Back in July 2017, two months after his election as the Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely told OnTheWight he was not in a rush to step down as an Isle of Wight councillor, expecting it to be “in the next year or two”. This morning he announced he’ll be giving up the role before Christmas.
Do his residents know?
Strangely, Bob doesn’t appear to have announced it to the residents who voted him into the role to represent Central Wight, choosing instead to let the County Press break the news to their readers.
Change of mind
Back in July, Bob told OnTheWight,
“I would like to step down at some point in the next year or two. However, I am not in a rush as the Parishes have said that they would like me to continue, as have Council colleagues.”
Quite what has changed in the last five months is unclear. We await Bob’s response to our questions.
Two minutes attendance at Full council since election
Since his election council record show Bob hasn’t attended any of the Isle of Wight council Full council meetings, with the exception of July.
In July (see OnTheWight’s live coverage of July meeting) Bob arrived literally two minutes before the meeting closed.
Who is Steve?
Bob Seely got 75% of the votes cast in the Central Wight ward in the May 2017 local council elections. Unsurprisingly the Isle of Wight Conservatives have their hopeful lined up, which the CP name as – Steve Hastings (Now confirmed by Steve to OnTheWight).
A quick look at Steve’s Twitter feed finds him posing for selfies with current Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Dave Stewart, yesterday at the Brighstone Lights of Love service. Brighstone is within the Central Wight Ward.
Bev and I had a great night last night at Brighstone Lights of Love service. Great to meet @NigelHartleyCEO and catch up with @councillordave1 good that proceeds go to @EarlMBHospice Christmas Tree Festival starts today, come to the village and see for yourself. pic.twitter.com/M1jVgYNTBZ
— Steve and Bev (@stevebevnewport) December 7, 2017
Steve’s Twitter bio lists him as a “Newport Parish Councillor”. He stood in the May 2017 council election for Newport Central, coming second to Julie Jones-Evans, with him gathering 23% of the votes cast.
Other photos on Twitter show Steve around the Central Wight ward over the last couple of weeks. On 25th November he was standing by the Shorewell Parish notice board and on the 29th November he’s posing by a thatched cottage “Out delivering the Brighstone Parish Newsletter”.
Reactions
The Isle of Wight Lib Dems’s parliamentary candidate, Nick Belfitt, has reacted swiftly, saying,
“We welcome Mr Seely’s resignation and hope he will continue to move to focus as our representative MP for the Isle of Wight. In Central Wight it’s now an opportunity for them to have a focused local representative for their area, someone who can help transform their community. Liberal Democrats are the party that puts the local needs first.
“We are pleased to say that we have multiple local candidates putting themselves forward in Central Wight. We are now moving forward to electing our local representative candidate and ask if local Central Wight residents that want to get involved in the process to please get in contact.
“We look forward to giving residents the chance to put the Liberal Democrats first.”
Residents deserve full attention of their councillor
Isle of Wight Green Party leader, Vix Lowthion, Leader of the Isle of Wight Green Party, said,
“This has been on the cards for months, so we welcome confirmation by our MP that it is only fair that the people of Central Wight have a County Councillor who can devote their full attention to the geographically largest ward on the Island.
“Key issues for the next Councillor for Central Wight will be retaining local services (health, transport – particularly buses – and local shops). In addition, with the licence for Oil Drilling off Compton Beach approved recently, it’s crucial that conservation and protection of the environment are a priority for the local councillor.
“Our IW Green Party candidate came a clear second to the Conservatives in May 2017 and we will be aiming to increase our vote considerably in this by election in 2018.”
Article edits
14:20: Added confirmation from Steve Hastings.
17.30: Comment from Vix Lowthion added.
Source: County Press
