Island Echo always welcome letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.
Letter to the editor – 5th May 2026
“I hope this letter can help those who are unsure who to vote for on polling day this week.
“There is a lot of clamour about people using the local elections to send a protest message to the Government. However, I urge people to remember that this election is about choosing councillors to run local services.
Article continues below this advertisement “This isn’t about national policies or Westminster personalities – this is about local issues and what matters to you, your friends and your family.
“Your votes this week won’t oust Keir Starmer, nor will they bring down the price of fuel, but they can decide what your council tax is spent on, help reduce litter on the streets and fix that pothole that has been bothering you for weeks.
“Take time to read what each candidate has to say and vote for the person you feel will act in the best interests of your ward, regardless of whom they represent.
“Whilst I can’t change everyone’s mindset, I can encourage people to think with the Isle of Wight at the forefront of their minds.
“On Thursday 7th May, vote local.”
Article continues below this advertisement
nicely put !
Should be no need to post junk with party headers through my letterbox then. Its definitely party driven.
That is very true. I could decorate the toilet walls
with the amount of Reform ones I have received.
Lol
It may be about local issues but i am yet to speak to any canditates in the Wroxall area to hear what there plans are
The Reform bloke lives in Wroxall. But he has no plans other than getting elected.
if everyone votes for any party except Labour of course it will bring down Starmer. The Liebour party are finished.
I agree it’s based on local issues, these councillors sit at meeting’s, argue about whatever and are strangled by national government funding limits. No matter who is voted in locally, the real decisions are made nationally, by the ruling party, currently Labour. Local politics is dominated by national government, vote for who you like locally or not as you feel. Bottom line it wont change anything locally. The Island now has Two local MP’s, now tell me what difference has that made to the benefit of the Island ?
All set to change soon. That’s what devolution means.
Local issues surely = Independent!
haha no
HA HA YES, what will Nige do, he still don’t know where
Clacton is!
Lol
“Quote”
“I hope this letter can help those who are unsure who to vote for on polling day this week”
Get over yourself. As if you’re qualified to advise people how to vote.
Absolutely correct
It doesnt matter who is elected. Their job is to ensure streets are clean, bins collected, roads are fixed, costs kept low and preservation of nature, by not building houses or allowing the island to be flooded with illegal immigrants
Immigrants are being housed on the mainland, why should
the island be any different!
Time to take their fair share.
Why
You got a spare few rooms then, you take ’em.
At last, someone with common sense. Certain party leaders have turned this into a national campaign and promised all sorts of rubbish. You’re voting for a local person – not an MP.
My thoughts exactly
Unfortunately your letter is quite naive.
What happens nationally does have a big impact on local matters. Council tax is a classic example. The Labour government have completely shredded the local economy. Put hospitality into difficult situations. They spend other people’s money, like the Isle of Wight Council without considering impacts on others and remembering who’s money they are spending. Get the left out.
But however you vote today will not affect any of that
Nothing will change now or in 2029
The Elite have an agenda and they employ politicians
etc to mandate their agenda.
Voting just gives minions hope, but they do not
representative US!
you seem to be confused, (by your obsessive right-wing hatred of the left ??)
you claim that “What happens nationally does have a big impact on local matters”,.. yes, absolutely…
but (as the writer of the letter pointed out) this is a LOCAL election,,..
the result of which will have negligible effect on national government,.. or ‘getting the left out’
But it may FORCE that idiot starmer to finally go, liebour are going to get shafted in the councils.
Every party, every council, every government spends ‘other people’s money’. Or did you think services grow on trees?