Politics
The Isle of Wight is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county. Since the abolition of its two borough councils in 1995 and the restructuring of the county council as the Isle of Wight Council, it has been a unitary county. It also has a single Member of Parliament, and is by far the most populous constituency in the United Kingdom (more than 50% above the average of English constituencies).
As a constituency of the House of Commons, it is traditionally a battleground between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The current Member of Parliament Andrew Turner is a Conservative, and his predecessor Dr Peter Brand was a Liberal Democrat.
The Isle of Wight Council election of 2009 was a victory for the Conservative Party, which took 24 of the council's 40 seats.
There have been small regionalist movements: the Vectis National Party and the Isle of Wight Party; but they have attracted little support in elections.
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Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.”
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