Hampshire & IoW election results: Conservatives take control

The Isle of Wight count revealed the Conservative party has regained control

The Conservative Party has seized control of Isle of Wight Council after winning 25 of the 40 seats.

The authority previously had no overall control, with a power struggle between the Tories and Independents.

The Tories retained control of Hampshire, winning 56 of the 78 seats with a turnout of 36 per cent.

UKIP failed to win a single seat across the region, losing two seats on the Isle of Wight and 10 in Hampshire compared to the last election in 2013.

Councillors across all parties on the Isle of Wight said the majority result would be good for the island.

Election 2017: Full results from across England

Conservative council leader Dave Stewart said: "I'm very pleased.

Independent Jonathan Bacon - a former leader of the council - was among those to lose his seat

"The problem with a no overall control council is you're always trying to please everybody and you can't always do that. This shows democracy in action."

In the 2013 election Independents won 20 seats and the Tories 15, while UKIP took two seats, the Liberal Democrats one and Labour two.

Independents now hold 11 seats with Jonathan Bacon - a former leader of the council who resigned in January - among those to miss out.

He said: "Obviously I'm disappointed. Our problem with the previous council was that it was run largely as a no overall control council and the majority of the councillors on the other side eventually chose to abuse that and stop work being done, so a majority council will be a good thing."

In Hampshire, Liberal Democrats won 19 seats, while Labour won two and the Community Campaign group took one seat.

UKIP lost all representation on the authority.