Editing Brading (section)

===Royal charter and governance===
Brading was first granted a charter in 1280, unusually for the time directly from King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], rather than the Lord of the Isle (who was its private owner).  This led to it being known as the 'King's Town'.

The charter granted to Brading by [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] in 1548 refers to the previous charter granted by Edward I.  This charter allowed the town to hold two annual fairs.  Nowadays the fair is called [[Brading Day]] and is held over the first weekend in July.

Because of its status as a town, Brading has a mayor and an elected town council.

In medieval times the town was governed by the [[Steward (office)|steward]], [[bailiff]]s and 13 [[jurat]]s, and returned two [[Member of Parliament|MPs]] to the [[Westminster Parliament]]. The [[Reform Act 1832]] created a single [[Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight]] parliamentary constituency covering the whole island, until it was divided into two constituencies in 2024. Now the town is a part of the [[Isle of Wight East (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight East]] parliamentary constituency.