A candidate in the running to be Hampshire’s first mayor has launched a petition calling for government to go back on its decision to delay polling day.

It is ‘regrettable’ that the Hampshire and Solent mayoral election is set to be delayed, Isle of Wight Council leader Phil Jordan and three other local authority chiefs have said.

Isle of Wight East MP Joe Robertson says the move raises serious doubts about whether the Island’s own council elections will go ahead next May as planned.

Joe Robertson, MP for Isle of Wight East, has criticised the Government’s plans to fuse Hampshire and the Isle of Wight under a new Combined Mayoral Authority.