No decision on who will control Havant Borough Council after the Conservatives lost control in the local elections

In May 2’s local elections, the Conservatives won just 13 seats, Labour 10, the Liberal Democrats seven, Greens four and Reform UK two – resulting in a hung council where no party has overall control. Boundary changes meant people headed to the polls on Thursday (May 2) for an all-out election to elect three candidates for each of the 12 wards, now a total of 36 seats, two fewer than before.

After speaking to councillors today, the exact details of who will take control of the council and how are still being thrashed out this week over a number of meetings, with a decision needed by May 15. While Conservatives lost control as they haemorrhaged seats – losing 17 – the other parties made gains. Labour seats increased from four to 10, the Greens from one to four and Liberal Democrats from two to seven.

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There are several possibilities about how the council could be run. The Conservatives could form a minority administration but as they are six seats from a majority, more likely is a coalition. With 19 seats needed for a majority, one could be formed between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party or Reform UK. Failing that, a Labour/Lib Dem alliance could be formed with the Green Party supporting to get any key policy issues through the council chamber.

Labour’s Gillian Harris (St Faith’s) said the party was “absolutely delighted” after more than doubling the number of councillors. “We have been campaigning for this over a number of years and it is what we had hoped for,” she said, with the group’s leader being Philip Munday of St Faith’s ward. “We got labour candidates in where we knocked on doors and were canvassing. We have been canvassing since last September on being active and visible in the community.”

For the Green Party, Cllr Grainne Rasion (Emsworth) said: “The message from the Green Party in deciding how to move forward is to respect the electoral desire for change whilst recognising that brings great challenges. It is clear Havant voters want an administration change.”

She said the key issues are environmental challenges in Emsworth; microplastics and sewage, the harbour, the safety around going into the water, and housing with its lack of infrastructure and frustration with the national planning policy framework.

“We are now the largest Green Party in Hampshire, reflecting the urgency of addressing the damage to our environment from sewage and inappropriate development without infrastructure on our precious green spaces,” she said.

For the Lib Dems, Paul Gray (Hayling West) said he was ecstatic as the party’s numbers trebled from one to three on Hayling and from two to seven across the borough. On Hayling Island, there are now three Liberal Democrats, Paul Gray, Wilf Forrow, Jonathan Hulls; two Labour, Mark Coates and Peter Oliver; and one Green, Netty Shepherd.

He said: “It was a clear endorsement of progressive politics in the area and equally the complete dismay and lack of faith the public now have in the Conservative Party. And we look forward to forming a coalition with like minded people.

“We are in talks with the Labour and Green Party, the progressive forces in British politics who hold together the large majority of the population but we have a voting system that allows complete control of this country with maybe 40 per cent of the support.”

The first major issue on Hayling is sewage and Cllr Gray said, he believes there is a “sea-change”, regardless of party, the six Hayling councillors have a shared view of the “crime” that is sewage in the harbours and seas.

He said the spiritual home of windsurfing, the iconic West Beach has been ignored by the Conservatives and they will aim to stop the sewage, firstly by putting up posters warning people of the dangers. He said: “There is a bright new future, a change of mentality and now hopefully a local council working with the community and for the community not simply dictating but listening to residents.”

Out going, council leader for the Conservatives, Alex Rennie who lost his seat said the decision of who will lead the group is yet to be made. He said: “There is a clear desire that people want to see a change. Clearly frustrations of national politics with a lot of that played out on the doorstep. I had a lot of conversations with people on the doorstep who said they were content about local issues but frustrated with national politics.

“We don’t know yet who will be in control of the council but our group is willing to work with other parties in order to deliver what we felt were strong plans for the future of the borough. If the other parties want to form an alliance themselves I’m sure our team will be scrutinising them to ensure they are delivering best value for Havant residents which is what our plan has been all along.”