Campaign Update

Our Decision

When we launched this campaign three months ago, our stated aim was to gather 10,000 signatures from Isle of Wight residents to evidence whether there was sufficient local support to justify Government intervention on affordability.

This threshold was not arbitrary — it reflected the level indicated to us as the minimum likely to secure meaningful Government engagement.

This campaign was always intended as a focused and time-limited effort to demonstrate public support and bring forward a practical proposal by the end of May 2026. Unfortunately, we have been unable to evidence the depth of local support required to do that within the time available.

We made good progress, reaching over 8,000 signatures through a focused campaign across Isle of Wight social media groups. We recognise the limitations of this approach and accept that it has not been possible to make all Island residents aware of the petition. A significant voluntary commitment of time, effort and resources has been required to achieve this progress, and we are extremely grateful to everyone who has taken the time to sign and support the campaign.

However, on closer analysis, we find that only 3,927 (approximately 4,000) of these signatures are from Isle of Wight residents, with the remainder coming from across the UK and overseas. While this wider support is encouraging and highlights the broader relevance of the issue, those additional signatures do not materially strengthen the level of local evidence required to demonstrate the scale of any affordability challenge on the Island.

For Government to intervene in a targeted way — particularly where proposals are designed to deliver financial benefits specifically to Isle of Wight residents — we must be able to demonstrate that the proposal is supported by a sufficiently large and representative proportion of Island residents. Without that, it would be difficult to make a robust case for intervention at the level proposed.

We also have a responsibility to present this information accurately. It would not be appropriate, in our view, to present total signature numbers in a way that could be interpreted as representing Island residents alone, when that is not the case.

To put this in context:
• The Isle of Wight population is approximately 142,000
• The electorate is approximately 111,000
• Typical general election turnout is around 65% (c. 72,000 voters)

Against this backdrop, approximately 4,000 local signatures represent a relatively small proportion of the Island’s population and active electorate. It is not at the level required to evidence the scale of the affordability challenge to Government and, based on current signature rates, it is not realistic to reach the required level within the remaining timeframe available.

We have therefore taken the difficult decision to stand down the campaign in its current form.

It is important to be clear that this does not demonstrate the absence of an affordability problem. Rather, it reflects our inability, within the time and resources available to us, to gather sufficient local evidence to demonstrate its scale to Government. The absence of sufficient signatures should not be interpreted as evidence that the issue does not exist, but rather as a limitation in our ability to quantify it within the timeframe available.

We have also faced a number of timing constraints.

·      Our attempt to use the official Parliamentary Petitions system was declined on the basis that this was considered a “local issue”. As a result, the start of the campaign was delayed by around five weeks and required us to use an alternative platform. While this enabled us to gather support, we recognise that it may have presented greater barriers to engagement than an official Parliamentary process, which carries greater public confidence and visibility.

·      To ensure this issue could be considered ahead of the summer Parliamentary recess — and before the Department for Transport’s Cross-Solent Transport Group (C-STG) becomes fully established — we needed to act within a limited window.

 
What We’ve Learned

This campaign has highlighted a number of important challenges that will need to be addressed in any future work on this issue.

First, there is currently no single, widely accepted direction of travel on the Island. Views on both the problem and the potential solutions vary significantly. While that is entirely understandable, it does make it more difficult to build the level of unified support needed to progress proposals of this scale. Anyone bringing forward future propositions should be aware that consensus may be difficult to achieve.

Second, the campaign has relied heavily on social media. While this enabled us to reach a large number of people quickly, it is not always well suited to exploring complex issues in depth. The nature of these platforms can favour short-form, simplified messaging, whereas this is a nuanced issue requiring more detailed consideration. It is likely that not everyone who supported, or chose not to support, the petition fully engaged with the scope or detail of the proposal.

Third, there remains a clear need for robust, independent analysis of affordability. While there is a widely held perception that this is a growing problem, there has not yet been a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of the scale and impact of transport costs on Island residents. Without that, it can be difficult to distinguish between individual experience and a broader systemic issue at the level required to justify Government intervention.

We would strongly encourage the Cross-Solent Transport Group to prioritise this work, ensuring that future decisions are grounded in a clear and objective understanding of the Island’s economic and social context. This will provide a basis for establishing a level of affordability to support a transition from an economy in which travel may be constrained by costs, to one characterised by greater freedom of movement and opportunity.

 
What Happens Next

We could have continued the campaign in parallel with the C-STG and awaited its findings, but that process is likely to be extended and unlikely to deliver change in the short to medium term in line with our original objective.

Now we’ve put the petition “on ice”, we recognise that the C-STG is now the key focus of stakeholder expectations, and we hope that this process will take forward the work needed to properly evidence affordability, identify and implement effective solutions. 

We will write to our Island MPs to share our conclusions and recommendations, and we will continue to monitor progress through the C-STG process.

 
Thank You

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who supported the campaign by signing, sharing and engaging with the issue, and the Isle of Wight social media groups who enabled us to reach so many people in a short period of time.

Although this campaign has now been stood down, we are certain it has contributed to raising awareness of affordability and the need for meaningful progress. That responsibility now rests with our Island MPs and the Cross-Solent Transport Group.

Thank you again for your support.

 

Mike & Jo Williams