Isle of Wight it hosting three prisons: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst, all located outside Newport near the main road to Cowes. Albany and Parkhurst were among the few Category A prisons in the UK until they were downgraded in the 1990s. The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) escaped from the prison on 3 January 1995 for four days, before being recaptured. Parkhurst enjoyed notoriety as one of the toughest jails in the United Kingdom, and housed many notable inmates including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, New Zealand drug lord Terry Clark
Politics of the Isle of Wight single member constituencies and 1 double member constituency. The local council elections were held on 5 May 2005, the same date as the general election of that year. A local referendum on the issue of a directly-elected mayor of the Isle of Wight was held at the same time as the local elections - this failed to pass, with 37,097 against to 28,786 for. "Prior to 1995, these results are for Isle of Wight County Council." The Isle of Wight voted 62% to leave the European Union in the 2016 EU referendum, compared with 52% nationally. The Isle of Wight