Editing Isle of Wight (section)

== Governance ==
{{Main|Politics of the Isle of Wight}}
[[File:Arms of Isle of Wight Council.svg|thumb|The coat of arms of the Isle of Wight Council]]
The island had a single [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Member of Parliament]] until 2024. The [[Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight constituency]] covered the entire island, with 138,300 permanent residents in [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011]], being one of the most populated [[List of Parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom|constituencies]] in the United Kingdom (more than 50% above the English average).<ref>{{cite web|date=6 July 2010|title=Turner Will Fight On For 'Unique' Island Status|url=http://iwchronicle.co.uk/2010/07/turner-will-fight-on-for-unique-island-status/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420172305/http://iwchronicle.co.uk/2010/07/turner-will-fight-on-for-unique-island-status/|archive-date=20 April 2013|publisher=Isle of Wight Chronicle}}</ref> Following passage of the [[Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011]], the [[Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies]] was to have changed this,<ref>{{cite web|date=15 February 2011|title=Isle of Wight Set To Have Two MPs in 2015|url=http://iwchronicle.co.uk/2011/02/isle-of-wight-set-to-have-two-mps-in-2015/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104184053/http://iwchronicle.co.uk/2011/02/isle-of-wight-set-to-have-two-mps-in-2015/|archive-date=4 November 2011|publisher=Isle of Wight Chronicle}}</ref> but this was deferred to no earlier than October 2022 by the [[Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013]].  Thus the single constituency remained for the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015]], [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017]] and [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]] general elections. However, two separate constituencies, [[Isle of Wight East (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight East]] and [[Isle of Wight West (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight West]] were created for the island under the 2022 review, and were first contested in the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]].

The Isle of Wight is a [[ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial]] and [[metropolitan and non-metropolitan county|non-metropolitan]] county. Since the abolition of its two [[borough]] councils and restructuring of the [[Isle of Wight County Council]] into the new [[Isle of Wight Council]] in 1995, it has been administered by a single tier Island Council<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type = si |year = 1994 | number = 1210 |si = The Isle of Wight (Structural Change) Order | date = 30 April 1994| accessdate = 13 April 2023}}</ref> which has the same powers as a [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] in England.

There have been small regionalist movements: the [[Vectis National Party]] and the Isle of Wight Party; but they have attracted little support at elections.<ref>{{cite book|author=Adam Grydehøj and Philip Hayward|url=http://www.islandstudies.ca/sites/islandstudies.ca/files/ISJ-6-2-2011-Grydehoj+Hayward.pdf|title=Autonomy Initiatives and Quintessential Englishness on the Isle of Wight|date=2011|publisher=Island Studies Journal|page=185|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=28 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828160304/http://www.islandstudies.ca/sites/islandstudies.ca/files/ISJ-6-2-2011-Grydehoj+Hayward.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>