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The 2009 Isle of Wight Council elections were held on Thursday 4 June 2009.

After a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, the number of seats on the council was reduced from 48 single-member wards, to a 40-member council, consisting of 38 single member wards, and one double-member ward.^[1]

Overview

The result of the election was 'no change', with the Conservatives retaining an overall majority by winning twenty-four of the forty seats available. Of the sixteen remaining seats, ten went to independents, five to the Liberal Democrats and just one to the Labour Party.^[2] Although the Conservatives managed to retain control, the Isle of Wight was still the only council in England in which they lost seats.^[3] Among the factors which could have led to this relatively poor performance are the recent education reforms on the Isle of Wight, which led to protests over the closure of island primary schools. The "Standards not Tiers" independent candidate Chris Welsford beat the sitting Conservative councillor Jonny Fitzgerald-Bond by 141 votes in the Ventnor East ward. In the Cowes West and Gurnard ward, which was at the heart of education reforms, sitting Tory councillor Alan Wells was beaten by independent candidate Paul Fuller.^[2] The large numbers of independent candidates standing at this election and the increased level of support for them could also be attributed to the ongoing United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, pushing voters away from the mainstream political parties represented in the House of Commons.

Results

The party standings following the election:

Party		2005 Cllrs	2005 Cllrs, restated^[4]	Gain/Loss	2009 Cllrs
	Conservative Party	35	29	−5	24
	Independents	5	4	+3	7
	Liberal Democrats	5	4	+1	5
	Labour Party	2	2	−1	1
	Others^[5]	1	1	+2	3
Total		48	40	–	40

Ward results

The following are results from each electoral ward.^[6]

Arreton and Newchurch
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Richards	691	51.68
	Conservative	Erica Oulton	646	48.31
Turnout			1337	44.62

Binstead and Fishbourne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Ivan Bulwe	519	42.47
	Independent	Ivor Warlow	515	42.14
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Zeid	188	15.38
Turnout			1222	45.17

Brading, St Helens and Bembridge (two seats)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Patrick Joyce	1444
	Independent	Jonathan Bacon	1289
	Conservative	Sally Pigot	1117
	Conservative	Joe Robertson	1097
	Liberal Democrats	Anouska Blake	406
	Liberal Democrats	David Cleaver	338
Turnout			4391	48.49

Carisbrooke
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Hobart	583
	Independent	Barbara Foster	475
Turnout			1058	41.27

Central Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Bingham	894
	Liberal Democrats	Jill Wareham	732
Turnout			1626	57.98

Chale, Niton and Whitwell
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	William Wyatt-Millington	641
	Liberal Democrats	Malcolm Groves	404
Turnout			1045	45.27

Cowes Medina
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Lora Peacy-Wilcox	617
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Reid	148
	Labour	Steve Cooper	121
Turnout			886	30.74

Cowes North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Brown	542
	Independent	Wendy Wardrop	276
	Labour	Peter Laugharne	98
Turnout			916	35.27

Cowes South and Northwood
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roger Mazillius	987
	Liberal Democrats	Charlotte Witheridge	230
	Labour	Nicholas Wray	85
Turnout			1302	45.53

Cowes West and Gurnard
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Paul Fuller	819
	Conservative	Alan Wells	649
Turnout			1468	47.99

East Cowes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Margaret Webster	642
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Lloyd	543
	Labour	Jane McKean	68
Turnout			1253	42.07

Freshwater North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Andy Sutton	541
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Wareham	226
	Labour	Clive Burland	134
Turnout			901	39.20

Freshwater South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Cameron	435
	Liberal Democrats	John Medland	389
	Independent	David Baggott	245
Turnout			1069	44.53

Godshill and Wroxall
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Rodney Downer	570
	Conservative	Alison Child	509
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Hardy	112
Turnout			1191	45.14

Havenstreet, Ashey and Haylands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Vanessa Churchman	420
	Conservative	Conrad Gauntlett	395
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Fraser-Tait	210
Turnout			1025	37.27

Lake North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Jerry White	401
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Harris	356
	Labour	Deborah Gardiner	333
Turnout			1090	39.11

Lake South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Tim Hunter-Henderson	591
	Liberal Democrats	John Fleming	301
	Labour	Alan Hollands	128
	BNP	Dot Clynch	89
Turnout			1109	42.46

Nettlestone and Seaview
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Reg Barry	855
	Conservative	Diana Tuson	607
Turnout			1462	54.57

Newport Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Julie Jones-Evans	291
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Garratt	186
	Independent	Jackie Hawkins	157
	Independent	Julian Whittaker	103
	Labour	Andy Woodhouse	70
Turnout			807	28.46

Newport East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Geoff Lumley	449
	Conservative	Peter Humber	191
	Liberal Democrats	Cathy Wright	73
Turnout			713	30.31

Newport North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Dawn Cousins	508
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Whiteman	342
Turnout			850	34.07

Newport South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Roger Dixcey	395
	Liberal Democrats	Shirley Smart	315
	Labour	David Stott	135
Turnout			845	32.29

Newport West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Whittaker	501
	Independent	Brian Rushton	182
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Carr	165
Turnout			848	37.32

Parkhurst
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Richard Hollis	312
	Liberal Democrats	Garry Price	185
	Independent	Clive Page	145
	Labour	Steve Falla	63
Turnout			705	29.75

Ryde East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Knowles	626
	Conservative	Peter Tuson	479
Turnout			1105	38.67

Ryde North East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Wayne Whittle	364
	Conservative	Adrian Axford	318
	Liberal Democrats	Henry Adams	285
Turnout			967	33.56

Ryde North West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Arthur Taylor	531
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Wakeley	441
Turnout			972	33.53

Ryde South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Whittaker	275
	Independent	Charles Chapman	263
	Conservative	Gary Axford	217
	Labour	Ernest 'Jim' White	67
Turnout			822	28.61

Ryde West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Ian Stephens	652
	Conservative	Sarah Doran	249
	Liberal Democrats	John Timmons	209
Turnout			1110	39.20

Sandown North
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Heather Humby	747
	Conservative	Rajesh Patel	179
Turnout			926	39.46

Sandown South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Ian Ward	547
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Blezzard	283
	Independent	Richard Davis	177
	Labour	Eric Goacher	43
Turnout			1050	35.19

Shanklin Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Williams	634
	Independent	Lincoln Wyatt	231
	Liberal Democrats	Sara Sheath	191
	Labour	Doreen Armstrong	61
Turnout			1117	35.95

Shanklin South
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Pugh	804
	Liberal Democrats	Lynda Fleming	161
	Independent	Anne Bishop	156
	Labour	Peter Coleman	58
Turnout			1179	40.46

Totland
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	John Howe	442
	Conservative	David Eccles	396
	Independent	Carol Bryan	304
Turnout			1142	46.17

Ventnor East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Chris Welsford	503
	Conservative	Jonathan Fitzgerald-Bond	362
	Liberal Democrats	Harry Rees	150
Turnout			1015	40.15

Ventnor West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Susan Scoccia	562
	Independent	Stephen Stubbings	555
	Liberal Democrats	Wendy Ford	86
Turnout			1203	47.18

West Wight
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Stuart Dyer	719
	Conservative	Bill Burt	624
Turnout			1343	46.04

Whippingham and Osborne
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Edward Giles	414
	Independent	Charles Hancock	398
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Lloyd	235
	Labour	Laraine Pascoe	60
Turnout			1107	37.63

Wootton Bridge
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Barry Abraham	866
	Liberal Democrats	Ernest Smith	290
Turnout			1156	41.22

References

^ "Future electoral arrangements for the Isle of Wight" (PDF). Boundary Committee for England. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
^ ^a ^b "Tories surge back in island polls". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
^ "Letters – Sickened voters stayed at home". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
^ The number of councillors received in 2005 multiplied by 0.833 to reflect the reduced number of councillors. No attempt has been made to account for altered boundaries and geographic distribution of support.
^ Those individuals who chose not to state a political affiliation, or be named as 'independents' on the ballot.
^ "Isle of Wight Council election results". Isle of Wight County Press. Retrieved 11 June 2009.