In the first of our series on the main battlegrounds for the 2026 local elections, we turn to Ryde North West – where the council leader faces a serious challenge on home ground.
Ryde North West is one of the Island’s most distinctive wards, stretching from the town centre to the seafront. It includes the pier, the Esplanade and the main shopping streets of Union Street and High Street, alongside key transport links and civic landmarks.
It is also a ward that swings politically between the Conservatives and Independents.
Phil Jordan won here as an independent in 2013, lost it to the Conservatives in 2017 when Adrian Axford took the seat, then regained it in 2021 under new boundaries with 428 votes, ahead of the Conservatives on 300, with Labour and the Greens close behind.
At the centre of this year’s contest is Phil Jordan himself – not just the sitting councillor, but now Leader of the Isle of Wight Council. First elected in 2013, he has built up more than a decade in local politics and previously held key cabinet roles, including transport and infrastructure, before becoming leader in September 2023.
Away from politics, Jordan has business interests in the care sector and has long been involved in Ryde-based initiatives and organisations, giving him a strong local footprint beyond County Hall.
As council leader, he has been a visible voice on major Island issues such as ferry links, funding pressures and infrastructure, while defending the council’s approach on spending and services.
His pitch to voters is rooted in that experience:
“I’m standing on my record. I intend to carry on with energy and determination.”
He is also keen to draw a clear line between local and national politics:
“Vote local – not on national issues. Party politics should not influence decisions on local issues.”
Phil believes the key issues in Ryde North West are tackling anti-social behaviour, regenerating the seafront and high street, improving infrastructure and protecting heritage buildings such as the Town Hall.
But this time, there is a direct and vocal challenger.
Reuben Loake, standing for Reform UK, is positioning himself as a fresh alternative. A local businessman who runs isleofwightjobs.com, he says Ryde has “so much potential” which he believes is not being fully realised.
He is particularly critical of spending decisions, arguing that of the £20million Levelling Up funding allocated to Ryde, around £350,000 has been wasted on consultations and project management rather than visible improvements in the town.
Reuben wants to back small businesses, pointing to what he sees as a town blessed with independent shops, and is firmly opposed to excessive parking charges in the town centre.
His overall assessment is blunt:
“Ryde is in a state of managed decline.”
He cites the ice rink, Town Hall and Vectis Hall as examples, and says he would bring what he calls “business solutions” to local problems.
Jordan, meanwhile, has suggested Reform UK are using local elections to test their strength ahead of a future general election, but is keen not to frame the contest as personal:
“I don’t see it as a fight. The electorate have to choose who the best representative is for them.”
Also standing is Conservative candidate Lou Temel, a Ryde Town councillor, representing a party that held the seat as recently as 2017, and Green Party candidate Peter Burke, who is focusing on “getting the basics right” with safer streets, better services and improved roads, while pushing for stronger accountability from Island Roads.
With a high-profile incumbent, a challenger looking to tap into frustration and a ward that has switched parties several times before, Ryde North West is shaping up as one of the most closely watched contests on the Island.
This is not a ward anyone can take for granted.
Find out who your local councillor is, how and where to vote and the results of previous elections at www.isleofwight.vote - the Island's new hub for all things related to Local and General Elections, brought to you by Island Echo.
Better the devil you know.
What I have found strange is the majority of candidates
have gave their views and opinions, yet Reform candidates
are not commenting!
Makes one wonder why, maybe they have no ideas and
are hoping to blag it!
The elections are serious.
Its all fixed. How Jordan gets in every time beats me. Greedy arrogant and the first to vote in a wage increase for themselves and put up council tax.
Phil Jordan should be struck off for leaching over half million with 5 others. This is tax payers money Phill not yours to leach in expenses
Wow well i didn’t know that i do now. That’s a crime surly
Anyone has to bebetter than jordan, even the onster raving loony party, so for me he has had his chance to improve things on the island and failed spectacularly, talks al lot and does little
This ward was held by my late husband, Adrian Axford, and myself, as conservatives for many years. It deserves to be represented by someone who isn’t in it for ££ or self importance or power. Look at Ryde. it deserves someone who will really work hard for the community.
Well said Reform Ryde
Phil Jordan. Convicted of drunk driving.
Phil Jordan owns St Vincent’s Care home.
Seen the news recently about care home residents being moved to the mainland because it is cheaper?
We need new leadership, also younger viewpoints and some energy injected to get the Island back on its feet again.
Well if didn’t know about that surly that’s a police or public prosecution??