2023 Portsmouth City Council election

2023 Portsmouth City Council election
14 out of 42 seats to Portsmouth City Council; 22 seats needed for a majority
Leader before election; Gerald Vernon-Jackson; Liberal Democrats; No overall control	Leader after election ; Steve Pitt; Liberal Democrats; No overall control

The 2023 Portsmouth City Council election took place on 4 May 2023 to elect members of Portsmouth City Council in Hampshire, England.^[1] This was on the same day as other local elections across England.

The council remained under no overall control, being led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration.^[2]

Immediately after the election the Liberal Democrat leader of the council, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, announced he was stepping down from the role. He was replaced at the subsequent annual council meeting on 16 May 2023 by Steve Pitt.^[3]

Summary

Election result

The overall results were:^[4]

2023 Portsmouth City Council election
Party		This election			Full council			This election
Party		Seats	Net	Seats %	Other	Total	Total %	Votes	Votes %	+/−
	Liberal Democrats	7	1	50.0%	11	18	42.9%	12,682	29.3%	0.1
	Labour	2		14.3%	5	7	16.7	11,904	27.5%	2.2
	Conservative	1	5	7.1%	7	8	19.0%	8,464	19.6%	5.5
	PIP	3	3	21.4%	3	6	14.3%	6,995	16.2%	New
	Independent	1	1	7.1%	2	3	7.1%	910	2.1%	New
	Green	0			0	0		1,902	4.4%	1.4
	Reform UK	0			0	0		244	0.6%	New
	NHA	0			0	0		86	0.2%	0.5
	TUSC	0			0	0		43	0.1%

Ward results

Comparisons for the purpose of determining a gain, hold or loss of a seat, and for all percentage changes, is to the last time these specific seats were up for election in 2019. An asterisk indicates the incumbent councillor. The results for each ward were:^[5]^[6]

Baffins

Baffins
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Leonie Oliver	1,475	42.2	2.6
	PIP	Paul Oakley-Cleife	740	21.2	New
	Conservative	Joe Standen	632	18.1	3.0
	Labour	Mark Farwell	488	14.0	1.2
	Green	Bob Simmonds	152	4.3	2.2
Majority			735	21.0
Turnout			3,497	31.6
Registered electors			11,047
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Central Southsea

Central Southsea
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Suzy Horton*	1,816	47.2	1.5
	Labour	Joshua Allen	1,551	40.3	8.3
	Conservative	Alicia Denny	214	5.6	2.9
	Green	Menno Groen	178	4.6	2.4
	PIP	Lee Tindal	86	2.2	New
Majority			265	6.9
Turnout			3845	32.7
Registered electors			11,763
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Cal Corkery*	910	37.4	*New*
	Labour	Raj Ghosh	780	32.1	7.7
	Liberal Democrats	Yahiya Chowdhury	337	13.9	10.1
	Conservative	Terry Henderson	301	12.4	2.5
	Green	Ian McCulloch	104	4.3	2.2
Majority			130	5.4
Turnout			2,432
Registered electors
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Copnor

Copnor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PIP	Raymond Dent	1,391	46.0	*New*
	Conservative	Spencer Gardner	725	24.0	12.5
	Labour	Arif Choudhury	597	19.7	2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Nicky Dodd	202	6.7	5.8
	Green	Ben Warner	112	3.7	2.8
Majority			666	22.0
Turnout			3,027
Registered electors
	PIP gain from Conservative		Swing

Cosham

Cosham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Vallely	1,362	46.4	24.8
	Conservative	Lee Mason*	1,078	36.7	5.9
	PIP	Tom Oulds¹	208	7.1	New
	Liberal Democrats	David Fuller	200	6.8	}5.4
	NHA	Veronika Wagner	86	2.9	6.9
Majority			284	9.7%
Turnout			2,934
Registered electors			10,218
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

1: After nominations were closed, Oulds was suspended by the Portsmouth Independents following "unacceptable" message on social media.^[7]

Drayton and Farlington

Drayton & Farlington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hannah Brent	1,654	47.7	6.9
	Labour	Pooja Jha	693	20.0	0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Adair	620	17.9	6.5
	PIP	Jaime Custerson	280	8.1	New
	Green	Mervyn Harvey	224	6.5	New
Majority			961	27.7
Turnout			3,471
Registered electors			10,518
	Conservative hold		Swing

Eastney and Craneswater

Eastney and Craneswater
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Candlish	1,385	36.4	11.4
	Labour	Jane Shepherd	1,088	28.6	6.0
	Conservative	Stephen Gorys	881	23.2	11.8
	Green	Tamara Groen	209	5.5	1.5
	Reform UK	Mark Zimmer	148	3.9	New
	PIP	Jenny Dobson	93	2.4	New
Majority			297	7.8
Turnout			3,804
Registered electors			9,698
	Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative		Swing

Fratton

Fratton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Dave Ashmore*	1,051	38.1	0.5
	Labour	Aimee-Louise Gwyther	840	30.4	1.9
	PIP	Jacob Short	457	16.6	New
	Conservative	Peter Ross	248	9.0	0.7
	Green	Samet Alves	139	5.0	4.8
	TUSC	Chris Pickett	24	0.9	New
Majority			211	7.6
Turnout
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Hilsea

Hilsea
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PIP	Emily Strudwick	1,867	57.3	*New*
	Conservative	Scott Payter-Harris*	734	22.5	14.5
	Labour	Mariam Daniel	413	12.7	9.2
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Williams	146	4.5	8.8
	Green	Emma Murphy	99	3.0	6.6
Majority			1,133	34.8
Turnout			3,259	32.6
Registered electors
	PIP gain from Conservative		Swing

Milton

Milton
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Gerald Vernon-Jackson*	1,872	46.6	1.1
	Labour	Paula Savage	1,552	38.7	12.3
	Conservative	Jack Smith	252	6.3	5.3
	Green	Sarah Gilbert	176	4.4	2.6
	Reform UK	Rachel Zimmer	96	2.4	New
	PIP	Gemma Hammond	67	1.7	New
Majority			320	8
Turnout			4015
Registered electors			10,539
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Nelson

Nelson
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Lee Hunt*	1,033	47.8	4.6
	Labour	Robin Head	498	23.0	4.9
	Conservative	Kerryanne Swann	323	14.9	0.5
	PIP	Henry Thorpe	169	7.8	New
	Green	Duncan Robinson	121	5.6	1.2
	TUSC	Nicholas Doyle	19	0.9	New
Majority
Turnout			2,163	21.78
Registered electors
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Paulsgrove

Paulsgrove
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PIP	Chris Dike	1,279	55.9	*New*
	Conservative	Charlie Douglas	446	19.5	17.5
	Labour	Eloise Hadenham	425	18.6	7.1
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Cole	136	5.9	2.1
Majority			833	36.4
Turnout
Registered electors
	PIP gain from Conservative		Swing

St Jude

St Jude
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Graham Heaney*	1,288	39.9	7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Northern	1,058	32.8	6.7
	Conservative	David Chandler	400	12.4	11.1
	PIP	Richard Peckham	283	8.8	New
	Green	Harry Mallinder	201	6.2	3.3
Majority			230	7.1
Turnout			3,230
Registered electors			9,206
	Labour hold		Swing

St Thomas

St Thomas
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Attwell*	1,351	46.9	6.9
	Labour	Edward Batterbury	689	23.9	1.0
	Conservative	Paul Sweeney	576	20.0	1.9
	Green	Elliott Lee	187	6.5	0.9
	PIP	George Miles	75	2.6	New
Majority			662	23.0
Turnout			2,878
Registered electors			10,927
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

References

^ "Notice of Election" (PDF). Portsmouth City Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
^ "Local Election 2023: Portsmouth councillors react to results". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ Wright, Josh (16 May 2023). "Portsmouth City Council: Cllr Steve Pitt elected as new leader, as Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson steps down". The News. Portsmouth. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ "Local elections 2023: full council results for England". The Guardian. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ "Portsmouth's 2023 local election results". Portsmouth City Council. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ Edwards, Robert (5 May 2023). "Portsmouth Local Election results in full: Tories lose five seats but council stays no overall control". Hampshire Live. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ "Portsmouth election candidate Tom Oulds suspended for tweet". BBC News. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[1] "Notice of Election" (PDF). Portsmouth City Council. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.

[2] "Local Election 2023: Portsmouth councillors react to results". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[3] Wright, Josh (16 May 2023). "Portsmouth City Council: Cllr Steve Pitt elected as new leader, as Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson steps down". The News. Portsmouth. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[4] "Local elections 2023: full council results for England". The Guardian. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[5] "Portsmouth's 2023 local election results". Portsmouth City Council. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[6] Edwards, Robert (5 May 2023). "Portsmouth Local Election results in full: Tories lose five seats but council stays no overall control". Hampshire Live. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

[7] "Portsmouth election candidate Tom Oulds suspended for tweet". BBC News. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.

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