The Wessex Constitutional Convention is an all-party

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, devoted to pursuing a degree of self-government for

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

. It has the following stated aims: # To achieve the broadest consensus on the form of self-government appropriate for Wessex. # To campaign for the implementation of that consensus at the earliest possible opportunity. # To oppose the continuing partition of Wessex between the 'South-West' and 'South-East' regions. # To promote as Wessex the area comprising the eight traditional counties of Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire, subject to addition or subtraction according to popular wish. The Convention was formed in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, on 19 May 2001, in response to the perceived failure of the South West Constitutional Convention, meeting earlier that day, to allow genuine dialogue on the issue of regional boundaries. From then until the start of 2005 it published a quarterly newsletter, ''Wessex Voice'', and led the production of ''The Case for Wessex'', the joint response of the Wessex movement to the regional governance White Paper, ''Your Region, Your Choice''. From 2003-2005, the Convention actively participated in the Continuing Commission on the South, set up by the political

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental org ...

"Devolve!" and chaired by former regions minister Dr.

Alan Whitehead Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead (born 15 September 1950) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Southampton Test since 1997. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Green New Deal and Energ ...

, MP. More recently, it has again taken an independent line in presenting evidence to the House of Commons ODPM Select Committee and the Examination in Public into the draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West. In 2007 the organisation called for

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibl ...

to support a proposal to change the name of the

Second Severn Crossing or cy, Pont Tywysog Cymru, label=none, italic=unset , carries = M4 motorway (6 lanes) , crosses = River Severn , locale = South West England / South East Wales , maint = National Highways , architect ...

to the "Earl of Wessex Bridge".

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* {{small, (863

KiB The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...

) Political advocacy groups in England Regionalism (politics) in the United Kingdom Wessex Politics of South West England

See also

References

External links