Isle Of Wight Conservative Party Chair Hits Back After Letter Accuses Him Of 'Misleading' Public

The Chair of the Isle of Wight Conservative party has hit back after a letter signed by 35 candidates for the local election accused him of 'misleading' the electorate and making 'false' claims.

David Pugh says the letter, which is from a combination of Lib Dems, Independents, Island Independent Network, Greens and Our Island, is ‘hypocritical’ and makes ‘absurd’ claims.

The candidates say claims made on some of Mr Pugh’s election leaflets, for example, that only the Conservatives and Labour have enough candidates to form a majority to run the Isle of Wight Council - is ‘factually incorrect.’

They argue ‘many councils across the country are successfully run by a coalition of councillors from different parties.’

In response, Mr Pugh says it is a ‘statement of fact’ that the Conservatives and Labour are the only two parties with enough candidates to form a majority in County Hall.

In his statement, he also took a swipe at some Isle of Wight Green Party candidates, including the one standing for Freshwater North and Yarmouth, who was among the signatories.

Mr Pugh says the candidate 'has told voters in Yarmouth and Wellow that he got 43 per cent of their votes in 2017'. But Mr Pugh says this is an 'outright lie as he wasn’t a candidate in that area last time.’

In the letter to Mr Pugh, the candidates outline questions they want Mr Pugh to 'publicly answer':

'1.    Why are you deliberately misleading the public by repeating the false claim that in every ward it is only Conservatives and Labour who can win, when in 38/39 wards this does not apply?

'2.    Why are you falsely claiming that County Council elections with 39 wards with very different identities and numerous Independent candidates can be equated with an election to the Westminster Parliament?

'3.    What are you actually afraid of, attempting to hide behind this phony binary focus on local politics?'

The full letter reads:

‘Dear David Pugh,

‘We write to you in your capacity as Election Agent for the Isle of Wight Conservative Party with regard to the mailings which have dropped onto the doormats of tens of thousands of households across the Island in the lead up to the elections on May 6th.

‘It is not uncommon to see the odd bar chart used to illustrate who the main challengers are in each ward, but your mailing ignores the evidence of past County elections in 2017 and 2013 - where Independents in particular on the Isle of Wight were very well supported by the electorate.

‘The Conservative leaflet statement, repeated in a grey box in each letter entitled “Your Choice” in the ward, makes the claim that “Isle of Wight elections are more like Westminster with a choice between the political parties”. This is factually incorrect:

• Many strong Independent candidates win here without the support of a political party
• County elections across 39 wards can result in smaller parties being successful and winning many seats.

‘Your statement goes on to say that “only the Conservatives and Labour have enough candidates to form a majority to run the Isle of Wight Council”. This claim is also factually incorrect. 

• Many councils across the country are successfully run by a coalition of councillors from different parties. 
• Labour have barely won a handful of seats for County Hall in the past on the Isle of Wight, and certainly have little chance of securing a majority of over 20 seats from a standing start of zero councillors.

‘You claim that only the Conservative candidate would be “a hardworking councillor with influence” and everyone else elected would be “a fringe party candidate sitting on the sidelines at County Hall” This claim is likewise factually incorrect. 

• There is no guarantee of the outcome of the forthcoming elections or who will form the next administration. Your claim is therefore presumptive and disingenuous to 

‘We believe that elections should be fought openly and with integrity. It is most disappointing that the Isle of Wight Conservative Party, under your leadership as their Election Agent, refuses to communicate with the electorate honestly.’

In response, Chair of the Isle of Wight Conservatives David Pugh said:

‘It is a statement of fact that only the Conservatives and Labour have enough candidates to form a majority to run the Isle of Wight Council. All other parties or groupings have less than 20 (out of 39) candidates so it is mathematically impossible for them – on their own – to form a majority administration. We have not said – contrary to what their letter claims – that only these two parties can win individual seats. We have made a clear point about the Council as a whole. We stand by the content of all our literature and statements.

‘Many of these parties have shown – by only standing candidates in certain seats – that some parts of the Island are more important to them than others. For instance, the ironically named “Our Island” has not shown any interest in our three largest towns.

‘Most councils across England are run by a majority of one political party. This allows a local authority to have a clear, cohesive direction, rather than the chaos the Island saw between prior to 2017 when a group of disparate independents spent much of their time falling out with each other, before eventually resigning the leadership.

‘Furthermore, it is rather hypocritical of these candidates to make such absurd claims.

‘One of them (the Green candidate for Osborne) has just put out a leaflet suggesting that the election is between him and the Conservative candidate, even though the Greens didn’t even stand in this area last time – so start from a base of 0 votes. The Lib Dems are clearly the main challengers to the Conservatives in Osborne, having come second in a 2019 by-election which covered this area.

‘Then we’ve got the Green candidate for Freshwater North & Yarmouth, who has told voters in Yarmouth and Wellow that he got 43% of their votes in 2017, even though he wasn’t a candidate in that area last time. An outright lie.

‘Or the Green candidate for Carisbrooke & Gunville, who claimed in his leaflet that he is standing in the parish elections to represent that area, when he is actually standing in Newport West.

‘As such, we’re not going to take lessons from this assorted bunch of Greens, Liberal Democrats, Our Island and ragbag independents about messaging in election campaigns. A number of them have made false statements in their literature, which mislead voters.'

The letter was signed by  35 signatories standing for 29 wards across the Island.

Doug Alldred - Brighstone, Calbourne, & Shalfleet

Patrick Barry - Lake South

 Sue Betts - Wootton Bridge

Jonathan Bacon - Brading and St Helens

Geoff Brodie - Pan and Barton

Jaimie Bundell - Newport West

Claire Critchison - Chale, Niton and Shorwell

Ian Dore - Binstead and Fishbourne

Pauline Evans - Sandown South

Paul Fuller - Cowes West and Gurnard 

Mike Hailston - Shanklin South

Paul Hampton - Ryde Appley and Elmfield

Jenny Hicks - Sandown South

Jessica Higgins - Ryde South East 

Daniel James - Freshwater North & Yarmouth

Chris Jarman - Totland and Colwell

Mark Jeffries - Ventnor and St Lawrence

Julie Jones-Evans - Newport Central 

Julia Laursen - Central Rural

Joe Lever - Carisbrooke & Gunville

Karen Lucioni - Ryde Monktonmead

John Medland - Freshwater South

Tracy Mikich - Ryde South East

David Moorse - Shanklin Central

Cameron Palin - Osborne

Martyn Ridgley - Newchurch, Havenstreet and Ashey 

Stephen J Rushbrook - Newport Central

Michael Salmon - Ryde North West

Michael Smith - Fairlee & Whippingham

Alasdair Steane – Bembridge

Ian Stephens - Ryde West

Natalie Thomas - Ryde South East

Phil Warren - Ventnor and St Lawrence

Adrian Whittaker - Lake North

Paul A.T. Wilson - Lake North 

Islanders will go to the polls next week (Thursday).