Politics of the Isle of Wight

As a geographical entity distinct from the mainland, the Isle of Wight has always fought to have this identity recognised. The Isle of Wight is currently a ceremonial and Non-metropolitan county and as it has no district councils (only the county council) it is effectively a unitary county. 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. The island is also the highest populated Westminster constituency in the country.

Political history

Historically, the island was part of the historic county of Hampshire, previously called Southamptonshire.

Historic boroughs of the Island

The island's most ancient borough was Newtown on the large natural harbour on the island's north-western coast. A French raid in 1377, that destroyed much of the town as well as other Island settlements, sealed its permanent decline. By the middle of the sixteenth century, it was a small settlement long eclipsed by the more easily defended town of Newport. Elizabeth I breathed some life into the town by awarding two parliamentary seats but this ultimately made it one of the most notorious of the Rotten Boroughs. By the time of the Great Reform Act that abolished the seats, it had just fourteen houses and twenty-three voters. The Act also disenfranchised the boroughs of Newport and Yarmouth and replaced the six lost seats with the first MP for the whole Isle of Wight.

Local governance

Often thought of as part of Hampshire, the Isle of Wight was briefly included in that county when the first county councils were created in 1888. However, a "Home Rule" campaign led to a separate county council being established for the Isle of Wight in 1890, and it has remained separate ever since. Like inhabitants of many islands, Islanders are fiercely jealous of their real (or perceived) independence, and confusion over the Island's separate status is a perennial source of friction.

It was planned to merge the county back into Hampshire as a district in the 1974 local government reform, but a last minute change led to it retaining its county council. However, since there was no provision made in the Local Government Act 1972 for unitary authorities, the Island had to retain a two-tier structure, with a county council and two boroughs, Medina and South Wight.

The borough councils were merged with the county council on April 1, 1995, to form a single unitary authority, the Isle of Wight Council. The only significant present-day administrative link with Hampshire is the police service, which is joint between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Westminster representation

:"See also Parliamentary representation from Isle of Wight for a list of the current and historical constituencies."

The Isle of Wight forms a single constituency of the House of Commons, with an electorate of 108,253 (as of 2004). This is by far the largest electorate in the country, and more than 50% above the England average of 70,026. The Boundary Commission has considered the possibility of splitting the island into two constituencies, but it was felt that the island would be better represented by a single MP. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pbc/review_areas/IsleofWight.asp]

The constituency is traditionally a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. Between 1974 and 1987, the seat was a Liberal seat, then becoming Conservative until 1997 when the Liberal Democrats won on a reduced Conservative vote. The seat reverted to the Conservatives in 2001.

2005 General Election

Five candidates contested the Isle of Wight constituency in the United Kingdom general election, 2005:

Results:

These results indicate a 6.6% swing from Liberal Democrat to Conservative relative to the 1997 election. However there was only a small increase in the number of Conservative votes, while the Liberal vote fell significantly. The Labour vote again increased which was against the national pattern.

Among the minor parties the UK Independence gained votes, although not able to equal the results achieved by the similarly eurosceptic Referendum party in 1997. This was possibly due to strategic voting by the generally right-wing supporters of the eurosceptic policies to ensure a Conservative victory. The Green Party also managed to almost triple its share of the vote.

Voting Summary:

Historical results

"Please Note: Prior to 1995, these results are for Isle of Wight County Council."

European Parliamentary representation

The Isle of Wight is a part of the South East England region for the purposes of European Parliamentary elections.

2004 European Parliamentary Elections

The results of the European Parliament election, 2004 on the Isle of Wight were as follows.

"Please note: the following results are exclusively for the Isle of Wight; results are collated regionally prior to MEPs being assigned under the closed list proportional representation system."

Regionally, turnout was 36.5% on an electorate of 6,087,103.

Local political issues

Fixed link

For many years there has been debate over whether or not a bridge or tunnel should connect the island with mainland Britain. This became more of an issue towards the end of the twentieth century, when it became more economically and technically feasible to build such a link, with the bridge to the Isle of Skye as a model. Continuing debate centres on whether a fixed link is desirable.

Around the turn of the century, the Isle of Wight Party campaigned from a positive position, although extensive public debate on the subject revealed a strong body of opinion against such a proposal. In 2002, the Isle of Wight Council debated the issue and made a policy statement against the proposal, whilst MP Andrew Turner remains opposed construction of a link.

Arguments in favour of a fixed link tend to concentrate upon the economic benefits that improved communications with the mainland may bring. There is some support among young peopleFact|date=August 2008, which tends to be a form of rebellion against the inevitably parochial culture of the island. People of all ages often express dissatisfaction with the cost of Solent travel, and although this is not quite the same issue as the link debate, the two are often combined by the assumption that a fixed link would be cheaper [ [http://www.iwcp.co.uk/Features/Letters/GIVE_US_A_LINK_BUT_MAKE_IT_FOR_CARS_1.aspx Letter about fixed link to IW County Press] ] .

Arguments against a fixed link include the risk to the unique island culture and environment; the risk of losing local distinctiveness, services and facilities to the much larger and economically active south Hampshire conurbation; fear of increased levels of crime; and issues of immigration.

Although those in favour of a fixed link tend to envisage a tolled road link in the same vein as the bridge to Skye, plans have also been proposed for passenger-only rail and tram links under the Solent, linking Ryde with Portsmouth and Gosport.

Autonomy and political recognition

A number of discussions about the status of the island have taken place over many years, with standpoints from the extreme of wanting full sovereignty for the Isle of Wight, to what could be described as the opposite extreme of merging the county back into Hampshire. The pro-independence lobby had a formal voice in the early 1970s with the Vectis National Party. Their main claim was that the sale of the island to the crown in 1293 was unconstitutional (see History of the Isle of Wight). However, this movement now has little serious support.

Since the 1990s the debate has largely taken the form of a campaign to have the Isle of Wight recognized as a distinct region by organizations such as the EU, due to its relative poverty within the southern England. One argument in favour of special treatment is that this poverty is not acknowledged by such organizations as it is distorted statistically by retired and wealthy (but less economically active) immigrants from the mainland.

References

* [http://www.iwight.com/elections/general/general.asp Westminster Election Results] - Courtesy of Isle of Wight Council.
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/local_elections/19.stm Local Election Results] From BBC.co.uk

ee also

*Isle of Wight Council
*Isle of Wight
*History of the Isle of Wight
*Politics of the United Kingdom