Local elections 2026: Liberal Democrats strengthen grip on Portsmouth City Council as Labour vote collapses
Despite their previous fears of a wave of support for Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats have strengthened their grip on Portsmouth
The people of Portsmouth signalled their views “in spades” after strengthening the Liberal Democrats in the local elections, says the party’s joyful leader.
But Steve Pitt said that the very first priority he had was to get the government to “come to the table and have a proper grown-up conversation” about local government reorganisation, and about the damage that it was going to do to Portsmouth. That, said, Cllr Pitt, was why residents had backed the Lib Dems in the polls.
The local elections saw the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK coming out on top, both gaining and defending seats. The new make-up of the council sees the Liberal Democrats on 22, Reform on 12, Labour on four, the Conservatives on three, with one independent.
Before the election it was 18 Lib Dems, 10 Reform councillors, nine Labour, four Conservative and one independent.
The Liberal Democrats have increased their representation from 18 seats to 22, giving them an overall majority on the 42-seat council.
They also successfully defended three seats, including those of council leader Steve Pitt in Milton, Matthew Winnington in Eastney and Craneswater, and Abdul Kadir in Baffins.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Pitt said it was “an amazing night” for his party, which has secured its first overall majority since 2012.
“It’s a brilliant endorsement for everything that we do, trying to run the city well, manage our finances, fighting against local government reorganisation and the best interests of the people in the city and protecting services from cuts,” he said.
“We’ve made the most gains in the city while others have gone backwards or done nowhere near as well as they thought they would.”
Reform UK gained two seats and defended two, increasing its representation from 10 seats to 12. The party had been expected to make further gains, particularly in the north of the city.
When asked why Reform had not performed as well as expected, Cllr Pitt said: “Portsmouth is a forward-looking place and I think that feeling has been pushed down a bit by certain narratives on social media over the last year.
“Ultimately residents decide how they want to signal their views at the ballot box and they did that tonight in spades.”
He said he had dealt with “all sorts of issues” over the last year, including “personal attacks”, but expressed surprise at recording “the largest vote for a Liberal Democrat candidate in the city in any ward outside of a general election”.
He added his administration would “continue to work cross-party where we can” and said: “My door is open, if people need help to support the residents in their wards, they can come and talk to me.”
Labour failed to defend any of its five seats.
The Conservatives lost the Copnor ward to Reform UK but held Drayton and Farlington, with group leader Cllr Simon Bosher winning by a majority of 24 votes.
In his victory speech for Hilsea ward, Reform UK councillor Russell Simpson thanked his “childhood ward” for “believing in me”.
He acknowledged how “difficult it’s been for so many”, including “injuries” during the campaign, including an incident in which Cllr Matthew Cordy’s finger was severed by a letterbox.
He added that “everyone’s worked really hard across all parties” and said he hoped the council could move forward after “a little bit of a rest” and with “hopefully a lot more kindness”.
Cllr Joe Standen, leader of the Reform UK group, said he would “continue to work tirelessly” for the residents of Paulsgrove, Port Solent and Wymering “for the remainder of Portsmouth City Council”.
Newly elected Reform UK councillor for Charles Dickens, Sam Coupland, said: “I want to appreciate the fact that our ward is one of the most underrepresented wards in the city, with a turnout lower than ever.”
Turnout in Charles Dickens was 23.2 per cent.
He thanked his fellow candidates, including Harold McGregor-Sims for his “incredible work with community event” and former councillor Yinka Adeniran for investing in “very underrepresented communities in my ward”.
“I stood on the policy or the commitment to build trust, to empower people and to represent them - that’s what I’m going to do.”
Simon Bosher thanked polling station and election staff across the council, as well as the residents of Drayton and Farlington, for electing him to his “25th consecutive year” on the council. He also thanked his ward colleagues and paid tribute to Ben Swann, who lost his seat to Reform UK in Copnor.