As more than 230 areas in England head to the polls to fill seats on their local councils, the Isle of Wight is not one of them. But why?

Local elections are taking place over the water in Southampton and Portsmouth, where both unitary authorities have seats up for grabs.

When changes were made to the way the council was run, it led to the Island being placed on a different voting cycle than other parts of the country.

On the Island, the Isle of Wight Council elected members in 2021, with all 39 seats being filled.

It saw the authority swing from Conservatives to one with no overall control, as new faces joined the authority and the council leader lost his seat.

Read how the Isle of Wight County Press covered the elections here: 

Since then there has been one by-election for the seat of Brighstone, Calbourne and Shalfleet which was formerly Conservative's Steve Hastings but went to Liberal Democrat's Nick Stewart.

The next major election for the Isle of Wight Council and town, parish and community councils will take place in May 2025.

Election day today (May 4, 2023) is being billed as one of the first big tests for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as it is the first mass election since he took office last year.