Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an island off the south coast of England, opposite Southampton. Popularized from Victorian times as a holiday resort, it is known for its areas of natural beauty and as home to the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes, a town that hosts a world famous annual regatta. Colloquially, it is known as "The Island" by its residents and it possesses a rich history including its own brief status as a vassal kingdom in the fifteenth century, home to poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and Queen Victoria's much loved summer residence and final home Osborne House. Its maritime history encompasses boat building and sail making through to the manufacture of flying boats and the world's first hovercraft. It is home to the Isle of Wight Festival which in 1970 was one of the largest Rock music events ever held with estimates reaching 600,000 attendees, overtaking the record set at Woodstock a year earlier. The island is also one of the richest fossil locations for dinosaurs in Europe. In 686AD, it became the last part of the United Kingdom to convert to Christianity - almost a century after the rest of the mainland.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Isle of Wight

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The Isle of Wight is a Ceremonial and Administrative county and as it has no district councils (only the county council) it is effectively a Unitary county, though not officially. It is unique in England in this way - all other Unitary areas are single districts with no county council, while the Isle of Wight is the other way round. It also has a single Member of Parliament, and is by far the most populous constituency in the UK (more than 50% above the average of English constituencies).

Related Topics:
Ceremonial - Administrative - Unitary - Member of Parliament - Constituency

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As a constituency of the House of Commons it is traditionally a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The current MP, Andrew Turner is a Conservative, and his predecessor Dr Peter Brand was a Liberal Democrat.

Related Topics:
House of Commons - Conservatives - Liberal Democrats - Andrew Turner - Peter Brand

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The Isle of Wight Council election of 2005 was a landslide victory for the Conservative party, displacing the long serving "Island First" group; a coalition of Liberal Democrats and independents.

Related Topics:
Isle of Wight Council - 2005 - Conservative - Liberal Democrats

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