Joe Robertson, Conservative Member of Parliament for Isle of Wight East, has today (Monday) spoken out against the Government’s plans for a local government shake-up, which could see the Isle of Wight Council replaced with a new mainland-based authority.
The Government’s plans, published just before Christmas, seek to implement a single tier of local government across England with directly elected mayors. The Isle of Wight Council is already a single-tier unitary council.
Minimum population issue
However, the Government has set a minimum population of 500,000 for unitary authorities, much greater than the Island’s electorate of around 110,000. There is no minimum population requirement for local government in Scotland and Wales.
In an unexpected development, the Government says it will delay elections for any local authority that expresses an interest in its plans. This means the Isle of Wight Council elections due in May could be delayed by a year or more.
Robertson: The idea is both absurd and offensive
Joe Robertson MP said,
“Previous Conservative and Labour Governments have talked about devolving power down from Whitehall, but until now, nobody was proposing the abolition of the Isle of Wight Council.
“This is no longer a sensible conversation about genuine devolution – it is a proposal by an out-of-touch government to transfer all of our decision-making powers off the Island to a new body on the mainland.
“The idea is both absurd and offensive.”
View of council leader
Isle of Wight Councillors are due to debate the proposal on Wednesday night (08/01/25) and decide whether they want to begin a process which could dissolve the Council for good.
Councillor Phil Jordan, the Leader of the Council, was reported in late December as saying,
“What is now noticeably clear is that the Unitary Authority of the Island, in its present form, will not continue.”
Robertson: Councillors should send a strong message back to the Government
The East Wight MP says he disagrees with this pessimistic assessment.
“I urge all Councillors to unequivocally reject any proposition that includes the destruction of the Isle of Wight Council.
“All elected representatives on the Island should send a strong message back to the Government that the Island will only engage in a conversation which preserves our own unitary authority, with none of our current decision-making powers being transferred off the Island. Only on that basis can we talk about the devolution of powers down from Whitehall.
“I fundamentally disagree with the Council Leader’s assessment that our Council will not continue in its present form. The Government’s plans contain options.
“I am ready to work with Phil Jordan and others to defend our Island’s democracy, but he needs to show strong leadership and not cave into any overbearing nonsense from the Government.
“There is no good reason to cancel our May elections and deny residents their opportunity to decide who represents them for the next four years.”
News shared by the office of Joe Robertson, in their own words. Ed
