Isle of Wight Council, known between 1890 and 1995 as Isle of Wight County Council, is the local authority for the Isle of Wight in England. Since 1995 it has been a unitary authority, being a county council which also performs the functions of a district council. It is based at County Hall in Newport. The council has been under no overall control since 2021, being led by a coalition of independent, Green, and Our Island councillors called the Alliance Group.
The Isle of Wight County Council was therefore established with effect from 1 April 1890, on which day the council held its first official meeting at the Guildhall in Newport. Somerset Gough-Calthorpe was appointed the first chairman of the council.[6]
On 1 April 1995, following recommendations made by the Local Government Commission for England appointed in 1992, the two district councils were abolished and the county council assumed their functions, making it a unitary authority. It was renamed 'Isle of Wight Council' at the same time. It remains legally a county council, but one which also performs district functions. It was the first such unitary authority in England; many more were created from 1996 onwards.[10]
The council has been a member of the Islands Forum since 2022.
The council has been under no overall control since the 2021 election, being led by a minority coalition called the Alliance Group, comprising some of the independent councillors, the Green Party and local party Our Island.[12]
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[13]
Upper-tier authority: Isle of Wight County Council
Of the independent councillors, ten (two of whom belong to the Island Independent Network, part of the Independent Network, a national umbrella group supporting independent councillors) sit in the "Alliance Group" with the Green Party and Our Island councillors, which forms the council's administration. Of the other five independent councillors, three sit together as the "Empowering Islanders" group and the other two (one of whom describes themselves as "Independent Labour") do not form part of a group.[25] The next election is due in 2025.
Premises
The 1969 wing of County Hall
The council meets and has its main offices at County Hall on High Street in Newport.[26]
The council initially met at the Guildhall in Newport. In 1904 it moved its meeting place to the Technical Institute (now the Island Sixth Form) at the southern end of St James Street in Newport. Until the 1930s the council's administrative offices were split between several different buildings.[27]
By the 1930s, many of the council's offices were at the former Swan Hotel and adjacent houses in High Street, Newport.[28] A new building, designed in the Neo-Georgian style by Gutteridge and Gutteridge, was built on the same site and opened in October 1938. An extension was built on its east side in 1969.[29]
Since the last boundary changes in 2021 the island has been divided into 39 electoral divisions, each of which elects one councillor. Elections are held every four years.[30]
The coat of arms of the Isle of Wight was granted to the County Council in 1938. The shield shows a representation of Carisbrooke Castle, which was the historic seat of many island governors, surrounded by three gold anchors. At the bottom is the island's motto "All this beauty is of God".
^"Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "Isle of Wight" in search box to see specific results.)
.jpg)
