It was a Conservative collapse and a Liberal Democrat landslide in the Isle of Wight council by-election last night (Thursday).
Voters in Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet went to the polls yesterday to determine who would represent them on the authority to a resounding result.
It meant the seat changed hands for the first time in 11 years.
More than half of the total votes
With more than half of the total votes cast, Lib Dem Nick Stuart secured the place and added a second seat for the party on the Isle of Wight council.
Cllr Stuart won 526 votes which were more than the total votes for all four other candidates combined.
Second place for Conservative candidate
In second place was the Isle of Wight Conservative candidate, Carol Bryan with 239 votes (287 fewer than Cllr Stuart) and saw the Tory party lose the seat it had held since 2001 and the former seat of now MP Bob Seely when he was a member of the IW council.
The reason for the by-election was due to the resignation of leading Conservative councillor Steve Hastings, who replaced Mr Seely back in 2018.
Mr Hastings said in his resignation letter he had become disillusioned with politics, locally and nationally, and could not represent the people in his ward under the Conservative banner any more.
Third place for Greens
In third place was the Green Party candidate, Doug Alldred — who finished third in 2021 as well.
Fourth went to Stephen J Parkes of the Vectis Party with the Labour candidate, Gary Clarke, finishing in last place.
Voter turnout was lower than the previous election round in May last year, with only 37.75 per cent of the electorate coming out to vote.
Lower turnout than the May election
A total of 986 ballot papers were submitted, but one was rejected as it had no mark to determine who they were voting for.
Despite a lower turnout than the May election, and 301 fewer votes than the last election in 2021, Cllr Stuart only received 23 fewer votes than Mr Hastings did to win the seat previously.
The full results are:
- Nick Stuart, Liberal Democrat – 526 votes
- Carol Bryan, Local Conservatives – 239 votes
- Doug Alldred, The Green Party – 153 votes
- Stephen J Parkes, Vectis Party – 36 votes
- Gary Clarke, Labour Party – 31 votes
Article edit
9.29am 25th Nov 2022 – The LDR used the wrong ward to determine previous election results. Brighstone has been held by the Conservatives since 2005 but the other areas were Conservative from 2011. The article has been changed accordingly
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
