2013 Isle of Wight Council election

2013 Isle of Wight Council election

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All 40 seats to the Isle of Wight Council 21 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	35.4%
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Island Independents UKIP Last election 24 New Party Did not stand Seats won 15 15 2 Seat change 9 15 2   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Labour Liberal Democrats Last election 1 5 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 4

The 2013 Isle of Wight Council election was held on 2 May 2013 to elect all 40 members for a four-year term to the Isle of Wight Council, a unitary authority which governs the Isle of Wight. Going into the election, the Conservative Party was looking to gain a third term in power after first being elected to overall control in 2005, but in one of the shock results of the wider local elections being held in the country, the Conservatives lost overall control of the council, having been reduced to 15 seats, 6 short of a majority of 21. The 'Island Independents', a mutually supporting group of candidates and councillors running as independents, gained the same number of seats, whilst other independents, UKIP, Labour, and a Liberal Democrat made up the remainder.

Emblematic of the election, the Conservative leader of the council, David Pugh, lost his own seat to an Island Independent. The popular perception of the reasons for the Conservative losses was, in the words of OnTheWight, 'It's widely thought that the way they implemented the financial cuts turned the Island against them. Particularly unpopular was the wholesale closing of the Tourist Information centres and public toilets.'^[1] With neither the Conservatives or the Island Independents gaining a majority outright, control of the authority was initially in doubt, but on 8 May the Island Independents announced the five non-aligned independents would be joining their group.