Isle of Wight East Conservative MP, Joe Robertson, shares this latest news. Ed
Isle of Wight East MP, Joe Robertson, has written to the newly appointed Minister for Local Government, Alison McGovern MP, following a vote by local councillors last night which did not reach an agreement to submit an option for local government reorganisation to Government. The deadline of submission is 26th September.
The Government is currently undertaking a shake-up of local councils in England and introducing new Combined Mayoral Authorities (Solent Devolution). The Isle of Wight joined a priority scheme last year at the written request of the Isle of Wight Council Leader Phil Jordan.
Isle of Wight’s “unique geography and community” must be recognised
Mr Robertson stressed that the Isle of Wight’s “unique geography and community” must be recognised, just as it was in 1995 when the Island became the first Unitary Authority in England, and again when Parliament legislated for two dedicated Isle of Wight constituencies to prevent a cross-Solent parliamentary seat.
In his letter, the MP goes on to urge the Minister to safeguard the Island’s position as a stand-alone unitary authority (the Isle of Wight Council) amid ongoing discussions on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Councillors wish for the Island to remain independent of Hampshire
In his letter, Mr Robertson highlighted that the “overwhelming majority” of Isle of Wight councillors expressed their wish for the Island to remain independent of Hampshire.
Council papers criticised
He said that the “failure of Council leadership” led to the “no option” vote by Councillors because not all of the options were placed before them.
He further criticised the quality of the Council papers. Mr Robertson said creating additional Mainland authorities would dilute the Island’s vote on the Mayoral Board.
Call for urgent meeting
The East Wight MP has requested an urgent meeting with the Minister to ensure that Islanders are heard in both the LGR process and forthcoming devolution plans.
He has also extended an invitation to the Minister to visit the Island to hear directly from our community.
The Letter
Alison McGovern MP
Minister of State
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Via email
18 September 2025
Dear Minister,
I write regarding your plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Specifically, regarding last night’s vote by Isle of Wight Councillors not to submit any of the options presented to them to Government.
The Isle of Wight has a unique geography and community which is why the first Unitary Authority in England – Isle of Wight Council – was established here in 1995. This allowed us to govern ourselves independent of Hampshire. More recently, when the constituency boundary review took place, Parliament specifically legislated to ensure that the Island could have two constituencies which are much smaller than the national average so that part of the Island did not get merged with Hampshire as a cross-Solent constituency. It was widely recognised that this would be contrary to the best interests to the Island and nobody wanted it in Hampshire either.
Consequently, all the LGR proposals that have been discussed and voted on in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in recent months involve the Isle of Wight remaining its own unitary authority. The only variation between the proposals is how Hampshire (currently Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council and Portsmouth City Council) is divided into unitary authorities – how many and where the boundaries should be.
It was plain last night that the overwhelming majority view expressed by Isle of Wight Councillors was that the Isle of Wight should remain its own unitary authority. The reason none of the three options were agreed upon is because of a failure of leadership within the Isle of Wight Council, in failing to put forward an option for three mainland authorities plus the Isle of Wight rather than four. We understand that this may become Hampshire County Council’s preferred option. For the Island, this is an important consideration as it would avoid diluting our vote on the Combined Mayoral Authority Board, but it was not addressed in last night’s Council papers put forward by the Leader. Councillors were in attendance from different political groupings and many frequently commented on the poor quality of the papers and the lack of proper engagement locally along the way. I note that the Isle of Wight Council does not operate under a Cabinet System and the Leader is therefore not an Executive Leader.
As the deadline for a submission to Government is 26 th September and our Council Leader pushed this vote to a mere week before the deadline, it seems unlikely the Isle of Wight will
now make a submission and we have no way of discovering whether a three mainland authority plus the Isle of Wight would gain majority support. I suspect it would.
Please be assured, that the Isle of Wight, including the overwhelming majority of its Councillors, wish for the Isle of Wight to remain its own stand-alone unitary authority reflecting its unique circumstances.
I met with your predecessor and would welcome a meeting with you to discuss both this and the devolution plans at your earliest convenience. I would also like to invite you to visit the Island to hear directly from our community.
Yours sincerely,
Joe Robertson MP
