Cowes Medina councillor, Lora Peacey Wilcox, has tonight been voted as the Leader of Isle of Wight council.
As News OnTheWight did when Steve Hastings was announced as acting Conservative leader earlier in the month, we take a brief look at Cllr Peacey Wilcox’s background for those who do not know her.
Born and bred
Cllr Peacey Wilcox comes from a family that have lived in Cowes for many generations. She attended local schools in Cowes and is married to John, with two daughters and two dogs.
Actively involved in town life, Peacey Wilcox was elected as a Cowes town councillor in 1999 and, among other local roles, also became chair of the Cowes Sea Cadets and the friends of Northwood Cemetery. She’s served as Mayor of Cowes for the last three years.
2005: Became a Conservative councillor
In 2004 the then-Conservative MP, Andrew Turner, asked Peacey Wilcox to contest an IW Council by-election, to which she replied, “I am not into politics”.
Peacey Wilcox said it took her weeks to decide if she wanted to join the Conservative Party, and decided to do so, contesting and winning the by-election, followed by further wins in 2005 and 2009.
2013: Left the “political machine”
In 2013 Peacey Wilcox left what she called the “political machine”, stating she was not prepared to be told when and how she should vote at council meetings, or what she could and could not say.
Peacey Wilcox stood in the 2013 election as an Independent and swung a 70 per cent majority vote from Conservative to 70 per cent Independent win, demonstrating the Medina residents had confidence in Peacey Wilcox herself and that it was not the political party they were voting for.
2017: Remained independent
Peacey Wilcox remained Independent winning the Medina ward seat again in 2017, as well as in this most recent May 2021 election.
Having served as an IW councillor for almost 18 years, Peacey Wilcox has been responsible for housing and introduced the ‘local connection criteria’ to the legislation at housing. She has worked to bring back empty homes into use. In 2015-16 she was elected Vice Chairman of the council and in 2017 she succeeded as Chairman of the council, a role she held until May 2019.
Allow all 39 elected councillors to have their say
Peacey Wilcox says she believes the Isle of Wight council needs to have transparency and accountability restored and changes to the Constitution to enable all 39 elected councillors to have their say.
Although Peacey Wilcox has long stated she had no aspiration to become Leader of the IW Council, she adds,
“However, with over 62 per cent of Islanders voting for non-Tory candidates I now feel we must bring back transparency.
“We have a duty to give it our all to make it work. I welcome Cllr Steve Hastings’ written letter to all members to engage and work together for the good of the Island and look forward to those elected members working in synergy as 39 councillors to find solutions for all IW residents, and to remove the smoke and mirrors which cloud issues such as the Cowes Floating Bridge which is hemorrhaging IW taxpayers’ money.”
Restore transparency and accountability
Peacey Wilcox describes the new ‘Alliance’ administration as a transitional position to manage the post-Covid socio-economic and financial crisis, to communicate and “engage through a majority of elected councillors to make the necessary changes to restore transparency and accountability, while retaining their individual political identity”.
She finishes by saying,
“It is important to get the right people in the right positions for the good of the Isle of Wight residents and I include the Leader’s role in that.
“Once transparency is restored and all elected councillors will be able to represent their electorate and not be controlled by the few.”
