There's no jobs, the shops are all shut, the place is falling apart, but I'm still gonna vote for the same guy that's sat by & watched it all happen. There's something wrong with people.

Not voting conservative because the bingo had to be cancelled is legendary

The guy who can't get a job, saying "I think it's my age, the age I am, and quite a lot of people my age" then goes on to say that he hopes Bob Seely doesn't lose his seat, saying "I'm hoping he's gonna stay in and er, we can er, get everything sorted out with jobs and whatever his policies are". A real critical thinker there, can't put two and two together and will vote for more of the same without even knowing what he is voting for! Crazy

No wonder he can't get a job.... I can't get a job, there are no jobs, I'll vote for the people who created that situation.

I live and work here and most people I work with think that voting Labour is akin to voting for a Marxist revolution. I’ll be amazed if Quigley unseats Seely but fingers crossed.

Anyone from Ventnor/the Isle of Wight will famously know that Graham Perks was once put on pubwatch (banning him from every pub in the town except the one he owns) for biting a woman. He is not a sane man.

As a Indian I have sympathy for british people.politicians are bastard everywhere.

imagine being so clueless that you want to keep a Tory MP to help fix the island, not knowing the policies they offer and not realising they are in this shit show because of the Tories... the UK is forever screwed

I lived on the IOW during Covid before managing to escape. The job propects are terrrible and its basically an island retirement home trapped in the 1960s. I feel really aweful for people born on the island in this day and age as its so expensive to stay, but also really hard to afford to leave the island due to the boat costs etc. I think most 18 year olds attempt to escape the island when they go to Uni and never look back.

Sad state the Tories have brought to this country.

Back in the 80’s I lived on the Isle of Wight in Ryde. My ex-husband was the manager of The Star bingo hall. It was such a bustling town full of a variety of shops and a thriving community. It breaks my heart to see how decimated areas of the island have become. Then again it just mirrors what is happening up and down the whole of England! Help out by voting the tories out for good! Don’t leave them with any options to rise ever again!

The idiots will still vote Tory or heaven help us Reform. All you can do is laugh.

I hope anybody watching this on the Isle of Wight or anyone visiting the Isle of Wight AVOIDS THAT PUB & PUB LANDLORD like the Plague.

My sympathies to the guy saying he can’t get a job. Same boat for me, seems once you get to late 50’s employers disregard you. I’ve gone past desperation now, just resigned to it.

The woman at 1:30 is an example of someone that could be fooled for 20 years before realise they've been voting against their own interests.

That pub landlord had his fly down the entire time. Take from that what you will

"Gypsies & Vagabonds, r*pe & pillage" I thought he was about to break into song...Seriously, language & views like that! Who is going to vote for that reform guy???

Imagine looking at the last 14 years and thinking, "Yeah, Tories are bad, but you know who'll help us? Reform."

Summer time the hotel owners make buckets of cash driving around in Aston matins , whilst paying minimum wages to seasonal workers then sack them in October then expecting them to return the following march , really they should pay better wages or give retainers

and just look what the tory party has done to the place .14 years wasted.............and brexit.

Two. Largest party can’t bring employment, how the hell the Reform Party is going to bring employment and prosperity.

That utterly clueless pub landlord is the kind of 'voter' who fills me with sheer terror!

Voted Tory but voting Reform ? Why 🤯🤯🤯

Bob Seely MP voted against a Labour amendment to outlaw the dumping of sewerage. He represents a small island and is an open water swimmer. If he can’t vote in his own personal, physical and political interests, what hope islanders? Let’s find out on the fourth.

Props to producer Laura on this report, give her, her own show or at least spot pls Oli!

Hi i am Amarjit kumar from Mumbai India and i always use to think that in UK people are so much happy and they earn plenty of money but after watching your video and from few months i am following UK election videos and i am watching many videos like this and now i think like as India in UK also have poverty and people is also suffering with jobs issue and finance issue .

Lack of jobs, especially for young people. Ferries which are our only method of leaving charge an arm and leg. Which also hits our tourism industry. Everything is more expensive because of the 8 mile stretch of water. Education for those with learning difficulties is awful. Mental health support is almost non existent. House prices & rent are through the roof (as they are countrywide), but wages are pitiful. Beautiful place. Some really nice people. But the split between the rich and poor is shocking and we also have a lot of disabled people who don’t get the support they need. I’m voting Quigley. Wouldn’t ever vote for a Tory and definitely not Seeley. He’s obviously worried about the election because I have had a load of his mail promising the earth. Funny how he hasn’t done any of those things while he has been in government. I live on Pan and the poverty and deprivation here is sad. We need a change. We deserve better and a more equal society. We won’t get that with a Tory or RefUk Ltd. I am not really happy with the Labour manifesto. But having lived through Thatcher’s years, the Labour years and now this past 14 years of horrors. Labour did a better job by miles. The Tories as usual are just a bunch of public school morons lining their and their cronies pockets.

How deluded can you be to think The Reform Party will improve anything.

The I.O.W. probably represents a lot of places in the UK today. A place you may well like to visit, but definitely not want to stay.

People still delude themselves into thinking the government and the MPs are actually working in the interests of the people. I'm sure many people who go into politics do honestly want to do what's best for country and people, then realise that it's a lot harder than it seems and for some it's just easier to fall in line and do as they are told by those above them. Politics has become more about making a name for themselves and ensuring their futures are secure than about doing what's right or best for people.

Interviewer did a good job.

“They’re a good bunch” Looking forward to seeing that on a campaign poster under a pic of the candidate goose-stepping her way across the island. As for Mr I-can’t-get-a-job-so-I’ll-vote-conservative, there is no hope. He’s like that couple the bbc filmed on their way to a food bank in Gosport, I think it was, “Rishi, bless’im” ffs 🙄

It's a vicious cycle, but let's be honest - it starts with commercial rents (well, all rents and the property market in general). They're just completely unregulated, and the overhead of starting any small business in the UK is immediately out of hand. High streets are empty because it doesn't make financial sense to take on stupid insecure leases. That means people are put off trading, they're put off manufacturing - the idea of enterprise is so prohibitive in this country. We need more regulation in this country, not less.

"The return to truth, honest and integrity"? Did it ever exist in politics??

Thanks for shining a light on the Island! I know you mostly focused West Side, but in East side we've organised the East Wight Primary as there was no clear tactical choice to beat the Tories. Last week nearly 1000 local voters decided green was the best tactical choice East Side, and we are spreading the word. This is the first election primaries are happening, and in South Devon and here they could make a massive difference. Locally organised tactical voting.. Vote Green East, Labour West and lets be a Conservative MP free Island! Please help us spread the word.

Vote Conservative , means more poverty and more homelessness , no jobs , and a disastrous Brexit

Bob Seely is a smug, self satisfied git; a nodding dog, who toes the Party Line, regardless. The guy doesn't have an original thought in his head! But then, that goes for so _many_ of them these days, in all Parties.

It’s always the folk in the bleakest conditions that grab onto saviour types, only to be let down again and again when they fail to deliver or spin lies about other people stopping them. iow can’t be a fun place to do this kind of story, but it’s one the media will not show.

Hope that guy finds a job soon

Well done for going to the Island - I left 20 years ago but go back fairly regularly. A lot of issues that impact poorer areas of the mainland are worse on the Island - partially it’s the costs of transport, the Solent is very expensive to cross, partially the conservatism (in many people’s cases against their own best interests) is very ingrained. The island isn’t an especially diverse community, it doesn’t have a higher education sector, it has a lot of retirees. There is a lot of generational poverty - if you want to move on with your life chances are you are going to have to leave, it sort of evaporates away the people who want to develop beyond the opportunities there. I think there is a bit of a feedback loop between the lack of opportunity and hoping that someone will fix things (in common with a lot of deprived areas) - the same dynamic the drove Brexit with the same lack of viable outcomes. In its defence it is very beautiful, has some lovely architecture it has some amazing SMEs in the engineering business. There are pockets which are quite wealthy, plenty of people doing their best to get along and suffering from the usual UK lack of infrastructure. I’ve watched quite a few Vox Pops over this election. I’m still not sure the people wandering around the streets in the middle of the day are necessarily representative. I live in a pretty wealthy small city but most people are at work in the middle of the day.

You wouldn't believe how many islanders have never been to the mainland.

6:11 - "I quite like [the Tory MP]". The mentality that gave us Bozo as PM.

When I was a G.P. we had an annotation for patients' records NFIOW, Normal for Isle of White😂😂. Tells you all you need to know.

Much love for Laura’s presenting ❤

Favourite story at the moment is Tory fundraiser that cost £30 to rent the venue, raised £15 🤦🏼‍♂️

Doesn't sound like there's much Wight Privilege.

The juxtaposition of one of my favourite songs and those intro interviews was on point

I love the Isle of Wight with all my heart and seeing it in this state breaks it. 😢

Fun fact about IoW politics - in 1984 election Virginia Bottomley lost to the Liberal candidate, making it the only constituency in which the Tory vote share was reduced from the previous election. The Island has a history of being a bit odd politically.

Its worth noting that the I.O.W had a primary process to oust the tories after it became 2 seats, and the Green party won the primary. So theres SOME kind of hope.

It's scarey to see the growth for the green party for those with inherited wealth. Compared to the rise of reform for people and areas of poverty. As the country slips into service jobs and nothing for the many areas built on factorys, making and labour. Theres no way to help these places as we don't have the industry to offer them anymore. Even if we brought back manufacturing we couldn't pay people enough to compare with China etc. Or if we did the products would be too expensive for people to buy. I would like to see a 1 precent one off wealth tax taken over 5 years on people worth 1 million or more. But the rich would never go for that.

I like him because he speaks truth about immigrants, and immigration is the problem. We get no immigration here. If anything, we consider mainlanders immigrant. Actually, I'm a mainlander myself. ffs...

The guy with no job thought moving from big city across the water to a small island with limited employment opportunities was a great strategic move?

I live in Newport on the island, and i recently applied for a job at asda and they were more interested in my identity than my abilities

Sorry but they returned two Tory MP’s that are not even from there since 2001. In that election and every election since almost 30,000 people not bothering to vote. Even the council election results are shocking. Vote and don’t vote against your self interests.

Much of the decline is the outlandish ferry costs in summer. In my youth the IOW was a flourishing tourist island, but faced with the same accommodation prices as Devon and Cornwall but with gigantic ferry cost. The islanders get concessions but the tourist money is reduced by transport costs.

Will these people, that you interviewed, ever take a step back and understand that politicians promises of prosperity are akin to free beer -- only served tomorrow. Our problems aren't caused by migration, stopping (economic) migration will have quite the opposite of the advertised effect, it will have a detrimental effect on economic growth and activity. We are witnessing the rise of authoritarianism, paid for by capital/wealthy interest, and it won't end well.

From listening to these people you'd think they were living in the Gaza strip. I guess people who never leave tiny rural islands tend to lose perspective. Noticed the same on the Isle of Man. Not saying these places are perfect but the residents are often in a tiny bubble and they lose perspective. To them their entire world becomes a tiny island.

Sad. People clearly have no idea what is happening. They think they will vote some other party and jobs will suddenly emerge out of thin air. Politicians are clueless as well. They think they tax rich more or drive away immigrants and things will magically improve. No party will solve this. Very very sad.

In reference to current MP being ousted; "Oh i hope not..." "well whatever his policies are" guy has no clue

Welcome to the Isle of Wight Joe, this island is collapsing

4.2% unemployment rate. Under 5% is full employment...

I would like to congratulate the local community for helping desperate families in need. Politicians are no where to be seen

Going to the isle of wight is like stepping back to the 1970's

That was a very good vlog. Thanks.

Do they think jobs fall out of the sky? People have to create jobs.

Why no mention of the East Wight Primary or the 2 hustings in Brading and Ryde that matched the same result of the East Wight Primary? Vix Lowthion, Green, has been voted for by local residents as their tactical choice. Politics Joe, why the heck aren’t you covering this?

Good luck to anyone trying to help the IoW. I visit from Pompey regularly and it has really declined over last 30 years. To get to/from the Island you will pay for the most expensive crossing in the World. The tourist industry has died and you can sit on a near deserted lovely sandy beach in the middle of summer. On the car ferry it is generally full of those with money (second homes?). Drive around the place and it's difficult not to notice the number of elderly who have retired there. The seaside towns are falling apart, shops shut and therefore fewer opportunities for young people to work. The place definitely doesn't need Reform, in fact it is quite desperate for young people to build something there.

That guy at the start. Did he say he had not been there long?? Did he move to a place with no job, a place that is more expensive than the mainland?? How did he do it….

Perhaps diversity mighy help the isle of wight? We cant blame diversity there can we?

The old lady in yellow is made of steely stuff. I hope she votes , lots of people just aren't voting which is silly.

"How are things here?" "Shit." "Who are you voting for?" "Tory." Noticing a theme to these videos.

Legit thought the thumbnail was the Baron from Dune

Has England ever thought of privatizing their water to encourage competition and improve investment in the infrastructure and lower costs?

Evidence that policy and underinvestment leads to this; not immigration

With the cost of the ferry going up 80% or more over the last decade this has had a significant impact. Why are there no guard rails to prevent private companies like wightlink and red funnel working together to drive up prices on the ‘road’ between the mainland and the island. They’ve created a duopoly and are sucking life out of the island.

The desperate people who voted for brexit, being guffed again.

Everything is more expense on the island because of the ferry but people still don’t want a tunnel

Thanks for posting

Cost of living could be fixed if the supermarkets and power companies lowered there prices. They all have seen record profits since they rose their prices and caused the crises. 1+1=2. So now they will have two MPs that will double the cost of MP's and solve none of their issues.

Love the bag from the lady shoulder straps 🇩🇪 😂😂 bought in 🇬🇧 Lidl 😂

That’s what they get for voting Brexit, now voting for Reform….. they deserve what they get.

I've just checked and there are 5 jobs going in Yarmouth for Norton Grange on the far west of the island... by the ferry from Lymington. Including my old job of Bar Team Manager... live in and 27K a year.... I worked that job for 3 years 03, 04 and 05... before emigrating to Scandinavia.

It's not right at all that such good and responsible people should suffer in such a way. Unfortunately it's happening all over the world.😢

Shops are shutting cos we buy everything on line now. The real story is the hit the council take of business rates. It's a total mess

I think one of the issues not addressed, or not properly addressed, this election cycle is the dying high street. It’s brought up in basically every one of these videos put out so it matters a lot to local people, and the blame seems to shift to taxes and small businesses and internet shopping. Which, yeah, are part of the issue, but the simplest solution and the problem I see objectively is that people don’t have enough disposable income or time to shop in these places. Increasing wages in the working and middle class would allow people to spend more in small businesses, increasing their profits. It’d mean people don’t have to work 2-3 jobs to get by and wind up with no time to shop. Walk through a shopping centre, you’ll see how empty it is of people, even a lot of the shops that are open aren’t seeing foot traffic because nobody has the time to browse or money to spend.

People who are in full time work are struggling

Imagine being a member of a Conservative club and voting Labour 🤣

Went to see Bob Dylan there in 1969. Never had the urge to return..

I always thought the Island was affluent. Hopefully things will improve. From memory The Beatles song 'Ticket to ride' is about Ryde, Town in the Isle of Wight

It's the same in a lot of coastal towns with seasonal work.

Same thing occurring in Devon. Building loads of houses, but there are no Jobs. Jobs won’t come just because they are building houses. Labour has never been an issue.

Imagine being dissatisfied with the Tories and deciding Reform is the change that’s needed. That’s a symptom of a mental health crisis. 😆

Loving the Green Day Soundtrack! If you go back to IoW, maybe we could hear from 'Wet Leg' as residents. Great video Laura, really lovely presenting and interviewing style

I've been to IOW on day trips a few times. I just assumed they all drover Jaguars and Land Rovers. Retired Colonels, architects, doctors and headteachers. Thought it was a middle class paradise. Guess I got it completely wrong lol

I live and work on the Isle of Wight. I get minimum wage. After i pay all my bills im left with £200 a month this has to feed and clothe me. Im voting Reform.

They don't help themselves. They don't want a bridge built on to the mainland and the ferries are the most expensive stretch of water in Europe.

Getting any sense out of a pub landlord is a futile exercise.

What will you bring (to fix some of the issues you have correctly identified)? Labour candidate: "truth and integrity" No tangible policies to make material change. Just the bare minimum.

Yeah I saw a surprising amount of poverty in Newport when I worked there this year, it's bloody rough.