Alan Mak MP, Member of the Parliament for the Havant Constituency, featured on Times Radio’s Constituency Knockout programme which sees two MPs go head-to-head with their top three local facts.
Mr Mak won two rounds, coming first overall sharing his top three facts about the Havant Constituency. He highlighted Havant’s world-famous parchment industry, with Havant parchment being used for the Treaty of Versailles, the treaty that formally ended the First World War, alongside its usage for many Acts of Parliament. Local folk law even suggests that it was used for the Magna Carta. Unfortunately, the industry ended in 1936 but its legacy lives on in the town.
Additionally, Mr Mak shared that Havant is the home of Scalextric cars, which were invented and developed in the constituency. The iconic toy was developed by Fred Francis, founder of Minimodels, who moved his factory to Havant in 1952 and fitted his original clockwork ScalEX cars with electric motors; and hence Scalextric was born.
He also explained that Hayling Island is the home of windsurfing. In 1958, Peter Chilvers built and sailed the world's first windsurfing sailboard and his name lives on in the form of a local bus named “Peter Chilvers” that runs from Havant town to Hayling Island.
You can listen to Alan’s facts here: https://www.thetimes.com/radio/show/20261106-35838/2026-11-06?eafs_enabled=false
Mr Mak, said:
“Taking part in Constituency Knockout was a fun opportunity to share some of the Havant Constituency’s history and successes which make our area and people so special.
We have a proud tradition of invention, manufacturing, industry and talent , and I was proud to share that with listeners on Times Radio!”
