letter the candidates ask Mr Pugh to publicly answer the following questions:
- Why are you deliberately misleading the public by repeating the false claim that in every ward it is only Conservatives and Labour who can win, when in 38/39 wards this does not apply?
- Why are you falsely claiming that County Council elections with 39 wards with very different identities and numerous Independent candidates can be equated with an election to the Westminster Parliament?
- What are you actually afraid of, attempting to hide behind this phony binary focus on local politics?
Mr Pugh says the Island Conservatives “stand by the content of all our literature and statements” and that the claims made in the letter are “absurd”.
Many independent councils
The letter’s signatories, a mixture of candidates, explain that many councils across the country are successfully run by a coalition of councillors from different parties.
Indeed, in the 2013 election when the Conservatives lost control after only winning 15 seats, the Island Independents, who also won 15 seats, negotiated with other independent candidates to form the Island Independent Group of councillors within County Hall and took control of the council.
Pugh: We stand by the content of all our literature
In response to the letter, David Pugh said,
“It is a statement of fact that only the Conservatives and Labour have enough to candidates to form a majority to run the Isle of Wight Council. All other parties or groupings have less than 20 (out of 39) candidates so it is mathematically impossible for them – on their own – to form a majority administration.”
“We have not said – contrary to what their letter claims – that only these two parties can win individual seats. We have made a clear point about the Council as a whole. We stand by the content of all our literature and statements.”
He went on to add,
“Many of these parties have shown – by only standing candidates in certain seats – that some parts of the Island are more important to them than others. For instance, the ironically named “Our Island” has not shown any interest in our three largest towns.
“Most councils across England are run by a majority of one political party. This allows a local authority to have a clear, cohesive direction, rather than the chaos the Island saw between prior to 2017 when a group of disparate independents spent much of their time falling out with each other, before eventually resigning the leadership.”
Pugh: “Absurd claims”
It’s not just the Conservatives making these claims, in Osborne the Green candidate says in his election literature “Your choice, Cameron Palin or another Conservative”. There are two other candidates standing, an independent and a LibDem.
In his response, Mr Pugh also challenged claims made in the leaflets of other candidates, he told News OnTheWight,
“Furthermore, it is rather hypocritical of these candidates to make such absurd claims.
“One of them (the Green candidate for Osborne) has just put out a leaflet suggesting that the election is between him and the Conservative candidate, even though the Greens didn’t even stand in this area last time – so start from a base of 0 votes.
“The Lib Dems are clearly the main challengers to the Conservatives in Osborne, having come second in a 2019 by-election which covered this area.”
He finished by saying,
“We’re not going to take lessons from this assorted bunch of Greens, Liberal Democrats, Our Island and independents about messaging in election campaigns.”
The letter in full
Dear David Pugh,
We write to you in your capacity as Election Agent for the Isle of Wight Conservative Party with regard to the mailings which have dropped onto the doormats of tens of thousands of households across the Island in the lead up to the elections on 6th May.
It is not uncommon to see the odd bar chart used to illustrate who the main challengers are in each ward, but your mailing ignores the evidence of past County elections in 2017 and 2013 – where Independents in particular on the Isle of Wight were very well supported by the electorate.
The Conservative leaflet statement, repeated in a grey box in each letter entitled “Your Choice” in the ward, makes the claim that “Isle of Wight elections are more like Westminster with a choice between the political parties”. This is factually incorrect:
- Many strong Independent candidates win here without the support of a political party
- County elections across 39 wards can result in smaller parties being successful and winning many seats.
Your statement goes on to say that “only the Conservatives and Labour have enough candidates to form a majority to run the Isle of Wight Council”. This claim is also factually incorrect.
- Many councils across the country are successfully run by a coalition of councillors from different parties.
- Labour have barely won a handful of seats for County Hall in the past on the Isle of Wight, and certainly have little chance of securing a majority of over 20 seats from a standing start of zero councillors.
You claim that only the Conservative candidate would be “a hardworking councillor with influence” and everyone else elected would be “a fringe party candidate sitting on the sidelines at County Hall” This claim is likewise factually incorrect.
- There is no guarantee of the outcome of the forthcoming elections or who will form the next administration. Your claim is therefore presumptive and disingenuous to candidate councillors and to the IW electorate.
We require you to answer the following questions publicly:
- Why are you deliberately misleading the public by repeating the false claim that in every ward it is only Conservatives and Labour who can win, when in 38/39 wards this does not apply?
- Why are you falsely claiming that County Council elections with 39 wards with very different identities and numerous Independent candidates can be equated with an election to the Westminster Parliament?
- What are you actually afraid of, attempting to hide behind this phony binary focus on local politics?
We believe that elections should be fought openly and with integrity. It is most disappointing that the Isle of Wight Conservative Party, under your leadership as their Election Agent, refuses to communicate with the electorate honestly.
SIGNED BY (in alphabetical order):
- Doug Alldred – Brighstone, Calbourne, & Shalfleet
- Patrick Barry – Lake South
- Sue Betts – Wootton Bridge
- Jonathan Bacon – Brading and St Helens
- Geoff Brodie – Pan & Barton
- Jaimie Bundell – Newport West
- Claire Critchison – Chale, Niton and Shorwell
- Ian Dore – Binstead and Fishbourne
- Pauline Evans – Sandown South
- Paul Fuller – Cowes West and Gurnard
- Mike Hailston – Shanklin South
- Paul Hampton – Ryde Appley and Elmfield
- Jenny Hicks – Sandown South
- Jessica Higgins – Ryde South East
- Daniel James – Freshwater North & Yarmouth
- Chris Jarman – Totland and Colwell
- Mark Jeffries – Ventnor and St Lawrence
- Julie Jones-Evans – Newport Central
- Julia Laursen – Central Rural
- Joe Lever – Carisbrooke & Gunville
- Karen Lucioni – Ryde Monktonmead
- John Medland – Freshwater South
- Tracy Mikich – Ryde South East
- David Moorse – Shanklin Central
- Cameron Palin – Osborne
- Martyn Ridgley – Newchurch, Havenstreet and Ashey
- Stephen J Rushbrook – Newport Central
- Michael Salmon – Ryde North West
- Michael Smith – Fairlee & Whippingham
- Alasdair Steane – Bembridge
- Ian Stephens – Ryde West
- Natalie Thomas – Ryde South East
- Phil Warren – Ventnor and St Lawrence
- Adrian Whittaker – Lake North
- Paul A.T. Wilson – Lake North
Image: © With kind permission of Allan Marsh
