Isle of Wight gain from Conservative Barry Field 0 ( 0.0%) 24,868 (34.0%) 9,646 (13.2%) 31,274 (42.7%) 0 ( 0.0%) 7,371 (10.1%) 101,680 73,159 (72.0%) Barry Field Isle of Wight 1,827 ( 2.3%) 38,163 (47.9%) 4,784 ( 6.0%) 36,336 (45.6%) 0 ( 0.0%) 350 ( 0.4%) Conservative 101,784 79,633 (78.2%) -13.9% +7.2% -2.9% +0.0% +9.6% -0.1% -6.3% Because it is a county as a whole, the Boundary Commission has decided to retain the Isle of Wight, standing off the southern coast of England, as a single constituency. It will be by far the most populous in the United Kingdom, with over 100,000 electors, and therefore the most under-represented part - but the islanders prefer this to having a seat linked with mainland territory. At least it can be said that their votes count in the sense that the Isle of Wight is a very marginal (Conservative - Liberal Democrat) seat. In February 1974 the Liberals benefited from a scandal involving Bembridge Harbour that resulted in the ousting of the sitting Conservative MP. Given this boost, and with the personal if not parochial politics of an island, Stephen Ross retained the Isle of Wight for 13 years. Indeed it was not until Ross's retirement (1987) that the Tories regained the seat. It is still far from safe for them. In 1992 Barry Field's majority was cut to under 2,000. Now the Liberal Democrats must be regarded as favourites to win the Isle of Wight back. Barry Field announced that he is not standing again as late as January 1997. Whoever is picked to replace him will have an uphill task against a second attempt by the Lib Dem county councillor and local GP, Dr Peter Brand. 1,362 2.26 9.03 25 14,690 24.38 11.17 218 3,951 6.56 11.25 58 7,064 11.72 14.70 80 466 0.77 10.45 7 1,170 1.94 2.81 69 13,331 22.12 8.01 276 13,412 22.26 15.25 146 633 1.05 7.13 15 1,432 2.38 10.17 23