RECAP Local elections 2024: Seismic changes in Havant as results Portsmouth, Gosport and Fareham confirmed
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Liberal Democrats retained the most seats at Portsmouth City Council, with the Conservative losses being the party’s gain.
Portsmouth Independents Party surged in popularity - particularly in the north of the city - taking three seats and having four in total. However with no overall majority to control the council its administration a meeting where it will be agreed who will lead it, will be decided at the annual general meeting on May 14.
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Hide AdIt is not all bad news for the Tories though, as they have maintained overall control of Fareham Borough Council after a rare all-out election. They also retained Fareham Sarisbury following a by-election, but lost Meon Valley to The Green party. Gosport Borough Council remains in Liberal Democrat control, but the biggest shock came in Havant.
The Conservatives lost overall control after being dumped out of 17 seats from a previous 30. Labour, the Liberal Democrats and The Greens all picked the spoils, with Reform UK also receiving two seats.
A recap of the local elections can be found by scrolling through the updates at the bottom of this article. Further stories can be found in the politics section of our website.
Portsmouth area election results 2024
Key Events
- Liberal Democrats hold Portsmouth City Council
- Portsmouth Independents Party make gains
- Tories lose Portsmouth seats but maintain Fareham council control
- Liberal Democrats retain control at Gosport Borough Council
- Donna Jones re-elected as the police and crime commissioner
- Tories lose control of Havant Borough Council
Local election - what is happening
A third of the seats on Portsmouth City Council are up for grabs - 16 out of 42.
All 32 and 36 seats are up for election at Fareham Borough Council and Havant Borough Council respectively - with 14 seats being voted on at Gosport Borough Council.
In the race to become police and crime commissioner, Conservative incumbent Donna Jones is competing against Labour & Co-Operative candidate Becky Williams, Prad Bains of the Liberal Democrats and Don Jerrard of the Justice and Anti-Corruption Party.
There are also by-elections for Fareham Sarisbury and Meon Valley.
Further candidate overviews can be found by scrolling down the live blog.
What is happening now?
An announcement has been made that the votes are currently being verified ahead counting. The count is expected to start at midnight.
Portsmouth Independent Party gain?
Portsmouth Independent Party leader George Madgwick a large seat gain for his party.
He told The News: “I truly believe we’re going to be the winner of the night, the biggest net seat gain and we might even have the most seats tonight.
“You get a vibe when you’re at the door, you want to see if that translates at support in the polling stations.
“I think we could walk away with five or six seats tonight - we could walk away with eight.”
Portsmouth: "A tough evening"
Councillor Simon Bosher, leader of the Conservative group, echoed the views of chancellor Jeremy Hunt, predicting the Tories will lose seats.
He said: “It’s going be a tough evening. A lot of it is probably not due to the work of councillors, it’s more to do with conflating it with the national picture - which is not good.
“It won’t be an election on the personalities, it’s probably going to be more of a protest vote."
National: Veteran blocked from voting
A military veteran was turned away from a polling station after he tried to use his veteran ID card in order to vote.
Adam Diver, who served in the army for 27 years, said he was “gutted” the new form of identification was not counted.
Veterans minister Johnny Mercer, Conservative, apologised and said he hopes the card can be used in the upcoming general election.
National: Boris Johnson Turned Away From Voting
Former prime minister Boris Johnson fell foul of his own legislation today as he forgot to bring ID to vote.
As reported in Sky News, the controversial figure tried to cast his ballots in South Oxfordshire, but had to be turned away as he could not produce a valid form of identification.
It is understood that he was later allowed to vote.
Portsmouth: Guildhall fills
Councillors and their colleagues are filling Portsmouth Guildhall as vote verification continues.
Gosport: Validation Process
Pictures from the validation process at Gosport Leisure Centre.
Fareham: "Troublemakers" blighting election
Pamela Bryant, Conservative candidate for Uplands and Funtley, gave her perspective on the Fareham count and on if her party will lose seats.
She said: “This is a very different election from what we’ve had for the last 20 years with very different vibes.
“People coming out of the woodwork that have no interest in politics. I call them troublemakers. We don’t have sufficient people coming forward as candidates or to vote.”
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