2018 Southampton City Council election

2018 Southampton City Council election

←  2016 3 May 2018 2019  →
16 of the 48 seats to Southampton City Council 23 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	32.1%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Simon Letts Jeremy Moulton Party Labour Conservative Independent Leader's seat Bitterne (defeated) Freemantle (defeated) Seats won 8 7 1 Seats after 25 19 4 Seat change Popular vote 23,524 20,733 3,045 Percentage 41.4 36.5 5.3 Swing 7.1% 5.4% 1.8%
Map showing the election results. Each ward represents 1 seat
Majority party before election Labour Majority party after election Labour

Elections to Southampton City Council took place on Thursday 3 May 2018, alongside nationwide local elections, alongside other local elections across the country. The elections saw no changes in the overall composition of the council, ^[1] however saw seats being exchanged. The Labour Party lost Bitterne, Millbrook and Peartree to the Conservative party while the Conservatives lost Freemantle, Portswood and Swaythling to Labour. This led to the Labour leader of the council, Simon Letts, and the leader of the Conservative group in the city, Jeremy Moulton, losing their seats. ^[2]

Background and Campaigning

In the lead up to the election, the BBC had summarised that the situation in Southampton for the Labour Party was incredibly precarious and one seat loss could deprive the party of a majority. They cited the Redbridge ward as a target for the main opposition the Conservatives, yet the Conservatives came third to the Southampton Independents candidate. ^[3] Labour targeted the Conservative seats of Freemantle, Portswood and Swaythling, as well as the independent Coxford ward. ^[4]

Labour made a commitment to building 1,000 homes in the city over five years, invest further in council services, build a modular home factory and create a Clean Air Zone for the city. ^[5] The Conservative Party offered a series of policies to tackle air pollution and traffic in the city: suggesting two new railway stations in the city, one at St Mary's Stadium and one in Ocean Village potentially where the old Southampton Terminus Station was, allow free parking for electric vehicles and introducing more electric charge points in the city. ^{[4] [6]} The Liberal Democrats focused on the quality of roads within the city and was sceptical of the way resources were used by the Labour administration to tackle homelessness in the city. ^{[4] [7]}

The council had come under scrutiny for its decision to close the Kentish Road respite centre, which was due to budget cuts. ^[4] Activists Lisa Stead and Amanda Guest, who have campaigned on the issue, stood in Bitterne and Shirely, respectively, with the 'Putting People First' group on the council. ^[8] The Conservatives committed to fully reopening the respite centre. ^[4]

Election results

Overall election result

As the council is elected in thirds, one councillor for each of the 16 wards are elected each year. All comparisons in seats and swing are to the corresponding Southampton Council election, 2014.

Southampton City Council election result 2018

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	8	3	3		56.25	41.4	23,524	7.1
	Conservative	7	3	3		37.50	36.5	20,733	5.4
	Independent	1	0	0		6.25	5.3	3,045	1.8
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0		0.00	7.2	4,122	0.2
	Green	0	0	0		0.00	5.2	2,989	0.2
	TUSC	0	0	0		0.00	0.5	275	2.3
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.00	0.1	92	15.0

Changes in council composition

Party		Previous council	New council	+/-
	Labour	25	25	0
	Conservatives	19	19	0
	Putting People First	3	3	0
	Southampton Independents	1	1	0
Total		48	48
Working majority		2	2

Ward results

Bargate ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sarah Jane Bogle	1,668	56.6	+10.1
	Conservative	Edward James Osmond	827	28.1	-3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ben Curd	204	6.9	+1.9
	Green	Joe Cox	184	6.2	-1.8
	TUSC	Diane Lesley Cook	63	2.1	N/A
Majority			841
Turnout			2,957	24.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Bassett ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Beryl May Harris	1,682	49.9	+2.5
	Labour	Sally Victoria Spicer	965	28.6	+5.4
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Blackman	464	13.8	+2.2
	Green	Alan Jack French	263	7.8	+1.1
Majority			717
Turnout			3,384	33.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Bevois ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Toqeer Ahmed Kataria	2,260	73.3	+4.1
	Conservative	Diana June Galton	417	13.5	+1.7
	Green	Ronald Nicholas Meldrum	233	7.6	-
	Liberal Democrats	Vijay Chopra	173	5.6	+1.5
Majority			1,843
Turnout			3,096	28.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Bitterne ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Terry Michael Streets	1,528	49.5	+21.4
	Labour	Simon Letts	1,233	39.9	-1.3
	Liberal Democrats	Olivia Caitlin Reed	118	3.8	-0.9
	Green	Duncan Robert McMillan	114	3.7	-0.9
	Independent	Lisa Joanne Stead	96	3.1	N/A
Majority			295
Turnout			3,094	30.9
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Bitterne Park ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Harwood	1,914	47.8	+5.8
	Labour	Ashley Mark Minto	1,525	38.1	+1.4
	Green	Jenny Barnes	297	7.4	-2.9
	Liberal Democrats	James Arnold Read	266	6.6	-1.2
Majority			389
Turnout			4,015	38.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Coxford ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Keith Morrell	1,595	46.9	+8.3
	Labour	Matt Renyard	958	28.2	+1.1
	Conservative	Trevor Glasspool	559	16.5	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Galton	103	3.0	-0.3
	Green	Lucy Michelle Mundell	101	3.0	+0.9
	Independent	Ricky Lambert	82	2.4	N/A
Majority			637
Turnout			3,403
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Freemantle ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve Leggett	1,704	45.0	-2.3
	Conservative	Jeremy Richard Moulton	1,484	39.2	+8.2
	Liberal Democrats	Alexander Clifton-Melhuish	217	5.7	+0.5
	Green	Lindsey Cherrie Hood	185	4.9	-2.6
	Protest Against Brexit	Ed Thompson	167	4.4	N/A
	TUSC	Mike Marx	28	0.7	N/A
Majority			220
Turnout			3,792	34.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Harefield ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Val Laurent	2,015	52.7	+5.0
	Labour	Alan Lloyd	1,401	36.6	+3.7
	Independent	Peter Alexander Virgo	148	3.9	N/A
	Green	Chris Bluemel	136	3.6	-4.1
	Liberal Democrats	Colin Stuart McDougall	123	3.2	-3.2
Majority			614
Turnout			3,833	36.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Millbrook ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Steven Graham Patrick Galton	1,694	44.3	+7.9
	Labour	Mike Denness	1,631	42.6	+1.2
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Thomas Beal	159	4.2	-0.4
	Green	Daniel Payne	158	4.1	-0.1
	UKIP	Pearline Hingston	92	2.4	-9.7
	Independent	Ed Edworthy	91	2.4	N/A
Majority			63
Turnout			3,828	34.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Peartree ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Tom Bell	1,725	46.5	+14.5
	Labour	Catherine Rendle	1,579	42.6	-2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Eileen Bowers	219	5.9	+1.0
	Green	Nick Mabey	142	3.8	-0.6
	TUSC	Declan Peter Clune	44	1.2	+0.6
Majority			146
Turnout			3,717	35.5
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Portswood ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lisa Mitchell	1,587	42.4	+9.1
	Liberal Democrats	Adrian Ford	923	24.7	-0.1
	Conservative	Paul Nicholas O'Neill	851	22.8	-2.8
	Green	Katherine Barbour	348	9.3	-0.1
	TUSC	Nick Chaffey	31	0.8	-0.2
Majority			664
Turnout			3,748	35.6
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Redbridge ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cathie McEwing	1,181	38.5	-7.9
	Southampton Independents	Denise Mary Elizabeth Wyatt	982	32.0	+18.4
	Conservative	Matthew Robert Cowley	583	19.0	+4.6
	UKIP	Richard John Lyons	124	4.0	-15.4
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Stokes	99	3.2	-0.1
	Green	Christopher Richard James	96	3.1	+0.6
Majority			199
Turnout			3,075	28
	Labour hold		Swing

Shirley ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hannah Coombs	1,952	48.0	+1.8
	Conservative	Matt Turpin	1,244	30.6	+3.3
	Liberal Democrats	Steven Hulbert	440	10.8	+4.8
	Green	John Spottiswoode	204	5.0	+0.3
	Independent	Amanda Jane Guest	123	3.0	N/A
	UKIP	Nick Ray	107	2.6	-7.5
Majority			708
Turnout			4,076	38.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Sholing ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Marley George Guthrie	2,093	56.1	+15.8
	Labour	Andy Frampton	1,323	35.5	-0.4
	Liberal Democrats	James Cappleman	162	4.3	+1.2
	Green	Lyn Hazel Brayshaw	153	4.1	+0.8
Majority			770
Turnout			3,741	34.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Swaythling ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lorna Fielker	1,062	42.8	-4.8
	Conservative	Bob Painton	956	38.5	+9.7
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Alexander Clarke	275	11.1	+2.6
	Green	Angela Cotton	191	7.7	-2.3
Majority			106
Turnout			2,490	28.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Woolston ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Christopher Hammond	1,495	49.0	-1.3
	Conservative	Matthew Thomas Jones	1,161	38.0	+13.2
	Green	Clive George Hillman	148	4.8	-2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Samuel David Harris	141	4.6	-5.0
	TUSC	Susan Ann Atkins	109	3.6	-4.0
Majority			334
Turnout			3,063	28.6
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Election 2018 Results - Southampton Council". BBC. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
2. "Labour and Tory leaders defeated in council elections". BBC. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
3. Peter Henley (2 May 2018). "South of England local elections 2018". BBC . Retrieved 14 September 2018.
4. William Rimell (12 April 2018). "Southampton local elections: Candidates ready to battle it out for seats". Southern Daily Echo . Newsquest . Retrieved 11 September 2018.
5. William Rimell (10 April 2018). "Labour pledges to build 1,000 homes". Southern Daily Echo . Newsquest . Retrieved 13 September 2018.
6. "St Mary's Stadium could get a new railway station". Southern Daily Echo . Newsquest. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
7. "REVEALED: The £56,000 cost of keeping homeless people out of a Southampton's Grosvenor Square car park". Southern Daily Echo . Newsquest. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
8. "'I'll challenge anyone': Respite centre campaigners taking on Southampton councillors in elections". Southern Daily Echo . Newsquest. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
9. "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). Southampton City Council. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.